Elon Musk posted twice as often on UK race and immigration as about SpaceX in IPO run-up | Elon Musk

Ahead of his aerospace and artificial intelligence company’s initial public offering, Elon Musk posted about race and immigration in the UK on social media network X twice as often as he did about SpaceX, which he also owns.

Guardian analysis of Musk’s posts, replies and reposts between May 31 and June 12 showed the extent to which the social media activities of the world’s richest man, who lives mainly in the US, were focused on UK politics.

This was a period of growing tensions and concerns about online activity in the UK, particularly on right-wing social media accounts, following the sentencing of Vickrum Digwa for the murder of teenager Henry Nowak, leading to allegations of “anti-white” policing and clashes with police by far-right protesters. It also coincided with violent riots in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where protests broke out following a stabbing attack.

While ministers in Britain were calling for an end to the violence, Musk in the US was preparing for one of the biggest moments in his business career on June 12. This was the day SpaceX’s social media, satellite internet and aviation conglomerate went public, making him the world’s first trillionaire.

Despite this, Guardian analysis shows that Musk posted about race and immigration 303 times in the period leading up to SpaceX’s listing, with almost three-quarters of these relating to UK politics. By comparison, he posted only 114 times (including replies and reposts) about SpaceX, which began trading on Nasdaq on June 12.

Analysis of Musk’s

Following Digwa’s sentencing, Starmer accused Musk of trying to incite division in UK society. He said: “Over the last few days Musk has once again been trying to stir up division by intervening in our politics. That’s not who we are in Britain.”

“In Britain we are reasonable and tolerant people. When faced with a horrific case like Henry’s, we react calmly, just as Henry Nowak and his family did.”

Musk’s focus on politics seemed all the more surprising because he, as an individual, is crucial to SpaceX’s IPO plans and the company’s valuation.

The company allocated an unusually large share of its shares to non-professional, non-institutional investors and relied on Musk’s popularity to help the company raise $75bn (£56bn) – it actually raised $85.7bn. Organized events and summer trips to raise funds.

At X the night before the IPO, Musk’s focus did not appear to be on these potential buyers. Instead, it was rebroadcasting a video of Rupert Lowe, leader of the far-right Restore Britain party, calling on the UK to deport immigrants who cannot financially support themselves. This was just one of nearly a dozen posts Musk made about UK immigration and politics that day. In a number of other posts he reflected on “multiculturalism” and the treachery of the west more generally.

In one of them, he responded to an account that questioned “why Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, spends his days fighting a culture war instead of enjoying his billions on the beach.” In response, Musk wrote:: “If civilization collapses, nothing else matters.”

Musk has occasionally focused on the Nowak case; He posted as many as five times in 10 minutes about the topic and UK politics. HE Highlighted details about Nowak’s death and accounts from the United States, France, and Japan discussing the case were republished. At least 20 of these posts have been viewed 10 million times.

Musk has also backed Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, including appearing live at the right-wing activist’s Unite the Kingdom rally in 2025.

Musk was condemned by the British government for the words he used after the rally. “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die,” he said.

Musk’s focus on race and immigration, as well as UK politics, has only grown stronger over the past two years. The Guardian also analyzed his tweets, replies and reposts from other major periods of protest in the country.

It was revealed that less than 7% of his posts during the 2024 summer riots were about race and immigration policies in the UK, while 31% of his tweets between May 31 and June 12 coincided with protests in Southampton and Belfast, where Nowak was killed.

Dr. is a research fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics. Michael Vaughan said Musk’s wealth and involvement with far-right figures make him a skewed presence in democratic politics.

“Musk has become increasingly important in European politics in recent years, at a time when his wealth has increased exponentially,” he said.

“We saw encouraging and legitimizing language from Musk. People in organizations that might otherwise have had a marginal status suddenly gained a status and legitimacy that made it difficult to ignore their relevance.”

A report prepared by Center for Combating Digital Hate It found that replies to Musk’s posts following the stabbing attack in Belfast included 240 calls for violence. It also found that Musk’s statements and responses to Lowe and Robinson generated 64 million views on his posts, more than his own followers generated.