VERTICAL GENIAL ONE PAGER

Breakdown of Gautam Adani's political influence

Breakdown of George Soros' political influence

Breakdown of Jeff bezos' political influence

Breakdown of Elon Musk's political influence

How does wealth translate into political influence?

Work Cited

Wealth translates into political influence primarily through ownership of influential companies that can sway public opinion and policymaking, and through establishing transactional relationships that offer financial support in anticipation for political favors.

First case: Establish a transactional relationship

Second case: Owning an influential company

Space X Tesla Twitter/X Ukraine

Musk provided Ukraine's military with Starlink satellite internet systems during the Russian invasion.

Twitter gives Musk the ability to influence a public forum where many shape their political prespectives

60% of electric vehicle chargers in the US are controlled by Tesla,

SpaceX operates the only U.S.-made rockets capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station​

Elon Musk

AWS, is a subsidy of Amazon. The major cloud computing service, holds significant influence in the digital infrastructure of numerous government agencies and large corporations. AWS's contracts with government agencies, such as the CIA, MI5 and the Department of Defense, position it as a critical component of national defense infrastructure. This relationship potentially gives Bezos influence over government IT strategy and decision-making processes.

Bezos' ownership of the Washington Post, a leading American newspaper, offers him a platform to shape public opinion and political discourse. The Washington Post's editorial stance and coverage of political issues can influence the perception of policymakers and the public.

Bezos has made multiple donations to a variety of political candidates. He has mostly given to Democratic candidates for federal and state office, however, he also remains economically conservative as that is ultimately the political structure that benefits him the most.

Jeff Bezos

• Soros has funded multiple liberal and progressive political movements across the globe.
• Through his funding and support, Soros has had an influence on policy and legislation in various countries.
• Soros has used this influence to his advantage after being heavily criticised for establishing economies in Asia.

• "I'm there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do" - Soros in an interview with CBS in 1998

Political relationships

George Soros

Second case:

First case:

• Adani has strategically deployed is capital into a wide range of sectors in India.
• In September 2020, he acquired a 74% stake in Mumbai International Airport, India's second busiest​
• In August 2022, Adani's media unit purchased a significant stake in NDTV, a national news broadcaster.
• In November 2021, Adani announced a US$70 billion investment in a new green energy business​​.
• Adani also owns 22% of private thermal power capacity, the largest number of solar and wind plants, and 51% of India's private electricity transmission.

Portfolio diversity

• Adani is very close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India. This relationship has led to allegations of cronyism as his firms have won many—highly contested—energy and infrastructure contracts​.

Political relationships

Gautam Adani

Work Cited