Elon Musk's running controversies

Tesla founder Elon Musk has been embroiled in many controversies, stemming from things like his purchase of Twitter and his exorbitant wealth. These controversies are unlikely to dissipate, given his seemingly close relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.

Connection to Trump

Musk has generated significant controversy for his closeness to President-elect Donald Trump. Musk contributed a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in 2024, according to FEC filings, and has referred to himself as the incoming president's "first buddy."

Despite reports that Trump may be growing tired of Musk's continual presence, the world's richest man has become one of Trump's closest allies and "was by Trump's side on election night at Mar-a-Lago," said Business Insider. Since then, Musk has been appointed by Trump to helm the new Department of Government Efficiency, a federal commission he will run alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.

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Musk's influence was seen almost immediately, when he and Trump recently combined to "smash a short-term spending compromise" to fund the government, said CNN. While Trump may be president-elect, Musk was "largely responsible for the uproar" and was "driving fury on MAGA media outlets." Although Congress eventually passed a continuing resolution to fund the government, Democrats began lamenting Musk's influence. Musk's power was further seen through a "fiery debate between different factions of MAGA loyalists" after Trump advisers "came out in support of legal, high-skill immigration," said NBC News. This led to a war of words on the right over the function of H-1B visas, largely driven by Musk and Ramaswamy.

Influence in geopolitics

Outside of the United States, Musk has also begun to play a role in influencing politics in the European Union. While not directly involved in policy making, Musk is "throwing grenades into Europe's political mainstream over issues ranging from immigration to free speech, creating a dilemma for governments," said The Wall Street Journal.

This includes weighing in on the debate over immigration in the United Kingdom and France, as well as calling for the U.K.'s King Charles III to dissolve Parliament. Musk also made controversial waves with his alleged support of AfD, a far right party in Germany accused of Nazi sympathies and labeled by Germany's intelligence domestic agency to be extremist. What is "much more worrying" is that "Musk is supporting a party like the AfD, which is in parts right wing and extremist," said Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

When it comes to EU leadership, many have "urged Brussels to deploy its full legal might to reign in the billionaire tech magnate," said Politico, including further regulation of Musk's X. This may come to fruition sooner rather than later if the EU plays hardball, as Europe's Digital Services Act "threatens eyewatering fines of up to 6% of global turnover, or even temporary blocks, in case of a breach."

Purchasing Twitter

Musk controversially acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, handing him control of one of the world's largest social media brands. Immediately after his purchase, there were major concerns over a few changes he made to the platform, which he rebranded as X.

Antisemitic and racist tweets spiked after Musk's acquisition; in the first 24 hours after his purchase, more than "1200 tweets and retweets" had spread antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League said. Hateful rhetoric towards Black people also increased, with The Washington Post finding a 500% increase in the use of the N-word on X just half a day after Musk's purchase.

Musk himself also used the platform to spread hate, onlookers have alleged, and tweeted a link to an article spreading conspiracy theories about the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. While Musk deleted the tweet hours later, his message "echoed a wider effort by far-right influencers and some conservatives to downplay and spread baseless theories about the attack," Insider said.

'Funding secured' post

Aside from X, Musk has faced legal battles surrounding the company that put him on the map: Tesla. One of the most notable involves a 2018 tweet in which Musk wrote that he had "funding secured" to take the company private at $420 per share.

Shareholders sued, however, when it was discovered that Musk had not secured the necessary financial backing at the time of this post. A U.S. District Judge said "there was nothing concrete" in Musk's tweet, per Reuters, and Musk had "[acted] recklessly" in posting about the funding. Tesla investors "lost $12 billion over 10 days as a result" of Musk's tweet, according to witness testimony from the trial obtained by Bloomberg.

Musk was eventually found not liable for any losses experienced by the shareholders.

Mocking pronouns

Musk has made his opinions on self-selected gender pronouns clear on multiple occasions. This includes posting that he was not a fan of self-identifying pronouns "when someone is giving every possible visual cue for he or she, but then still insists on telling you exactly what you expect." Another notable instance occurred when he mocked the situation by posting, "My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci," a jab at the nation's top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, who has been targeted by conservatives for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both of these tweets generated significant backlash. Musk shouldn't "mock and promote hate toward already marginalized and at-risk-of-violence members of the LGBTQ+ community," said retired astronaut and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. Dr. Fauci is a "dedicated public servant whose sole motivation was saving lives."

Musk's former partner, singer Grimes, also weighed in. Following the tweets, she asked him "to turn off his phone or to give her a call," NME said, adding, "I cannot support hate. Please stop this. I know this isn't your heart."

His children's names

Musk has 10 children, and has generated a lot of media buzz for some of their more unusual names.

In 2020, Musk and Grimes welcomed a son who they named X Æ A-12. This created a stir because in California, where Musk was living at the time, names can only use the 26 letters of the English alphabet, The Washington Post said. His name was eventually changed to remove the '12.'

The ex-couple also has a daughter originally named Exa Dark Sideræl. Her name has since been changed to Y, Why, or ?, USA Today said. In 2022, another one of Musk's daughters, who is transgender, legally dropped Musk as her last name, saying she did not want to "be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form."