Entrepreneurship has long been celebrated as the cornerstone of economic growth, innovation, and social mobility. The narrative of the self-made entrepreneur, building a business from the ground up, has been romanticized as the ultimate expression of individual ambition and creativity.
Yet, this narrative obscures a critical truth: entrepreneurship is not a solitary endeavour—it depends on opportunities. How many times have you heard it said that to create a business you need to find either a missing opportunity (a void), or a critical improvement?
And over the past 40 years, the systematic concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few billionaire business owners has increasingly closed those opportunities, stifling innovation and entrenching economic inequality. And governments across the world, including our Canadian governments, have reinforced the diminishing of opportunities.
The result is the world we live in today: a landscape where entrepreneurship is often an illusion, and where governments and institutions kowtow to the whims of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals. Case in point? All the current democratic leaders who racing to visit the new Trump demagogy to see if each can sufficiently lick Trump/Musk feet and convince them that they will cater to the US if only a special-to-their-region can be reached.
The Bezos Effect: When Governments Kowtow to Billionaires
A telling example of this dynamic occurred in 2015, shortly after Justin Trudeau became Canada’s Prime Minister. One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to hop on a plane to visit Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, in Seattle(1). Trudeau’s goal was to pitch Toronto as the location for Amazon’s second headquarters, a project dubbed HQ2. The visit was widely reported in the media, with The Globe and Mail noting that Trudeau’s trip was part of a broader effort to “woo” Bezos and position Canada as a hub for tech innovation.
While Trudeau’s efforts were framed as a bid to create jobs and boost the economy, they also underscored a troubling trend: the willingness of governments to prioritize the interests of billionaire business owners over the needs of their own citizens. Amazon’s HQ2 project was not just about creating jobs—it was a spectacle designed to extract billions in tax breaks and subsidies from competing cities. In the end, Amazon split the project between New York and Virginia, leaving Toronto and other cities empty-handed.
The episode revealed how the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few corporations has turned governments into supplicants, begging for scraps at the table of the ultra-wealthy.
The Trump-Musk Partnership: A New Era of Centralized Power
The trend of world leaders kowtowing to billionaire business owners has only intensified in recent years, particularly with the rise of the Trump-Musk partnership. Elon Musk (🤮), the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has cultivated a close relationship with President Donald Trump (🤮🤮), leveraging his influence to secure government contracts, subsidies, and regulatory favours. Musk’s SpaceX has received billions in federal funding for its Starlink satellite internet project, while Tesla has benefited from tax incentives and emissions credits(2).
This partnership has had profound implications for entrepreneurship. By funneling resources and opportunities to a handful of well-connected companies, the Trump-Musk alliance has effectively closed the door to smaller competitors. The result is a system where innovation is increasingly centralized, and where entrepreneurs without access to vast resources or political connections are left out in the cold.
A recent local example of this dynamic can be seen in British Columbia, where BC Ferries announced plans to install Starlink internet on its vessels(3). While the move was framed as a way to improve connectivity for staff, it also highlighted the growing dominance of Musk’s companies in key sectors of the economy. For entrepreneurs in the tech and telecommunications industries, the decision represents yet another barrier to entry, as they are forced to compete with a billionaire-backed behemoth that enjoys near-monopoly status.
The Illusion of Opportunity
The consequences of this trend are clear: entrepreneurship is no longer a level playing field. The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few individuals has created a system where opportunities are increasingly scarce, and where the barriers to entry are higher than ever. Especially when some argue that Elon Musk’s $290M+ election financing (to Trump) has essentially purchased the United States(4). This is not the result of some natural economic process—it is the direct consequence of policy decisions that prioritize the interests of the wealthy over the needs of the many.
Entrepreneurship depends on opportunities, and that those opportunities must be created and protected through thoughtful policy. This means breaking up monopolies, regulating the influence of billionaire business owners, and investing in public infrastructure and education to level the playing field.
The past 40 years have shown us what happens when we allow wealth and power to become concentrated in the hands of a few. The result is a world where entrepreneurship is increasingly out of reach for the vast majority of people, and where economic power is centralized in ways that undermine democracy and innovation.
If we want to create a future where entrepreneurship is truly possible, we must begin by confronting the systems and structures that have closed opportunities for so many.
The choice is ours: will we continue to kowtow to the billionaire class, or will we build a world where opportunity is truly open to all?
References:
1. The Globe and Mail, “Trudeau woos Amazon’s Jeff Bezos in bid to land new headquarters,” November 2015. Related: See the WSWS summary. See also Trudeau’s 2017 “Dear Jeff” letter, referenced in the National Post and IT World Canada.
2. Fortune, “Elon Musk has been entrusted with federal cost-cutting. Meanwhile, his businesses have collected a reported $38 billion in government funds—including millions loaned to Tesla when it was struggling,” February 26, 2025. See Link.
3. The Times Colonist, “B.C. Ferries trying out Starlink Wi-Fi, but only for crew,” December 7, 2024. See Link.
4. CNN, “https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/01/politics/elon-musk-2024-election-spending-millions/index.html,” Feburary 1, 2025. See Link. Related: This conversation on Reddit.
Additional Sources
Trump and Musk’s Alliance: Implications for Entrepreneurship
- Time: How the Supreme Court Paved the Way for DOGE
- Business Insider: The best trade in the market might be following everything Elon Musk touches
- Time: White House Says Musk Part of Trump’s ‘Unified Team’ as Agencies Undermine Him
