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Elon Musk

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Elon Musk
Born
Elon Reeve Musk

June 28, 1971 (aged 51)
Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa

Elon Musk is a South African-born, naturalized Statesian billionaire capitalist who owns Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter, all of which he purchased but did not found.[1] He was born in South Africa and has a net worth of $254 billion as of December 2023, making him the richest person in the world.[2] In April 2022, he announced his plan to buy Twitter.[3]

His company Tesla has been accused of spying on workers to prevent their unionizing,[4] allowing rampant sexual harassment of women[5] and racism against black workers,[6] and having terrible working conditions in the factories.[7] Since 2006, at least 160 worker lawsuits have been filed against the company.[6]

Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and quickly began mass firing of its workers.[8]

Imperialism[edit | edit source]

In 2019, Elon Musk admitted to promoting CIA-backed coup in Bolivia on Twitter with his now infamous "We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it." tweet.[9][10]

In police operations in 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.[11] Gold mining activities in the country contribute to the growing deforestation and water contamination, as well as violence against indigenous communities.[12] Starlink was approved to run operations in the country in 2022, under the government of Brazilian fascist Jair Bolsonaro, under the pretext of "supplying internet to 19,000 schools in remote areas of Brazil."[13]

Anti-union activities[edit | edit source]

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.[14][15] In the same period, several bourgeois media outlets, such as Business Insider, pushed articles related to Musk's donations to charity from a year before.[16]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Kevin Reed (2022-11-19). "Musk’s attack on Twitter workers brings company to the brink of collapse" WSWS. Archived from the original on 2022-11-20. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  2. "Elon Musk" (2022-05-01). Forbes. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  3. Giles Turner, Maxwell Adler (2022-04-14). "Elon Musk Makes $43 Billion Unsolicited Bid to Take Twitter Private" Bloomberg. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  4. "Union accuses Tesla of spying on workers at Buffalo plant" (2021-06-20). The Buffalo News.
  5. "Tesla worker files suit over 'nightmarish' harassment" (2021-11-19). BBC.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Horrific allegations of racism prompt California lawsuit against Tesla" (2022-02-11). Los Angeles Times.
  7. "Tesla factory workers reveal pain, injury and stress: 'Everything feels like the future but us'" (2017-05-18). The Guardian.
  8. Kevin Reed (2022-11-04). "Elon Musk begins mass layoffs at Twitter" WSWS. Archived from the original on 2022-11-12. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  9. “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.””

    "‘We will coup whoever we want!’: the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros" (2023-11-25). The Guardian. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  10. "Elon Musk Confesses to Lithium Coup in Bolivia" (2020-07-25). TeleSur. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  11. “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.”

    "Internet de Musk deu suporte para ao menos 20 garimpos ilegais na Amazônia em um ano" (2024-04-12). Rede Brasil Atual. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  12. “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.”

    "The impact of mining on the Brazilian Amazon" (2022-04-22). Forests & Finance. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  13. “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.”

    "Musk's internet service arrived in Brazil marked by irregularities and was used by miners in the Yanomami Indigenous Land" (2024-04-09). Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  14. "Tesla fires more than 30 workers after union drive announcement" (2023-02-17). The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  15. "Elon Musk’s Tesla fires employees at the factory that just announced it wants to unionize" (2023-02-16). Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  16. "Elon Musk donated nearly $2 billion worth of Tesla stock to a charity last year, SEC filing shows" (2023-02-15). Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-03-01.