New York CNN —
Over the past three years, Elon Musk has met dozens of times with presidents, prime ministers, legislators, government officials, and political candidates around the world.
Some of these meetings have been highly publicized, such as Musk’s visit to Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following criticism of anti-Semitic posts he endorsed. Other meetings, such as his recent conversation with Argentine President Javier Millei, are only glimpsed by the world through their events. Billionaire social media posts.
A CNN investigation of Musk’s meetings, calls and conversations with politicians around the world since August 2021 found that topics of known conversations ranged from business opportunities for Musk’s companies to elections, trade and energy. , education, population control, and other policy issues. Some of his relationships with these leaders go back even further, during which time Musk has grown from one of the world’s richest and most influential businessmen to an increasingly powerful player in global affairs.
Taken together, these meetings show how Musk has been courted not only for his company and riches, but also for his ability to influence the course of the war through his Starlink satellite service. His opinion on artificial intelligence, the next big wave of technological development. and his role in swaying public opinion through his Platform X.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian government officials since late 2022, including about Starlink. CNN has not independently verified the conversations, so they are not included in our analysis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN the report was “completely false.” He said Musk and Putin have only spoken once before, adding that the conversation took place over the phone and took place before 2022. Musk’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
For Musk, talking to world leaders is a virtuous cycle. The six prominent companies he owns or runs give Musk access to those numbers, and his support often fuels their growth. Similarly, these leaders’ interest in attracting Mr. Musk’s business will provide Mr. Musk with an opportunity to advise them on his other interests, such as global birth rates and immigration.
At the same time, the South African-born billionaire became a political powerhouse in his adopted homeland of the United States. He hosted livestream campaign events on X for presidential candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who later withdrew from the race, and former President Donald Trump. . Since then, Mr. Musk has thrown his weight and tens of millions of dollars behind Mr. Trump, attending and hosting rallies on Mr. Trump’s behalf and criticizing his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, in (spreading false information).
“He’s trying to become a global influencer, and he needs to do more than exploit X,” said James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. I guess that’s what he decided,” he said.
Of course, it’s not unusual for corporate leaders to occasionally meet with government officials, and Musk is not the only major company to publicly comment on the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
But Mr. Musk’s level of involvement in public politics is unusual not only for the chief executive of a publicly traded company like Tesla, but also for the owners of some powerful private companies, executives said. The family told CNN.
“What’s different is there’s a political dimension, but most CEOs avoid politics,” Lewis said. “They basically go to the heads of other states to improve commercial conditions for their products or to lobby on certain points, but they don’t usually do political work. ” he said, adding with Musk: “Everything he does has a political undertone.”
At least some of Musk’s political connections appear to have benefited his company. In May 2022, Musk met with Brazil’s then-President Jair Bolsonaro to mark the launch of Starlink in the country, a major new market for satellite business. In February 2023, he spoke by phone with then-Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador about Tesla’s new manufacturing plant in Nuevo León, which later received $153 million in incentives from the state. . In May 2023, he met with Chinese government officials shortly after Tesla announced plans to build a new battery factory in Shanghai. Musk unexpectedly returned to China in April for a visit with Premier Li Qiang, weeks before the company broke ground on the facility.
More world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met with Mr. Musk and urged Tesla to invest in their countries.
CNN’s analysis only includes meetings for which at least some information is publicly available. It is also possible that billionaires are calling or meeting with leaders but not posting.
“Some might say he doesn’t need to pay lobbyists,” said William Klepper, a management professor at Columbia Business School who focuses on executive leadership. He’s his own lobbyist.” However, he says, “When other people’s money is at stake, you have to moderate your activities…If you find yourself in an extreme situation like this, it can affect your own business.” added.
Mr. Musk did not hesitate to take extreme measures. He has warned that America will fall if Democrats are elected, pushed false conspiracy theories on topics such as mail-in voting, and publicly warned of a “woke virus” that threatens social progress.
Separately, Musk has also accused X of posting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, racist false claims about immigrants and the dangerous “Pizzagate” conspiracy, and Holocaust jokes.
Recently, Musk’s political activities have started to have a visible impact on his company. Brands pulled advertising from X and damaged its value. And SpaceX earlier this month sued California regulators for violating Musk’s free speech rights after they allegedly rejected a bid to allow more rocket launches over the billionaire’s controversial comments. woke up. (The agency did not comment on the lawsuit.)
CNN’s analysis also suggests that Mr. Musk has sought to increase his influence among a range of right-wing world leaders, including Mr. Modi, Mr. Bolsonaro, Mr. Milei, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among others. There is.
“He’s probably more comfortable with them… They’re the people who want to see him, and not everyone wants to see Elon Musk,” Lewis said. “It’s a bird of a feather. He likes visiting people who welcome Elon Musk.”
Last year, at a conference of Italy’s far-right Italian Brotherhood party, Musk slammed “illegal immigration” and the “woke virus” plaguing the United States. Musk called it “evil” and warned against moving to Italy.
India’s Mr. Modi, who was recently re-elected for an unprecedented third consecutive term, has used plans to grow electric vehicle manufacturing as a campaign issue, including a conversation with Mr. Musk about a possible Tesla factory, but earlier. The two met in India on the same day. It was the year Musk was expected to announce changes to the facility’s schedule.
Mr. Musk also met with Mr. Milay multiple times during his first year leading Argentina, during which the president faced protests over a sharp rise in poverty rates as a result of austerity measures. “I recommend investing in Argentina,” Musk said on XPost after the two met in May. “Mirey is bringing prosperity to Argentina,” Musk said in another post last month. (Argentina has large reserves of lithium, an essential ingredient in batteries like those used in Tesla cars.)
Now campaigning for Trump, Musk may be poised for his most prominent political role to date: a future position in Trump’s White House. Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump have announced that if the former president is re-elected, he will direct the billionaire to a new Commission on Government Efficiency, which Mr. Musk jokingly refers to as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He has publicly discussed chairing the board of directors (named after his favorite meme and cryptocurrency).
Methodology: CNN’s analysis is based on information collected from news reports, X posts, and press releases. There may have been other meetings or other topics discussed beyond what has been published. Job titles are as of the time of the general meeting.
