Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Billions of Ways to Influence an Election

[Uncle Joe]

The world’s richest men have their own rocket fleets, their own media and their own schemes to succeed with Donald J. Trump.

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have taken different approaches to the presidential election, with varying results.Credit...Nina Westervelt for The New York Times, Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

(snip)

Mr. Musk, Mr. Bezos and other extremely rich people are confronted with unusual opportunities and invisible perils in the tightest, most dramatic, chaotic and highest stakes political battle in modern times. Everyone has a stake in this election, of course, but the very wealthy have so much at stake — or at least think they do — that they are perhaps inevitably trying to shape it, too.

(snip)

Mr. Musk would no doubt like to get the government off his own back. His companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, are the subject of over 20 investigations or reviews, a New York Times examination found. Tesla’s push for autonomous driving is a particular focus for regulators. Just last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was investigating several self-driving crashes involving fog and dust.

Mr. Musk, who has offered himself to Mr. Trump as a sort of inspector general for government waste, has regularly tussled with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The commission has probed the entrepreneur’s 2022 purchase of X, then called Twitter. Mr. Musk did not show up for a deposition in September, leading to an S.E.C. request that sanctions be imposed on him.

(snip)

Mr. Bezos, too, has business with the government. Most notably, the U.S. Department of Justice is bringing Amazon to court, accusing it of antitrust violations.

(snip)

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/30/technology/jeff-bezos-elon-musk-election.html

[Walleye]

1. They are doing worse than influencing the election, they are a shadow legislature

They’ve gotten a taste of this power since they’ve been allowed to become so obscenely wealthy. Now they’re hooked on it.