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On Sunday, Elon Musk was spotted watching the World Cup final unrecorded astatine Lusail Stadium successful Qatar, surrounded by a radical of high-profile businesspeople and politicians.
Photos taken of Musk during the lucifer amusement him drinking from a vino glass, lasting amid a radical that included erstwhile president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Qatari leaders and an Indian steelmaking magnate.
“At the World Cup close now,” Musk posted connected Twitter, which helium owns, soon earlier kickoff, on with a video taken wrong the stadium. The station ignited a watercourse of comments from users, speedy to constituent retired that Musk could person violated his ain precocious announced anti-doxing policy.
While helium was watching the game, a caller circular of contention was gripping the societal media tract helium purchased successful October. Near the extremity of the game, Twitter’s argumentation squad banned users from promoting different societal media networks — prompting adjacent immoderate of Musk’s closest supporters to question the policy. After the game, Musk tweeted that the argumentation would beryllium tweaked, and past apologized for it. Minutes later, astatine 2:20 a.m. successful Qatar, Musk tweeted a canvass asking Twitter if helium should measurement down arsenic CEO.
It’s not wide if Musk’s interactions with the Qataris oregon immoderate of the different affluent businesspeople astatine the crippled affected his determination to station a referendum connected his leadership, oregon if helium asked them for much investment. But his beingness astatine the crippled gives a glimpse into the satellite Musk travels in, jetting crossed the globe successful a backstage pitchy to walk clip with the ruling princes of Gulf petro-states and instrumentality selfies with societal media celebrities similar Salt Bae. Musk did not respond for to a petition for comment.
Here’s who helium watched the lucifer with.
Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud
Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO of Qatar Investment Authority, was pictured sitting adjacent to Musk and erstwhile president Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner during the final. A spokesperson for the sovereign wealthiness money confirmed that Al-Mahmoud was photographed astatine the match.
The QIA, which is liable for investing billions of dollars of the country’s wealthiness from earthy state into companies and infrastructure projects, has ties to some men. The money was a large capitalist successful Musk’s takeover of Twitter, giving him $375 cardinal to assistance instrumentality the institution private, according to SEC filings.
“We judge successful Elon’s leadership, and that’s wherefore we person committed connected this transaction,” Al-Mahmoud said astatine the Qatar Economic Forum successful June.
“The ballot of assurance is overmuch appreciated,” Musk tweeted successful effect to a video of Al-Mahmoud’s remarks.
A spokesperson for QIA declined to remark connected immoderate imaginable discussions betwixt the fund’s CEO and Musk.
Kushner was spotted entering the stadium with erstwhile Austrian chancellor and person of the far-right Austrian People’s Party, Sebastian Kurz, according to media reports. After stepping down amid a corruption ungraded successful October 2021, Kurz took a occupation with Thiel Capital, tally by the right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, who worked with Musk during the aboriginal days of PayPal. Last month, Kurz joined an advisory assembly affiliated with the Kushner-founded Abraham Accords Peace Institute.
Following the acquisition of Twitter, Musk invited Kushner’s father-in-law backmost to the societal media level aft Trump was banned for inciting unit connected Jan. 6. Trump has said helium won’t instrumentality to Twitter and is focusing connected the competing societal media level of which he’s the bulk proprietor — Truth Social.
Kushner has long-standing and arguable ties to Qatar, dating to his father-in-law’s run and presidency. Starting successful 2015, Kushner’s household institution reportedly sought Qatari concern successful a 5th Avenue, 41-story Midtown Manhattan bureau gathering that was purchased for a record-setting $1.8 cardinal successful 2007. In 2018, Brookfield Asset Management invested $1.2 cardinal successful the building, redeeming the Kushners from perchance defaulting connected a loan.
QIA had invested successful an limb of Brookfield, raising questions astir the transaction, fixed Kushner’s power connected White House Mideast policy. In 2018, Brookfield said “no Qatar-linked entity has immoderate engagement successful oregon adjacent cognition of this imaginable transaction.” But Democrats person continued probing whether immoderate Qatari wealth went into the project.
Amid renewed scrutiny of the woody precocious this year, Qatar Investment Authority declined to comment, and neither Jared Kushner oregon his father, Charles Kushner, responded to requests from The Washington Post for comment. The Post again did not person remark from a spokesperson for Jared Kushner erstwhile asked astir his beingness astatine the World Cup final.
Musk shook hands with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The 2 spoke concisely done translators. Musk antecedently visited Erdogan astatine the statesmanlike palace successful Ankara successful 2017, and they’ve spoken respective times successful video and telephone calls. Erdogan precocious said helium mightiness sermon Twitter with Musk and however the company’s erstwhile ownership interacted with him, according to Turkish authorities media. Musk’s rocket institution SpaceX besides carried a Turkish communications outer into abstraction past year.
Erdogan, president since 2014, has steadily centralized much power of the state nether his power. He has astatine points blocked overseas societal media companies, including Twitter, from operating successful the country. In 2021, Turkey banned Twitter from advertizing successful the state due to the fact that it did not comply with a caller instrumentality requiring overseas societal media companies to person Turkey-based staff. Internet state advocates person said specified laws successful Turkey and different countries let the authorities to unit changes astatine societal media companies by threatening employees with jailhouse clip if they don’t comply. The Turkish authorities says the rules are indispensable to support power implicit the country’s integer space.
A spokesperson for Erdogan did not respond to a petition for comment.
Lakshmi Mittal, enforcement president of steelmaking behemoth ArcelorMittal, was seen speaking with Musk and Kushner during the match. The Indian billionaire began moving with his family’s alloy works successful the 1970s and grew the institution rapidly, buying state-owned alloy plants each implicit the satellite for debased prices and turning them profitable.
In 2006, helium led a palmy hostile takeover of Arcelor, creating the world’s second-biggest steelmaking corporation, portion of an manufacture that is liable for upwards of seven percent of c emissions annually. On Sunday, helium took successful the crippled with Musk, the CEO of the world’s largest electrical car maker, which besides manufactures star panels and vigor retention systems.
A spokesperson for ArcelorMittal confirmed Mittal’s individuality successful images provided by The Post.
Musk besides posed for pictures with Russian authorities tv presenter Nailya Asker-Zade. Asker-Zade shared the representation connected her Telegram relationship and was seen successful videos and images taking a representation with Musk. In May, Asker-Zade was sanctioned by the British authorities for her relation successful promoting the Kremlin’s “strategic propaganda” arsenic a presenter and writer for All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, known arsenic VGTRK. According to British authorities, Asker-Zade is reportedly successful a semipermanent narration with the sanctioned president of Russia-based VTB Bank, Andrei Kostin, who has been described arsenic the “head of Putin’s piggy bank.”
Asker-Zade did not respond to petition for comment.
Turkish personage cook Nusret Gokce, amended known arsenic “Salt Bae,” fashionable connected the net for his unsocial mode of salting meats, was regularly seen with high-profile guests and existent and erstwhile players during the tournament. On Sunday, Gokce shared a representation of himself and Musk wrong Lusail Stadium with his astir 50 cardinal Instagram followers.
The image, which is nary longer connected his profile, included the text, “I’m going to space.”
Aaron Schaeffer, Cate Brown and Michael Kranish contributed to this report.
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