Billionaire Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and owner of the social network X (formerly known as Twitter), sparked controversy by sharing content on the platform that accuses, without evidence, Mexican businessman Carlos Slim of having ties to drug trafficking.
Musk accompanied the post with an emoji of a face with a lens, which some interpreted as a sarcastic attitude towards the seriousness of the accusation.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2025
The origin of the controversy
The original post came from the account “Wall Street Mav” on X, which cited an article from The New York Times (NYT) on the effects of classifying drug cartels as terrorists during the administration of Donald Trump.
The account insinuated that the NYT defends the interests of Slim, whom it described as “known for having significant ties to drug cartels in Mexico.” They added that “you cannot be a billionaire in Mexico without being part of the controlled and protected network.”
Musk, by sharing this content, unleashed a wave of criticism. Although he did not add any comment beyond the emoji, his action was interpreted as an endorsement of the unfounded accusations.
Slim’s financial ties to the NYT
Carlos Slim, a telecommunications magnate, acquired a stake in the NYT during the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
At the time, the newspaper was facing serious financial problems, and Slim took the opportunity to invest $250 million in the form of loans and warrants.
By 2015, he exercised call options that made him the largest individual shareholder, with 17% of the class A shares, although without editorial control over the media.
In 2017, Slim reduced his stake to 8%, selling half of his shares at market price. The investment was highly profitable: the shares, which were worth less than $5 in 2009, reached $18.60 in 2017, according to the Financial Times.
Background: Slim and Trump’s accusations
This is not the first time that Slim has faced similar attacks. In 2016, during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump accused him of influencing the NYT’s editorial line against him, linking him to the Clinton Foundation. However, Slim’s companies denied any interference in the newspaper’s journalistic content. Trump and Slim later managed to reconcile at a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Musk and recent controversies
Elon Musk is no stranger to scandals. In another recent episode, he was accused of performing a Nazi salute during Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Despite the criticism, Musk dismissed the accusations as “dirty tricks” by his detractors. Organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) defended Musk, calling his gesture “clumsy” but not intentional. However, political figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez harshly criticized the ADL for its stance.
Musk has also been singled out for publicly supporting far-right parties in Europe, such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has intensified the divisions around his public figure.
Musk’s act of sharing content linking Carlos Slim to drug trafficking has generated outrage in multiple sectors, highlighting the lack of evidence to support such claims.
For his part, Slim has not issued any comments on the situation, while critics question Musk’s responsibility as the leader of a global platform to prevent the spread of unfounded accusations.
Source: MSN
