Article originally in the Financial Times. Other articles .
Gideon Rachman is the main foreign policy commentator of the Financial Times
Tom Wolfe invented the term “Lords of the Universe” as an ironic designation of Wall Street traders. Elon Musk takes this idea literally. He hopes to colonize Mars. Musk, however, crashed on the ground. After a rupture with Donald Trump, the richest man of the world found that he was not even the master of Washington – not yet the universe.
Musk’s fall fits into a global formula. For decades of globalization, they have created extremely rich oligarchs all over the world. But when the power of money and political power meets, there is only one thing to bet. Politics always has the upper hand.
Power comes from mainly rifles
In such different countries as Russia, China, Saudi Arabia – and now in the United States – the oligarchs who have grown independent political ambitions have received a violent reminder of who has real power.
The victory of politics over money may be a surprise for Marxists, but also for too self -confident capitalists who believe that politicians will always dance by how the super -rich whistle.
However, as Mao Ce-Tung noted, the power is based on the rifle. The domination of the state authorities – army, state prosecutors, tax authorities – is ultimately more than billions in the bank.
Of course, politicians need money, especially on the way up. The elections are expensive and clientelistic policy of the authoritarian state as well. Musk’s financial support helped Trump to win the presidential election in 2024.
Jack escaped me easily
The rise of Vladimir Putin to the peak of power in Russia was enabled by some of the richest men of the country. They were hoping to be a guardian of the huge property they won in the 1990s. But when Putin settled firmly in the Kremlin, he showed the oligarch who was the master.
When Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then the richest man of Russia, began to become an independent political force, Putin had arrested him. Khodorkovsky served in prison for ten years. Boris Berezovsky, who also gained enormous wealth in Yeltsin’s years, was forced to leave exile and died under mysterious circumstances.
Jack, the richest man of China at that time, escaped quite easily. President Si Jin-Pching apparently considered his sharply watched and sometimes open views a challenge. After a speech of 2020, in which Jack criticized me financial regulatory authorities, the offer of shares of his company Ant Goup was suspended and he himself almost completely disappeared from the public sight.
The Communist Party showed the most important Chinese capitalist where his place is. Jack avoided me in prison and began to perform in public again. However, Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong Media Mogan, who supported the Prodemocratic Movement in this territory, is currently serving a long prison sentence.
When the oligarch becomes a politician
In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose Trump is very admiring, also showed that he can force the richest men in his kingdom to obey. In 2017 he closed dozens of rich entrepreneurs in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, allegedly within the anti-corruption cleansing. Among them was Prince Walid Bin Talál, the most famous investor of the kingdom. This episode sent a message about the hardness of power that was never forgotten.
The best way for a billionaire to be isolated from the whims of the country’s leader is to become a leader. Such a way was taken by Silvio Berlusconi, a controversial tycoon who founded his own political party and was the Prime Minister of Italy for three terms. Billionaire Bidzin Ivanišvili, who became a Georgian prime minister, went in a similar way.
Trump himself used his wealth to finance his entry into politics. However, few oligarchs can go into politics. And those who act on the edge must proceed with caution. In order to maintain their wealth and freedom, they must understand where the borders are. In India, the fairy -tale family Ambani maintains close ties to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, they never tried to challenge his leadership.
The richest man Mexico Carlos Slim maintains close relations with several Mexican presidents, rarely expressing his political views. Slim’s studied neutrality allowed him to maintain influence regardless of the government. He even cooperated with the left -wing President Andrés Manuel Lópeza ceremony and participated in major infrastructure projects.
Never say never
Many Americans would be horrified to the idea that the relationship between money and power in their country can be compared to how things happen in China, Russia, Saudi Arabia or Mexico. After all, the United States has long been functioning democracy with established property rights.
The idea that the President could use the law to perform a vendet against the richest man of the country is still a bit shocking. However, the President has already said that Musk could lose federal contracts and warned him of “very serious consequences” if he supported the Democrats.
Some of Trump’s most ardent supporters want to go much further. Steve Bannon proposed to nationalize Musk’s SpaceX, which plays a key role in federal space programs. He also called on Trump to investigate Musk’s immigration status to deport it. Expropriation? Expensation? All of this sounds very non -American. But this is Trump’s America. Never say never.
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