Elon Musk’s Attack On George Soros ‘Distressing’ And ‘Dangerous’, Jewish Group Says

Topline

The second-richest man in the world Elon Musk’s recent tirade against fellow billionaire George Soros relies on long-shared antisemitic tropes and could stoke further antisemitic attacks, the Anti-Defamation League said Tuesday.

George Soros delivers speaks at Davos 2020.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Musk fired a tweet Monday likening Soros to Magneto, the fictional comic book supervillain who is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust like Soros, subsequently claiming Soros “hates humanity” and “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization.”

Musk’s posts echo historical stereotypes against Jews that are “distressing” and “dangerous,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted Tuesday.

The prominent social media attack on Soros “will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result,” Greenblatt added.

Soros, a mega-donor to progressive and Democratic causes, faced an assassination attempt in 2018 when a pipe bomb was sent to his New York home, and has drawn the ire of mostly far-right figures, often drawing on problematic issues about Jews’ outsized influence on global politics and business.

Musk has yet to respond to allegations of his comments being antisemitic and did not immediately respond to an emailed inquiry.

Forbes Valuations

Musk is worth $175 billion, the largest fortune of any American, while Soros is worth $6.7 billion, according to our latest estimates.

Surprising Fact

Anti-Jewish attacks accounted for 51% of all religiously motivated hate crimes and 9% of all hate crimes in the U.S. in 2021, according to the FBI. Jews make up about 2.4% of the American population.

Key Background

Born in Hungary in 1930, the 92-year-old Soros shot to fame in 1992 when he shorted the British pound and profited $1.5 billion in a single month. Soros has given a purported $32 billion to his Open Society philanthropic group and gave nearly $400 million to Democratic causes ahead of the 2022 midterms elections via his personal wealth and Open Society. In recent weeks, Republicans including former President Donald Trump have targeted Soros for his seven-figure donation of a PAC which backed Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan prosecutor heading the probe against Trump. Baseless rumors circulated over the weekend that Soros died of a heart attack, leading the financier to tweet Monday he’s “alive and healthy.”

Tangent

Soros’ hedge fund disclosed Friday it sold all of its roughly $16 million stake in Tesla, which Musk leads as CEO.