News
Tesla’s monster rally propels Elon Musk past anti-EV oil baron Charles Koch in net worth
Tesla stock has been on a tear recently, with the company receiving a boost from its stellar second quarter delivery numbers. But even before TSLA shares hit new all-time highs on Thursday’s intraday, the electric car maker’s rise ended up pushing CEO Elon Musk a bit higher up on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, thanks to his net worth of $53.4B as of Thursday. With this, Musk actually ended up surpassing the net worth of the US’ premier oil baron, Charles Koch, who is listed in the Index with a net worth of $51.5B.
As of Thursday, Musk stands as the 16th richest person in the world. Koch, meanwhile, stands as the 18th on the list. Granted, Musk’s net worth is tied directly to Tesla and SpaceX’s valuation. However, Musk’s rank today does stand as a symbolic victory for the CEO, considering that he and Koch could not be any more different with regards to their stance on the environment.
Charles Koch is the chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries, which is widely considered as the second-largest closely held business in the United States, operating in oil refining, pipelines, commodities trading, ranching, and paper pulp, among others. Charles Koch and his brother, the late David Koch, are regarded as oil barons, and both have been active in promoting the fossil fuel industry.
Musk and the Koch brothers actually bumped heads somewhat back in 2016, following a report from The Huffington Post alleging that the oil barons were funding efforts to strike back against the rising popularity of electric vehicles, one of them being the Tesla Model S. The HuffPost report, citing refining industry sources, noted that a Koch Industries board member and veteran energy lobbyist will be involved in the anti-EV initiative.
Incidentally, the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a firm registered by Charles Koch and energy expert Robert L. Bradley Jr., actually published an attack against the Tesla Powerwall, claiming that the home battery system (which was then at its Gen 1 version then) would take nearly 40 years to pay off. This prompted a response from Tesla, which called the IER report “elementary at best.”
Elon Musk personally responded to The Huffington Post report as well, expressing dismay at the Koch’s anti-EV initiative. In a follow up post, Musk highlighted that the fossil fuel companies, as well as vehicles that run on the internal combustion engine, are actually “heavily subsidized via oil company tax credits,” as well as “unpaid public health costs.”
Tesla stock has risen further on Thursday’s trading, propelled by the company’s positive Q2 report. With this in mind, Elon Musk may very well rise further in the billionaires’ list soon. Interestingly enough, Musk is known to invest most of his wealth on his own company’s projects. Thus, it appears safe to assume that most of the CEO’s fortune today would likely be used to either accelerate Tesla’s mission of ramping sustainable technology, or SpaceX’s mission of making humans multiplanetary.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.