Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has been in covert communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the past two years, according to a new Wall Street Journal story.

American Tycoons’ Legacy
Musk has been compared to a contentious lineage of powerful American tycoons whose private, foreign affairs frequently ran counter to official U.S. policies as a result of this revelation.

Musk frequently portrays himself as a progressive inventor in fields like space exploration and vehicle electrification, but his ventures into geopolitics draw criticism.

His purported private relationship with Putin is indicative of a mindset that has been prevalent among powerful American businessmen who have exercised their influence internationally.

Magnates like David Rockefeller and Henry Ford have often caused significant diplomatic conflicts in American history.

During the Cultural Revolution, Rockefeller’s Chase Manhattan Bank aimed to maintain relations with China and Iran’s previous Shah, while Ford, a symbol of industry, once embarked on an autonomous mission to end World War I. Both faced criticism for using their personal clout to issues that state ambassadors are supposed to address.

A Serious Danger to Security
Richard Stengel, a former U.S. official from the Obama administration, finds Musk’s interactions with Putin concerning. Stengel cautioned that there may be a security risk associated with Musk’s contacts with foreign officials on a U.S. Treasury blacklist, especially those from autocratic countries like Russia and Syria.

According to Digi24, he particularly cited a Wall Street Journal article that said that, as a favour to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin persuaded Musk to forego turning on Starlink, his satellite internet service, over Taiwan.

Musk is in a unique situation. He oversees a variety of businesses that are vital to American defence and infrastructure, including satellite internet and space missions.

Musk’s pivotal involvement in the space and communications infrastructure makes any government monitoring or intervention more difficult than it was for earlier private-sector behemoths that suffered from policy conflicts. Musk’s necessity begs the crucial issue, as Stengel points out: Is he “too big to fail?”