Elon Musk

2025-01-26T01:25:52Z

2A09:BAC5:5134:1F5:0:0:32:117: Added missing , and fixed word idk if it was amerikan and now briish but yes

{{Infobox person|name=Elon Musk|birth_name=Elon Reeve Musk|birth_date=June 28, 1971 (aged 51)|birth_place=[[Pretoria]], [[Transvaal]], [[South Africa]]|image=Elon Musk Nazi salute.png|nationality=Afrikaner|image_size=300|caption=Musk doing a Nazi salute at a speech after [[Donald Trump]]'s inauguration in 2025}}
'''Elon Reeve Musk''' (born June 28, 1971) is a South African-born, naturalized [[United States of America|Statesian]] [[billionaire]] capitalist who owns [[SpaceX]], [[Tesla, Inc.|Tesla]], and [[Twitter]], the latter two of which he purchased but did not found.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Kevin Reed|newspaper=[[WSWS]]|title=Musk’s attack on Twitter workers brings company to the brink of collapse|date=2022-11-19|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/19/uoyw-n19.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120065116/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/19/uoyw-n19.html|archive-date=2022-11-20|retrieved=2022-11-20}}</ref> He was born in [[Republic of South Africa|South Africa]] and has a net worth of $422.7 billion as of January 2025, making him the richest person in the world.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[Forbes]]|title=Elon Musk|date=2022-05-01|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=4e94e8a87999|retrieved=2022-05-01}}</ref>

==Imperialism==
In 2019, Elon Musk admitted to promoting [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-backed coup in [[Plurinational State of Bolivia|Bolivia]] on Twitter with his now infamous "We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it." tweet.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=The Guardian|title=‘We will coup whoever we want!’: the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros|date=2023-11-25|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/25/we-will-coup-whoever-we-want-the-unbearable-hubris-of-musk-and-the-billionaire-tech-bros|retrieved=2024-04-13|quote=In response to the accusation that the US government organised a coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia in order for Tesla to secure lithium there, Musk tweeted: “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[TeleSur]]|title=Elon Musk Confesses to Lithium Coup in Bolivia|date=2020-07-25|url=https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/elon-musk-confesses-to-lithium-coup-in-bolivia-20200725-0010.html|retrieved=2022-05-01}}</ref>

In police operations in [[Federative Republic of Brazil|Brazil]] between April 2023 and March 2024, at least 32 [[Starlink]] antenna devices were found in the hands of small-scale illegal miners of gold, including in indigenous reserves.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Rede Brasil Atual|title=Internet de Musk deu suporte para ao menos 20 garimpos ilegais na Amazônia em um ano|date=2024-04-12|url=https://www.redebrasilatual.com.br/cidades/internet-de-musk-deu-suporte-para-ao-menos-20-garimpos-ilegais-na-amazonia-em-um-ano/|retrieved=2024-04-13|quote=Segundo reportagem do Uol divulgada nesta sexta-feira (12), operações contra o garimpo realizadas de abril de 2023 a março de 2024 encontraram 32. Além disso, um levantamento da publicação aponta que o órgão ambiental recolheu antenas ou roteadores da empresa de Musk em pelo menos 20 áreas de mineração ilegal no mesmo período em quatro estados.
[...]
Das 32 antenas encontradas pelo Ibama desde abril de 2023, nove estavam na Terra Indígena Yanomami e outras 12 distribuídas próximo ao Vale do Javari.}}</ref> Gold mining activities in the country contribute to the growing deforestation and water contamination, as well as violence against indigenous communities.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Forests & Finance|title=The impact of mining on the Brazilian Amazon|date=2022-04-22|url=https://forestsandfinance.org/mining/the-impact-of-mining-on-the-brazilian-amazon/|retrieved=2024-04-13|quote=In the Amazon rainforest, “small-scale” gold miners, so-called ‘garimpeiros’, are recently increasing their activity amidst soaring gold prices. According to estimates, these miners account for around one third of Brazil’s gold output. At the same time, illegal mining contributes an estimated 15% of the total gold output. Gold mining activities in the Amazon contribute to the growing deforestation and water contamination, as well as violence against Indigenous communities.}}</ref> Starlink was approved to run operations in the country in 2022, under the government of Brazilian [[Fascism|fascist]] [[Jair Bolsonaro]], under the pretext of "supplying internet to 19,000 schools in remote areas of Brazil."<ref>{{Web citation|title=Musk's internet service arrived in Brazil marked by irregularities and was used by miners in the Yanomami Indigenous Land|date=2024-04-09|url=https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/04/09/musk-s-internet-service-arrived-in-brazil-marked-by-irregularities-and-was-used-by-miners-in-the-yanomami-indigenous-land|retrieved=2024-04-13|quote=The government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) got closer to the billionaire and made it easier for Starlink, Musk's satellite internet company, to arrive on the Brazilian market. The service the company provides is offered to illegal miners, as Brazil de Fato showed.
[...]
Starlink's arrival in Brazil was marked by irregularities. The company arrived in the country promising to supply internet to 19,000 schools in remote areas of Brazil, such as the Amazon, which it failed to do.}}</ref>

== Abuse of workers ==
In 16 February, 2022, Elon Musk fired dozens of employees of a Tesla plant in Buffalo, New York, a day after the workers announced their unionizing campaign.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Tesla fires more than 30 workers after union drive announcement|date=2023-02-17|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/17/tesla-fires-workers-union-buffalo|retrieved=2023-03-01}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Vanity Fair|title=Elon Musk’s Tesla fires employees at the factory that just announced it wants to unionize|date=2023-02-16|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/elon-musks-tesla-fires-employees-unionize|retrieved=2023-03-01}}</ref> In the same period, several [[Bourgeois media|bourgeois media outlets]], such as Business Insider, pushed articles related to Musk's donations to charity from a year before.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Business Insider|title=Elon Musk donated nearly $2 billion worth of Tesla stock to a charity last year, SEC filing shows|date=2023-02-15|url=https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/elon-musk-donated-nearly-2-billion-in-tesla-shares-charity-2023-2|retrieved=2023-03-01}}</ref>

Musk's company Tesla has been accused of spying on workers to prevent their [[Trade union|unionizing]],<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=The Buffalo News|title=Union accuses Tesla of spying on workers at Buffalo plant|date=2021-06-20|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/union-accuses-tesla-of-spying-on-workers-at-buffalo-plant/article_546a53e6-5757-569e-a113-6af9e421005f.html}}</ref> allowing rampant sexual harassment of women<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[BBC]]|title=Tesla worker files suit over 'nightmarish' harassment|date=2021-11-19|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59354807}}</ref> and [[racism]] against black workers,<ref name=":0">{{News citation|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=Horrific allegations of racism prompt California lawsuit against Tesla|date=2022-02-11|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-02-11/la-fi-tesla-race-discrimination-lawsuit}}</ref> and having terrible working conditions in the factories.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Tesla factory workers reveal pain, injury and stress: 'Everything feels like the future but us'|date=2017-05-18|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/18/tesla-workers-factory-conditions-elon-musk}}</ref> Since 2006, at least 160 worker lawsuits have been filed against the company.<ref name=":0" />

After buying [[Twitter]] in October 2022, Musk quickly began mass firing of its workers.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Kevin Reed|newspaper=[[WSWS]]|title=Elon Musk begins mass layoffs at Twitter|date=2022-11-04|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/05/sjjg-n05.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112144130/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/05/sjjg-n05.html|archive-date=2022-11-12|retrieved=2022-11-20}}</ref> The remaining workers were forced to take on the responsibilities of those who had been dismissed. Esther Crawford, then the director of product management, shared a photo of herself sleeping at work to meet unrealistic deadlines.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Business Insider|title=The former Twitter exec who went viral for sleeping on the office floor said she had no choice but to do so because of Elon Musk's 'nearly impossible deadline'|date=2023-07-27|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-exec-slept-on-office-floor-elon-musk-impossible-deadline-2023-7|retrieved=2025-01-04|quote=Esther Crawford, the former director of product management at the social-media giant, which rebranded as X this week, retweeted a photo of her wrapped up in a sleeping bag on the floor of one of Twitter's conference rooms in November. "When your team is pushing round the clock to make deadlines sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork," Crawford wrote in the caption.
[...]
[Elon Musk] fired top execs, laid off thousands of other workers, cut back on some perks, and introduced a "hardcore" work culture that pushed staff to work long hours and meet tough deadlines.}}</ref> Despite being regarded as one of Musk's "most loyal employees," she was later laid off.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Business Insider|title=A laid-off Twitter manager, who was one of Elon Musk's most loyal employees, tweeted 'cruelty is the worst' in an apparent dig at the tech mogul|date=2023-03-08|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-esther-crawford-cruelty-is-the-worst-thorleifsson-2023-3|retrieved=2025-01-04|quote=}}</ref>

Musk has been involved in several inappropriate relationships with employees<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=The Independent|title=Elon Musk had relationships with several women at SpaceX and pestered one to have his children, report says|date=2024-06-12|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-spacex-sexual-relationships-b2561556.html}}</ref> and has been documented to have sexually harassed at least one employee, exposing his erect penis to her and touching her without her consent. A lawsuit was settled for $250,000 to ensure her silence in 2018, but the incident was later revealed by Business Insider in 2022.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Business Insider|title=A SpaceX flight attendant said Elon Musk exposed himself and propositioned her for sex, documents show. The company paid $250,000 for her silence.|date=2022-05-19|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-paid-250000-to-a-flight-attendant-who-accused-elon-musk-of-sexual-misconduct-2022-5|retrieved=2025-01-04|quote=}}</ref>

==Content moderation==
Elon Musk bought Twitter under the pretense of restoring "[[free speech]]." Shortly after Musk purchased the platform, Twitter saw a 500% increase in the use of racial slurs.<ref>Multiple citations:
* {{Web citation|author=@ncri_io|newspaper=Twitter|title=Evidence suggests that bad actors are trying to test the limits on @Twitter.|date=28-10-2022|url=https://twitter.com/ncri_io/status/1586007698910646272}}
* {{Web citation|author=Drew Harwell, Taylor Lorenz and Cat Zakrzewski|newspaper=Washington Post|title=Racist tweets quickly surface after Musk closes Twitter deal|date=28-10-2022|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/28/musk-twitter-racist-posts/}}
* {{Web citation|author=Aisling Murphy|newspaper=Toronto Star|title=Use of N-word, racial slurs up more than 500% on Twitter post-Musk, says new report|date=31-10-2022|url=https://www.thestar.com/business/use-of-n-word-racial-slurs-up-more-than-500-on-twitter-post-musk-says/article_dcec9bb9-25df-59bb-bde2-69458a71c42d.html}}</ref>

As early as February 2023, Musk's Twitter was censoring Palestinian public figures.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Dalia Hatuqa|newspaper=Al Jazeera|title=Twitter under fire for censoring Palestinian public figures|date=28-02-2023|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/2/28/twitter-under-fire-for-censuring-palestinian-public-figures}}</ref> Later, when the [[2023 Israel-Gaza war and genocide]] began, Twitter began mass censorship of pro-Palestine voices protesting the Gaza genocide, a process that continued into 2024.<ref>{{Web citation|author=The New Arab staff|newspaper=The New Arab|title=X, formerly Twitter, suspends hundreds of Palestinian accounts amid Israel-Gaza war|date=13-10-2023|url=https://www.newarab.com/news/x-suspends-hundreds-palestinian-accounts-amid-gaza-war}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=Priyanka Shankar, Pranav Dixit and Usaid Siddiqui|newspaper=Al Jazeera|title=Are social media giants censoring pro-Palestine voices amid Israel’s war?|date=24-10-2023|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/24/shadowbanning-are-social-media-giants-censoring-pro-palestine-voices}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=Kevin Reed|newspaper=World Socialist Web Site|title=Twitter/X purges, then restores accounts of journalists and left-wing opponents of Israeli genocide in Gaza|date=10-01-2024|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/01/10/doux-j10.html}}</ref>

==Second Trump administration==
In November 2024, then-US president elect [[Donald Trump]] announced that his cabinet would include Elon Musk as the head of a "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) with the intent of slashing over a quarter of the US government's budget.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Patrick Martin|title=Trump’s cabinet: A blueprint for authoritarian rule and social counterrevolution|newspaper=World Socialist Web Site|date=2024-11-24|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/11/25/xycv-n25.html}}</ref> On 20 January 2025, moments after inauguration, Trump signed an executive order to create the DOGE with Musk as its head.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Jenny Leonard and Skylar Woodhouse|title=Billionaire Elon Musk Secures White House Email Address|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=2025-01-20|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-20/billionaire-elon-musk-secures-white-house-email-address|archive-url=https://archive.today/2025.01.21-204435/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-20/billionaire-elon-musk-secures-white-house-email-address|archive-date=2025-01-21}}</ref>

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Billionaires]]
[[Category:Capitalists]]
[[Category:Oligarchs]]
[[Category:Reactionaries]]
[[Category:Politicians in the United States]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musk, Elon}}

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Elon Musk