Elon Musk Created A Mysterious Corporation Called
‘United States Of America Inc’
BySarah Emerson Forbes US Staff
Oct 18, 2024, 0:20 AM
While the company’s purpose is
unknown, it shares its name with a widely debunked conspiracy theory, and
follows Trump’s claim that Musk will lead a proposed government efficiency
commission.
Republican mega-donor Elon Musk has
quietly incorporated two new companies that could indicate his further
involvement in U.S. politics, Forbes has learned.
Established earlier this month, the
mysterious entities were formed in the billionaire’s home state of Texas using
an address shared with his family office; they are United States of America
Inc., and Group America LLC. Neither has been previously reported.
There’s little to illuminate their
purpose, but United States of America Inc. appears to be a holding company and
identifies Musk as its sole director. It’s listed as the managing member of
Group America LLC, which does not name Musk, but is linked to him through the
address that’s exclusively shared by a number of his companies, including Musk
Ventures and several LLCs he’s reportedly also used to conduct business.
Representatives for Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the past few months, the tech
mogul has loudly supported Trump. At a campaign rally last week, he
notoriously leapt about the stage. Now, he’s touring Pennsylvania, an important
battleground state, to stump for the former president. Musk has also become one of Trump’s top donors,
contributing at least $75 million to “America PAC,” the pro-Trump political
action committee he launched in May, according to newly filed campaign finance
records.
And while Musk only publicly endorsed Trump in July, calling him “tough” and a
“martyr” following the Pennsylvania assassination attempt on the former
president, he’s been reportedly financing Republican causes for years. Unlike
his public donations to America PAC, Musk has also funneled millions of dollars
to conservative ad campaigns through an LLC used to fund “dark money” groups,
which aren’t legally required to disclose their donors, the Wall Street Journal
reported. In 2022, more than $50 million of his funds reportedly wound up with
Citizens for Sanity, a group behind a string of attack ads on transgender
rights, crime and immigration, with ties to Trump’s former speechwriter Stephen
Miller.
Musk’s new companies don’t show up
in Federal Election Commission records that could reveal whether they’ve been
used to give or receive campaign funds. The most recent batch of filings stop
at this year’s third fiscal quarter, which does not include the month of
October when Musk’s companies were incorporated.
Like many high profile individuals, Musk has relied on LLCs and shell companies to obscure some
of his activities. In Bastrop, Texas, his tunneling venture, The Boring
Company, used an LLC called Gapped Bass to purchase large swaths of land.
Forbes previously reported how his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, distributed nondisclosure agreements through a sister
entity to keep its supercomputer project quiet.
Curiously, United States of America
Inc. also shares its name with a far-right conspiracy theory.
Some extremist enclaves and
“sovereign citizens” (anti-government individuals who claim to be outside the
government’s jurisdiction) believe the country was secretly reorganized as a
for-profit corporation, according to misinterpretations of the 1871 law that
municipally incorporated and established the District of Columbia. Ryan Bundy —
son of Cliven Bundy, whose violent standoff with federal law enforcement agents
in 2014 has come to symbolize the sovereign movement — referred to the “United
States of America Inc.” in his subsequent lawsuit against the U.S. government.
In 2021, Qanon followers recycled this claim to argue
that President Biden’s inauguration was actually illegitimate. The conspiracy
theory has been thoroughly discredited by historians, legal experts and
disinformation researchers.
Musk does not appear to have
espoused or even remarked on the theory and there’s no evidence to suggest it’s
related to his new corporation. Still, “United States of America Inc” has been
tweeted at him dozens of times by X users seemingly pushing this ideology. The
billionaire has been known to blur the line between online trolling and real
life, but it’s unclear why he chose this name.
Musk has made an extensive effort to
influence American politics, both out in the open and behind closed doors. His
America PAC has courted donations from Silicon Valley peers like investor Marc
Andreessen and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale. The committee is now offering
to pay citizens who convince swing state voters to sign a pledge in support of
the First and Second Amendments. Earlier this year, he covertly bankrolled a
campaign to unseat a Texas district attorney by funding ads that claimed the
prosecutor was “filling Austin’s streets with pedophiles & killers,” the
Wall Street Journal reported.
Another possibility is that Musk’s
new entities have something to do with his plans for a second Trump
administration. “At the suggestion of Elon Musk,” Trump said last month, the billionaire has expressed
interest in spearheading the creation of a government efficiency commission to
“totally eliminate fraud and improper payments” through a widespread federal
audit. “This is badly needed,” Musk responded, and tweeted the crypto-themed
acronym D.O.G.E — Department of Government Efficiency.
With reporting from Zach Everson.
By Sarah Emerson Forbes US Staff
Sarah
Emerson is a senior writer who reports on technology companies and culture in
Silicon Valley. She's broken news about the empires of billionaires such as
Eric Schmidt and fallen billionaire Ryan Breslow. Sarah has also followed the
trends and ideologies shaping today's AI zeitgeist. Previously, she wrote about
tech and science for BuzzFeed News and VICE, and studied art history at the
University of Hawaiʻi.