Explore the hidden election that empowered Elon Musk, and how his increased political autonomy is a parasite on democracy.

I asked a friend of mine what he thought of Elon Musk, “powerful” he said. I thought about his response repeatedly in the days that followed. How can someone without any political experience or credentials hold influence inside one of the most powerful nations on planet earth? 

It didn’t take me long to realise precisely how. £350 billion dollars and a f**k load of influence on the one thing President Trump thinks about more than anything in the world. Not his children, policy or the tear dripping presidential answer; “the United States.” 

The god forsaken markets

According to Entrepreneur, in the days that followed the 2024 US Presidential election, Tesla prices soared roughly 35%, and the market value of the company surpassed $1tn for the first time in two years. Musk’s personal wealth increased over $70bn as a result, but the partnership between Musk and Trump had the potential to be worth so much more.  

Productive political discourse has undoubtedly deteriorated since Musk arrived on the political stage and the social media giant ‘X’ has followed suit under his possession, with hatred, racism and misogyny across the app spreading like a wildfire, and the limitations of free speech going beyond the point of rationality. 

But how did we get to this point? And why should we in Britain be so anxious about this in regard to our democracy for the future? 

The power of Musk

Now let’s make one thing clear. Musk has been interested in politics for a long time. Long before his $44bn acquisition of Twitter in 2022, he was spouting his political nonsense/opinions across the site. But the potential for businesspeople to enter the political scene as a result of their financial situation has never been more ripe than today. 

The significance of this fact proved a pivotal turning point in the electing of Donald Trump (again), and beyond the evident threat such developments pose to democratic principles, there are emerging indications that Elon Musk may attempt to exert his influence over UK politics. 

This is a worrying indictment for what could be to come, as if Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe were not enough, the technology tycoon’s presence in British politics looks to be drawing ever closer. 

Dr Mark Shanahan is an Associate Professor of Political engagement at the University of Surrey and spent over 20 years as a journalist specialising in politics: “We’re at a state in our politics where trust in the two major parties is as low as I’ve known it, and there is a sense outsiders may do better,” he says. 

The recent rise of the Reform Party presents a timely opening for such involvement, with Musk’s role in American politics demonstrating that vast personal wealth can serve as a direct conduit to political power, a trend once inconceivable, but now increasingly prevalent. 

Unlike any election that came before, the 2024 US Presidential election for example was not won on the ground, nor in the air for that matter. It was won on a screen. And director of productions for the output on that screen was Elon Musk, owner of the most powerful platform in the world, ‘X’. Whatever ‘X’ means. 

It is projected that over 108 million people use ‘X’ in the United States, and as the election drew nearer, the output of both Musk and Trump was seemingly as high as it had ever been, and this was by design. 

Research by Professors Timothy Graham and Mark Andrejevic for example suggests viewership of Musk’s posts increased by 138% in the build-up to the election, whilst exposure to his retweets increased by 238%. These figures were manipulated by Musk himself, controlling the algorithms to favour users he had chosen, more often than not spouting similar political garbage to him. A trend with a worrying trajectory with Musk’s move across the Atlantic looking ever more ominous, boosting the potential viewership of Britain’s far-right. 

David Graham is a writer for the Atlantic and author of ‘The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America’. Mr Graham explained what impact this split has left on US Politics: “I think the attempt to fire or force out civil servants and shrink the executive branch will be permanent, because it will be impossible for any new president to simply put those things back,” he says.

Furthermore, since Musk’s takeover of ‘X’, not only has his role in politics increased, but so has the level of negativity on the platform, with a significant rise in hate spreading across the site. A fact so severe, studies suggest hate speech was 50% higher in the eight months following Musk’s purchase of the platform. All of which having real world consequences, with studies suggesting a positive correlation between online hate speech on X, and real-world hate crimes.

As Musk’s role in US politics dwindles, the opportunity for impact in Britain begins to flourish. The parasite that is Elon Musk continues to mutate and the absurdity of personal wealth equalling political power shines bright like a billionaire powered supernova.