JANUARY 15, 2025 – I’m happy enough with my little stash of acorns—the exact location of which I know, unlike actual squirrels, who are notorious for amnesia—not to get too worked up about all the ways and means that the mega-wealthy in our society amass, stash and leverage their grand hoards of acorns. Academically speaking, however, I can and do get very indignant over the attitude of people such as the poster child for the mega-rich, President Musk himself, richest man to walk the earth since Mansa Musa, master of Mali.[1]
You may have caught yesterday’s low-key announcement by the S.E.C. that in these waning days of the Biden Administration, the agency has filed a suit against incoming President Musk for having violated disclosure laws in his 2022 acquisition of Twitter, since renamed, “X.”[2]. It’s most likely a throw-away suit, since the incoming S.E.C. commissioner will doubtless pay homage to the incoming Kleptocrat in Chief.
To shed a flashlight beam of light on the issue, S.E.C. rules require that once a person acquires 5% of the outstanding shares of a public company, a disclosure notice must be filed with the agency. The rationale behind this eminently rational mandate is simple fairness. Specifically, the rule is designed to prevent someone from buying up shares out of the public eye to allow that someone to acquire a greater number of shares (and control) at a lower price. For those who see it as “over-regulation” and interference by the “gov’mnt” in the free market, think again. It’s actually a device to ensure protection of the fundamental operating principle of base-line capitalism, namely, Price = Supply/Demand.
In the case at hand, President Musk waited to file the required disclosure until after he’d acquired 5% of Twitter stock. After his late filing, Twitter stock skyrocketed by a whopping 27%—proof positive that the rule is a good idea if you’re a purist about being a capitalist or simply a fan of playing fair. The S.E.C. later sued and noticed his deposition. After a year-long game of cat and mouse (under the rules of procedures in nearly all jurisdictions, the notice period for depositions is 30 days), the Muskrat finally showed up to give testimony.
When a federal judge denied a motion by the S.E.C. for sanctions against Mr. “I Can Do Whatever I Please, Because I’m Worth Billions upon Billions of Dollars,” the latter thumbed his nose at the S.E.C. and posted an incoherent message on X: “SEC. The middle word is definitely ‘Elon’s’, but I can never remember what the other two words stand for.” For the joke—if that’s what it was—to work at all, “word” and “words” would have to be “letter” and “letters.” What’s no joke is that the man’s power, influence and arrogance are antithetical to a democracy based on the bedrock principle of “one person, one vote.”
Now that Mr. Musk’s man—bought and paid for—will soon be re-occupying the White House, Elon has little to worry about from the S.E.C. or other federal regulators. The rule of law, as it were, will soon be eviscerated as far as the mega-rich are concerned. Money has always talked in America, but in this brave new world of ours, mega money out-shouts lesser coinage—not to mention the electoral process. If the nation thinks it elected Mr. Donald J. Pyrite as president, the de facto president doesn’t think so.
By way of (a) 77,303,573 votes for Mr. Pyrite, and (b) 2,568,997 votes in aggregate for Jill Stein, RFK, Jr., Oliver Stone, and a small crowd of “other candidates,[3]” we allowed the Musk Man to steal our democracy right out from under us. We now live in an actual, not figurative, kleptocracy. The richest man in the world will become—No! has already become—even richer, because the rules that apply to you and me won’t apply to him.
As I said at the outset, I’m happy with my stash of acorns. As long as I can keep them safe, I’ll have the luxury of sitting in my little woods, reading the news from afar, and reacting with righteous indignation—before enjoying another woodland walk. But what of the millions in this country—many of whom voted for Pyrite—who have no stash but must scavenge from acorn to acorn? What crumbs, what hope, what succor will they be granted by the Mega Master of Money (and apparently too, the Master of Austerity, as leader of DOGE) who sucked the democracy clear out of our ballot boxes?
We should be outraged. Correction: going back years ago, we should have been more vigilant, better informed, more engaged and in more dedicated to our democracy. We let down our guard and standards, and in swept the wolves and thieves.
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© 2025 by Eric Nilsson
[1] And no, I’m not making up that man—for alliterative amusement or otherwise. By many economic historians, at least, he is considered the wealthiest . . . mortal ever to have walked the earth. The ninth king (mansa) of the Empire of Mali in West Africa, he embarked on his hajj in 1324 (he ruled from 1312 until his death in 1337) with tens of thousands of minions and slaves in tow carried by an endless caravan of camels. When he and his entourage landed in Cairo, they injected so much gold into the local economy, the loot triggered a major bout of inflation.
[2] In honor, presumably, of one of the anonymous children he’s fathered but not yet “exhibitioned” on his shoulders while parading arrogantly through the U.S. Capitol.
[3] The final popular vote for Harris was 75,019,257—producing a margin of loss that was less than the aggregate third-party vote.
