Elon Musk's master class on billionaire bribes: How some corporations threaten democracy

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Elon Musk’s master class on billionaire bribes: How some corporations threaten democracy
From abortion to gender identification, corporate leaders have learned how to manipulate democracy to get their way

By Athmeya Jayaram
Published August 14, 2024 5:46AM (EDT)


(Salon) California Assembly Bill 1955 was sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, waiting for his signature, when he got a call from Elon Musk. The bill would prevent schools from requiring parental notification for a child to change their gender identity, and Musk warned Newsom that, if he signed it, it would “force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”

Newsom signed it into law anyway and, true to Musk’s prophecy, two companies will leave California – his companies, X and SpaceX. This is an increasingly common tactic for Musk and other billionaire CEOs; threaten lawmakers who oppose your preferred policy with consequences – such as moving company headquarters – even when that policy has nothing to do with your company’s mission. And then hope that lawmakers care more about jobs and tax revenue than the democratically preferred legislation. While the threats didn’t work for Musk this time, they are an unfortunately effective tactic. In 2020, Musk threatened to move his Tesla headquarters unless Alameda County rescinded pandemic “lockdowns” and reopened his factories. A few days after that threat, the county submitted to his demand and Tesla reopened. A year later, Musk still moved Tesla’s headquarters to Texas.

There’s something clearly wrong about a single billionaire holding a state hostage like this, and yet we continue to tolerate and even encourage it. Like the filibuster, both parties are willing to keep this tool around in case democracy is not going their way. Liberals have used this tactic extensively to protect LGBT rights in conservative states. In 2016, for instance, Salesforce’s CEO Marc Benioff threatened to disinvest from Georgia and Indiana to kill bills that would have allowed businesses to deny service to LGBT customers, and PayPal canceled plans to build offices in North Carolina to pressure the state to rescind the “bathroom bill,” which it soon did. Now, as conservative states push through increasingly restrictive abortion laws, it will be tempting to again enlist corporations in the fight. But if we’re going to protect fundamental rights without violating democratic norms, we have to understand the line between good corporate citizenship and undemocratic threats.

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This difference – between being forced into consequences and choosing them – is the line between offering democratic reasons and making an undemocratic threat. At its best, democracy is about the exchange of reasons: You tell me how a minimum wage increase is going to require companies to reduce their workforce, and I tell you how the increased wages contribute to workers’ well-being. But if it turns out that you’re not telling me what will happen after the wage increase, but what you’re choosing to do if an increase is passed, then it goes from a reason to a threat. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/14/elon-musks-master-class-on-billionaire-bribes-how-some-corporations-threaten-democracy/