How Elon Musk Got Around Disclosing His Finances To The Public

Forbes Daily Briefing

Forbes

Careers, Business, News, Entrepreneurship

4.6 • 12 Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 5 minutes

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Summary

The billionaire is wielding immense authority over federal agencies, but unlike cabinet members, doesn’t have to publicly disclose his investments or potential conflicts.

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0:00.0	Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, February 6th. Today on Forbes, how Elon Musk got around
0:08.8	disclosing his finances to the public. In just two weeks, Elon Musk has become one of the most
0:15.2	powerful people in the federal government. After setting up shop in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management,
0:22.7	Musk blast emailed over two million federal employees with the offer to retire early. He has successfully convinced President
0:28.8	Trump to attempt to curb or even shut down the $40 billion U.S. Agency for International
0:34.8	Development. And his team of Doge lieutenants has gained access to the
0:39.4	U.S. Treasury Department's payment service. Until this past Monday, it was not clear what legal
0:45.5	authority Musk had to be carrying out any of these projects. Was he just freelancing under Trump's
0:51.0	direction, or was he an official government employee? The White House
0:55.1	answered the question on Monday when White House press secretary Caroline Levitt announced that
1:00.0	Musk is a special government employee, or SGE. For Musk, the world's richest man, the benefit of
1:07.9	being an SGE, rather than a full-time government employee, is obvious.
1:12.8	He does not have to publicly disclose his financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
1:18.9	Unlike cabinet members, who disclose their investments and business relationships
1:22.9	in forms published for all to see, special government employees complete confidential financial
1:29.0	disclosures, which are also known as OGE form 450s. These forms are only shared with the White
1:35.5	White House and Office of Government Ethics. In the case of Musk, who appears to be wielding
1:40.8	unprecedented power over the federal bureaucracy, this distinction poses ethical
1:45.7	and possible legal issues, according to former White House ethics lawyers who spoke to Forbes.
1:51.9	Richard Painter, former Chief White House Ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration,
1:57.1	says, quote, obviously, this is a workaround in that if someone's exercising that much power,
2:03.0	you would think they would be a full-time government employee and file a financial disclosure form.
	...

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