How Musk associates gained access to federal employees’ private data. In February, Oligarch Watch was the first to reveal how a number of Elon Musk’s associates at the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management gained access to federal human resources databases containing sensitive personal information for millions of federal employees. The access granted Musk’s team the ability to extract information from databases that store medical histories, personally identifiable information, workplace evaluations, and other private data, according to two OPM staffers who spoke with Oligarch Watch. The report was later cited in lawsuits against the Trump administration. The White House responded to the report by placing Oligarch Watch on its “Fake News” enemies list.
Exposing a Musk company that falsified federal forms to qualify for a racial diversity program. In July, Oligarch Watch reported that Neuralink, Musk’s brain-computer interface company, falsely self-certified as a “small disadvantaged business” (SDB) in a federal filing. The designation qualified the company for preferential treatment under a federal racial and ethnic diversity initiative. In response to Oligarch Watch’s reporting, which was picked up by CNBC and other notable outlets, Neuralink dropped the “SDB” from its federal filings. Oligarch Watch previously uncovered that the Boring Company, Musk’s tunneling and transportation venture, claimed to qualify as a small business in federal forms.
Debunking DOGE’s false claims. In March, Oligarch Watch released the DOGE Tracker, a comprehensive tool that tracked how Musk and his team in the Trump administration were wildly overstating the federal savings they claimed from firing workers, cancelling contracts, and other cuts. Musk responded by personally attacking Oligarch Watch in a post on X.
DOGE staffer’s image-sharing site linked to URLs referencing pedophilia. In February, Oligarch Watch reported that Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Musk’s DOGE team, launched an image-sharing website in 2021 that featured custom “shitposting” web addresses that redirected to content hosted on his site. URLs that redirected to Coristine’s site referenced the sale of child sexual abuse material, racial slurs, and rape. Among the links were “child-porn.store” and “kkk-is-cool.club.”
Uncovering a state-backed Chinese firm’s ownership stake in Musk’s SpaceX. In August, Oligarch Watch reported that one of China’s largest companies, the partially state-owned Ping An Group, claimed to hold an ownership stake in SpaceX, a U.S. military contractor and one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Oligarch Watch uncovered the stake during a review of archived Chinese-language documents from a Ping An website. SpaceX has long sought to hide its Chinese investors from the public eye, with company executives fearing that investments from U.S. adversaries could trigger federal scrutiny.
Profiling the surveillance-obsessed oligarch in control of TikTok. In September, Oligarch Watch published a deep dive into Larry Ellison, the 81-year-old centibillionaire who is part of the group of investors buying TikTok’s U.S. operations. The cofounder of software giant Oracle, Ellison has long fixated on the need for draconian domestic surveillance policies. “Citizens will be on their best behavior because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” he said at a 2024 investor meeting. Along with a partial ownership stake in TikTok, Ellison’s company is Donald Trump’s choice to control the social media platform’s powerful algorithm.
Documenting xAI’s reliance on Chinese transformers. In November, Oligarch Watch obtained U.S. customs data showing that Musk’s AI company built its sprawling Memphis data center using more than 2,000 tons of Chinese-made transformers. The arrangement poses potential espionage and sabotage risks, as xAI is a U.S. military contractor and has sought top-secret government contracts. In July, the Defense Department granted the company a contract worth up to $200 million to develop “prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges.” Oligarch Watch also found that the same xAI facility had already been targeted by a “foreign national” with “Russian” ties.
Extraordinary reporting. One hopes this reporting doesn't end up in history's dustbin because the Chinese and Musk have sabotaged and destabilized the U.S. government and left it weakened with infighting and its power depleted to nothing. Although you guys are incredible, Ellison's infrastructure may be able to cancel you completely, like you never existed. Isn't that the next step in our machine run world? Disappearing troublesome humans like they were never born.
Good work!