Why Billionaire Elon Musk Is Disclosing His Finances To The Public

Forbes

The billionaire is wielding immense authority over federal agencies, but unlike cabinet members, doesn’t have to publicly disclose his investments or potential conflicts.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2025/02/04/how-elon-musk-got-around-disclosing-his-finances-to-the-public/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, how Elon Musk got around disclosing his finances to the public.

00:07In just two weeks, Elon Musk has become one of the most powerful people in the federal

00:11government.

00:13After setting up shop in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Musk blast emailed over

00:182 million federal employees with the offer to retire early.

00:21He has successfully convinced President Trump to attempt to curb or even shut down the $40

00:27billion U.S. Agency for International Development.

00:31And his team of Doge lieutenants has gained access to the U.S. Treasury Department's

00:35payment service.

00:37Until this past Monday, it was not clear what legal authority Musk had to be carrying out

00:42any of these projects.

00:44Was he just freelancing under Trump's direction?

00:47Or was he an official government employee?

00:49The White House answered the question on Monday, when White House Press Secretary Caroline

00:53Leavitt announced that Musk is a Special Government Employee, or SGE.

01:00For Musk, the world's richest man, the benefit of being an SGE rather than a full-time government

01:05employee is obvious.

01:07He does not have to publicly disclose his financial interests or potential conflicts

01:12of interest.

01:14Unlike cabinet members, who disclose their investments and business relationships in

01:18forms published for all to see, special government employees complete confidential financial

01:24disclosures, which are also known as OGE Form 450s.

01:28These forms are only shared with the White House and Office of Government Ethics.

01:33In the case of Musk, who appears to be wielding unprecedented power over the federal bureaucracy,

01:39this distinction poses ethical and possible legal issues, according to former White House

01:43ethics lawyers who spoke to Forbes.

01:47Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration,

01:52says, quote,

01:53Obviously, this is a workaround in that if someone's exercising that much power, you

01:58would think they would be a full-time government employee and file a financial disclosure form.

02:03Painter argues that Musk is not a normal special government employee.

02:07SGEs, of which there are typically a few thousand at any given time, tend to be advisory positions

02:13with discrete areas of focus, rather than positions with broad remits and power over

02:18civil servants.

02:20Painter adds, quote,

02:22The point is that someone with this much power isn't supposed to be an SGE.

02:27This SGE thing isn't just a technicality.

02:29They don't want the public to know what Musk owns or what his financial holdings are.

02:33They're avoiding the disclosure law.

02:37Of course, much of Musk's $420 billion net worth, as of February 4th, is already publicly

02:43known.

02:44His $210 billion stake in Tesla is publicly traded, while his $191 billion holdings in

02:50private firms SpaceX, X, formerly Twitter, XAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company are

02:57also publicly known.

02:59These businesses are regulated by, and in some cases doing business with, the federal

03:03government.

03:04SpaceX relies on billions of dollars in federal contracts and has done business with the USAID.

03:10The federal agency Musk now wants to shut down, while Tesla is heavily reliant on China,

03:16which is the carmaker's largest market and producer of Tesla vehicles.

03:21But Musk also has an estimated $9.5 billion in cash and liquid investments from previous

03:27sales of his Tesla shares, which remain shielded from the public's eyes.

03:31The tycoon also owes up to $3.5 billion to banks that extended him personal loans secured

03:38by 238.4 million shares of Tesla, worth about $92 billion, according to Tesla's pledging

03:45policy disclosed in financial filings.

03:49Don Fox, former acting director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics under President

03:53Obama, says, quote,

03:55"...with his immense wealth, there is no way to imagine all of the potential conflicts."

04:01Fox adds that Musk is legally required to file a private OGE Form 450 even if he's not

04:06being paid.

04:07He says, quote,

04:08"...all SGEs must file a financial disclosure because otherwise there is no way to screen

04:14them for conflicts of interest."

04:17For full coverage, check out John Hyatt's piece on Forbes.com.

04:22This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:25Thanks for tuning in.

04:37you

Category

Transcript

Recommended