When asset managers have to submit a form with the abbreviation “13F” to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on a quarterly basis, only the insiders know how explosive these documents are. Hedge fund managers, fund asterisks and investment gurus have to disclose in the form what they would actually rather keep secret: which stocks they bought and which ones flew upside down from the depots. What company leader Elon Musk discovered in these documents seemed to have stuck with him for days. Until it burst out of him on Tuesday morning at 4:02 a.m. German time. On Twitter, where else?
Already on Friday, the well-known stock exchange billionaire George Soros, 92, revealed something amazing: He sold his shares in the electric car manufacturer Tesla worth 16.3 million euros in the past few months, and the investor did not even keep a single Tesla paper . “Soros reminds me of Magneto”, tweeted Musk now on Tuesday morning, a few minutes later in the direction of Soros to follow up: “He wants to undermine the foundations of humanity. He hates humanity.”
On the surface, there are few similarities between Soros and Magneto, the super villain from the US Marvel comics. The fantasy character can generate magnetic fields, shoot electromagnetic pulses and impose her will on others. But especially with the last quality, many had found the parallel to Soros. About 30 years ago he bet against the British pound and even forced the Bank of England to give in.
However, if you take a closer look at Musk’s statements, you can see a clear anti-Semitic subtext. The SZ has asked several anti-Semitism experts to analyze the US businessman’s tweets. They all come to a clear conclusion: Musk’s statements are based on anti-Semitic codes, for which he should actually be sensitized. “We have observed Elon Musk’s statements with concern,” says Benjamin Steinitz from the Federal Association of Research and Information Centers on Antisemitism (RIAS). The former UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, David Kaye, also spoke in a tweet of “Soros-inciting anti-Semitism”.
Thus, in the Marvel Comics, Magneto is credited with a history as a Holocaust survivor who henceforth despises humanity and believes in the superiority of so-called mutants. According to experts, Musk indirectly connects to this background if Soros, from his point of view, “hates humanity”. Instead of specifically criticizing the sale of Tesla shares, Musk operates with crude verbal equipment and stylizes Soros as the secret puller of a global conspiracy against humanity. “As a well-known Jewish person, he is singled out and given unlimited power. This is how the abstract image of the Jewish world conspiracy is served,” says expert Benjamin Steinitz. Musk’s statements can be connected to conspiracy myths, which Musk normalizes a hundred million times.
Musk’s tweet could soon have an aftermath
As a Hungarian Jew, the stock exchange billionaire Soros has been an alluring figure for years. “Since 2015, the billionaire and philanthropist has repeatedly served as the enemy of conspiracy ideology circles,” says anti-Semitism expert Steinitz. Anti-Semites and right-wing extremists spin a variety of conspiracy myths about Soros, recently refuted by fact checkers from the Reuters news agency. Like other major investors, Soros regularly has to disclose his purchases and sales to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, but they regularly cause a stir and rumours.
Musk’s comments come at the wrong time for Tesla — if there’s ever a good time for such a thing. On Tuesday, Tesla had its annual shareholders’ meeting, at which a special motion was to be debated this time: An Irish investor suggested that Tesla management urgently need to analyze the so-called “key person risk”. If shareholders approve the proposal, managers would have to name certain individuals, like Musk, on whom electric car maker Tesla is overly dependent. And their behavior.
Even influential capital market players like the rating agency Morningstar recommended investors in advance to force Tesla to do exactly this analysis. Musk’s tweet could soon have an aftermath. Some may also remember that Musk recently sold Tesla shares himself. Incidentally, unlike Soros, he was not talking about millions, but billions.