Jennifer Meissner built her business from the ground up, running a welding and piping company that once employed as many as 60 workers. Then she took a contract with Tesla—and lost almost everything.
In a recent CNN investigation, Meissner recounted how working for Elon Musk’s company forced her into bankruptcy, put her home at risk, and left her fighting to pay off debts while raising a special needs daughter. “They worked for no money,” Meissner said, recalling how her employees stayed on even after Tesla allegedly stopped paying her invoices. “For me not to be able to pay them was difficult.”
Tesla, the multi-billion-dollar car and energy company led by the world’s richest man, has a well-documented pattern of stiffing small contractors. CNN’s review of court filings revealed that at least 98 businesses—including Meissner’s—have claimed Tesla failed to pay for completed work, with more than $110 million in unpaid bills alleged over the last five years.
Meissner’s story is particularly harrowing. Hired to provide specialized piping work for Tesla’s massive Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, she says the company stopped payments after the work was already completed. Facing $1.6 million in unpaid invoices, she took out short-term loans to try to keep her company afloat, only to collapse under the weight of mounting debt. “Red means that we were still waiting for payment,” she told CNN, showing ledgers that remain unsettled.
In court, Meissner eventually reached a partial settlement. Tesla agreed to pay $650,000 to her subcontractors. Meissner herself, however, never received the full amount she was owed. Tesla has claimed it was dissatisfied with the work—a sharp contrast to the glowing reviews Meissner says she received during the project.
Her financial ruin, however, is not just her burden. Meissner now works two jobs while trying to restart her company and save her house—mainly to ensure stability for her daughter, who requires consistent care and support. “The fear is losing it,” she said of the home. “The fear is having to give that up to be able to pay debt.”
The investigation into Tesla’s practices also found that this was far from an isolated incident. One Houston-based fuel supplier said it was owed $2.6 million by Tesla. Another Texas contractor filed for bankruptcy after Tesla allegedly ignored all payment requests. Court records show dozens of liens filed against the company, many of which were never resolved until litigation or settlements were forced.
By contrast, Apple—another tech titan with major construction projects in Texas—owes less than 10% of Tesla’s reported total in unpaid contractor bills.
Tesla did not respond to CNN’s repeated requests for comment.
Meissner’s case lays bare the power imbalance between small businesses and a multibillion-dollar corporation. “No small company can litigate against Tesla,” she said. “You have to take the hit.”
As Tesla continues to expand its empire, stories like Meissner’s raise questions about what it costs—for contractors, workers, and families—to do business with Musk’s most famous company. For one Texas woman, it meant risking everything, and losing more than she ever expected.
