Elon Musk, renowned for his ambitions in advancing sustainable energy, robotics, and space exploration, has turned his attention to a pressing issue closer to home: illegal immigration.
Despite his demanding responsibilities at the helm of Tesla, SpaceX, and the transformed Twitter platform—now known as X—Musk has ventured into "investigative journalism," delving into the situation on the ground in his adopted home state of Texas.
“The border crisis is worse every day,” posted Musk, who has used his X platform in recent weeks to raise awareness of the issue as the number of crossings has surged.
Referring to reports that New York City mayor Eric Adams is straining to meet the cost of housing migrants, the tycoon warned: “If New York can’t handle it, well pretty much no part of the country can, so if we don’t do something soon we’re just going to have a collapse in social services.”
Nearly 233,000 migrants were detained by customs and borders officials in August after attempting to cross the border illegally, a 27% increase over just the previous month. Figures from September already suggest a fresh record.
Please encourage more citizen journalism! You can do live video easily from your phone.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2023
More on-the-ground reporting from regular citizens will change the world.
No clear benefit for Tesla shareholders
What exactly shareholders in publicly traded Tesla, or even privately held SpaceX, get out of his jaunt to Eagle Pass is unclear.
Tesla bull Matt Smith of Halter Ferguson Financial questioned the logic behind Musk traveling to Eagle Pass at a time when Joe Biden is in Detroit alongside picketing UAW auto workers.
“In a sane world, the President would be trying to solve the border situation and the automotive CEO would be talking to striking workers,” the vice president of equity analysis posted.
While Halter Ferguson’s shares in the automaker do not directly benefit from Musk’s reporting from the ground, the tycoon himself may stand to gain personally by ramping up traffic and data volumes on X.
More social media traffic is needed for his deal to pay off
Following his interview with Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales and Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Musk encouraged more of his users to contribute videos to his ad-supported platform, adopting the guise of "citizen journalism."
Musk's platform, X, is in need of increased traffic, especially considering the financial struggles of the company he acquired for $44 billion last October.
CEO Linda Yaccarino stated that despite significant workforce layoffs, operating the platform still consumes more cash than it generates, with profitability not expected until next year at the earliest.
One factor contributing to this financial challenge is Musk's association with alternative media personalities who share his political views and boast substantial social media followings that he aims to attract to his platform, such as Tucker Carlson.
Speaking to Ben Shapiro on Thursday, Musk said Russell Brand was likely now facing allegations of rape only because he had been “rattling the cage of the powers that be.”
According to a report in the Financial Times, X CEO Linda Yaccarino will meet with representatives from X's seven house banks, which collectively provided $13 billion in financing for the acquisition.
The main agenda of their meeting on Oct. 5 is reportedly Yaccarino's strategy to keep their investment safe—and she’s leaving Musk at home.
“She has to get him out,” the paper quoted one of X’s bankers as saying. “They need ad dollars to come back.”
That would prove difficult if Musk continues to stoke tensions on the platform, the report continued.
When Fortune reached out to X for comment, it replied automatically: “Busy now, check back later.”
