Two very different men are advising Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, according to a Saturday report from The Wall Street Journal, producing clashes within his inner circle.
On one hand, 48-year-old wealth manager Jared Birchall is an Eagle Scout and devout Mormon who participated in a musical group called “The Birchall Family Singers.” On the other hand, 34-year-old Igor Kurganov is a Russian-born, former professional gambler who dropped out of college because he smoked too much weed.
According to The Wall Street Journal’s account — based upon the testimony of over one dozen people who conduct business with Musk and his advisers — Kurganov slept at Musk’s home after the onset of COVID and offered advice on how he could aim for “effective altruism” by giving away his $219 billion fortune. Kurganov, who grew up in Germany and earned $18 million through gambling, replaced members of Musk’s security detail with his own hires and was eventually given $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to donate — a compromise move that followed Birchall rejecting Musk’s proposal to let Kurganov run all of his charitable giving.
Birchall has officially directed the Musk Foundation since 2016, leads the family office managing the entrepreneur’s fortune, sits on the board of The Boring Company, and serves as CEO of Musk’s neuroscience company, Neuralink. A graduate of Brigham Young University, Birchall met Musk while working for investment bank Morgan Stanley in southern California.
Kurganov and Birchall clashed last year after the former was given an official email address at the Musk Foundation. An FBI agent tasked with monitoring foreign influence in leading American companies began inquiring about Kurganov’s fast entry into the fund — provoking the alarm of Birchall, who warned against Kurganov leading the disbursement of the $5.7 billion in Tesla shares. Musk eventually heeded Birchall’s advice to discharge Kurganov from the charity.
As The Wall Street Journal characterized, Musk has a penchant for making spur-of-the-moment business decisions. Most recently, Musk bought a large share in social media company Twitter and attempted to purchase the entire company for $44 billion — a move that he is now attempting to reverse due to Twitter’s alleged failure to disclose accurate information about the number of spam accounts on its platform.
Twitter recently filed suit against Musk in a bid to compel him into completing the deal. Yet Musk’s concern about spam accounts could lead him to acquire the company for a more discounted price.
Musk has publicly clashed with leading Democratic officials — including President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — over their fiscal policies and willingness to increase taxes on the wealthy. In recent months, Musk announced that he would support Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.
“I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically,” Musk acknowledged. “Like I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear. Now this election, I will.”