Readers speak: Elon Musk, as America’s first, and to date, only oligarch

It’s not hyperbole to label centibillionaire, Elon Musk, as America’s first, and to date, only oligarch. An oligarch is a member of a small and privileged group that exercises power in a society or government by maintaining close links to government circles and leaders. Musk’s companies have billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government.

Now, with his extraordinarily close relationship with soon to be President Trump, he stands to enrich himself even further to a level incomprehensible to everyday Americans. The day after Trump was elected, the price of Musk’s Tesla corporation soared, and Musk’s wealth spiked by over $20 billion. Nothing in this world impresses and captures Donald Trump’s attention and admiration more than someone’s wealth, and no person on planet Earth has more of it than does Elon Musk.



While it may not be exactly accurate or fair to say that he will be a “shadow” president, it is fair to say that his influence, on a wide range of affairs, on the easily manipulable Trump, will likely be singularly remarkable. Ken Derow, Swarthmore, Penn..