Elon Musk’s Eccentric Ensemble Meet his Top Power Players and Explore the Expanse of his Empire with a Handy Map!

Inside Elon Musk's Inner Circle A Look at His Top Power Players and an Empire Map

Did you know that Elon Musk, the mercurial billionaire, has launched at least 10 companies in the past quarter century? It’s like he’s playing a game of “How many ventures can one person have?”. Well, we here at ANBLE have taken up the challenge of mapping out all of Musk’s companies, despite the fact that none of them returned our requests for information. Talk about a herculean task! But fear not, we’ve scoured the internet, pored over SEC filings, and even consulted state corporation documents to bring you our mesmerizing Musk business map.

Prepare to be amazed, because Musk’s companies span a whopping six countries: the U.S., Canada, China, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands. It’s like he’s playing a game of international business bingo! (We’re not sure about the Tesla factory in Mexico or the X offices in London and Singapore though, they’re a bit mysterious). Most of his businesses are based in the U.S., which makes sense considering Musk’s California roots. In fact, he’s building his own town near Austin, Texas. Move over, Elon Musk, there’s a new sheriff in town!

Now, let’s talk about the people behind the genius. Musk may be self-made, but he’s had some trusted advisors and lieutenants help him along the way. Unfortunately, they also did not respond to our requests for information. So, we had to gather data from SEC filings, LinkedIn, and even Walter Isaacson’s book, Elon Musk. One of the power players connected to several Musk companies is Jared Birchall, a former Morgan Stanley banker. Then there’s Steve Davis, a former SpaceX engineer who’s now head of the Boring Co. and even led the reorganization at Twitter. And let’s not forget about Gwynne Shotwell, Musk’s famous lieutenant who oversees day-to-day operations at SpaceX. She’s like the Wonder Woman of the Musk empire!

Of course, we couldn’t leave out Musk’s most well-known company, Tesla. It takes a village to be the biggest EV manufacturer in the world, and Musk has relied on several executives to make it happen. One standout is Andrew Baglino, the senior vice president for powertrain and energy engineering, who’s considered a top candidate to succeed Musk. He’s the secret sauce behind Tesla’s success (pun intended). And let’s not forget Omead Afshar, a former ski instructor turned SpaceX construction overseer turned SpaceX executive. He knows how to go from zero to SpaceX hero!

But wait, there’s more! We’ve also gathered information on Musk’s other ventures like X, the Boring Co., Neuralink, and xAI. It’s like a smorgasbord of innovation!

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Oh, and by the way, we have some juicy updates for you. OpenAI, the company that fired its CEO Sam Altman, just announced that Altman will be returning as CEO with a brand new board. It’s like a game of musical chairs at the top! And speaking of chairs, Scott Shleifer, the private investment chief at Tiger Global Management, is transitioning to a senior advisor role. It’s like he’s handing over the reins to the next generation of dealmakers.

Oh, and did we mention that McDonald’s is buying Carlyle Group’s stake in its China business for a whopping $1.8 billion? That’s a lot of McNuggets!

In conclusion, the world of Musk is one filled with innovation, ambition, and a dash of mystery. We hope you enjoy exploring the map of his empire as much as we did creating it. And remember, if you have a deal you want to be featured in our newsletter, just drop us a line. Until next time, stay curious and keep dreaming big!

• Luisa Beltran
• Twitter: [@LuisaRBeltran](https://twitter.com/LuisaRBeltran)
• Email: [email protected]
• Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.

Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

• LucidLink, a San Francisco-based storage collaboration platform designed for remote teams to connect and collaborate on files, raised $75 million in Series C funding. Brighton Park Capital led the round and was joined by Headline, Baseline Ventures, and Adobe Ventures.

• Vivodyne, a Philadelphia, Penn.-based biotech company that discovers and develops new drugs by testing them on lab-grown human organs, raised $38 million in seed funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by Kairos Ventures, CS Ventures, MBX Ventures, and Bison VC.

• Ninety, an Atlanta, Ga.-based performance and business management platform, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Blue Cloud Ventures led the round and was joined by Catalyst Investors and Insight Partners.

• Advanced Electric Machines, a Washington, U.K.-based designer and manufacturer of electric vehicle motors for cars, trains, and industrial machines, raised £23 million ($29 million) in Series A funding. Legal & General Capital and Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital led the round and were joined by Par Equity, Northstar Ventures, and others.

• Privy, a New York City-based developer of tools designed for companies to integrate blockchain features into their apps, raised $18 million in Series A funding. Paradigm led the round and was joined by existing investors Sequoia Capital, BlueYard Capital, Archetype, and others.

• Vendelux, a New York City-based AI-powered data insight platform for event marketers and event organizers, raised $14 million in Series A funding. FirstMark Capital led the round and was joined by Cervin Ventures and others.

• Malou, a Paris, France-based AI tool designed to help restaurants improve their online reputation, visibility, and customer engagement, raised $10.9 million in funding from henQ, Bleu Capital, Bertrand Jelensperger, and others.

• Generative Engineering, a London, U.K.-based developer of software designed to allow engineers to model and test different designs, raised €4 million ($4.4 million) in pre-seed funding. EQT Ventures led the round and was joined by Join Capital.

• Phare Health, a London, U.K.-based developer of AI products designed to help hospitals track cash flows and better understand their finances, raised £2.5 million ($3.1 million) in seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by KHP Ventures and Bertelsmann Investments.

• Layer AI, a San Francisco-based tool for professional video game art creation, raised $1.8 million in seed funding from The Games Fund, Laton Ventures, GFR Fund, and others.

PRIVATE EQUITY

• A consortium led by Blackstone and Permira agreed to acquire Adevinta ASA, an Oslo, Norway-based online classifieds marketplace, for approximately 141 billion Norwegian crowns ($13.1 billion).

• Antin Infrastructure Partners agreed to acquire Consilium Safety Group, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based manufacturer of fire, flame, and gas detection systems, from Nordic Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• SKYY Partners agreed to acquire a minority stake in TRUFF, a Los Angeles-based brand of truffle-infused products and sauces. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• NDH, a portfolio company of Unity Partners, acquired Stratus Group, a Leawood, Kan.-based tax and accounting firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

• Colibri Group, a portfolio company of Gridiron Capital, acquired Therapeutic Research Center, a Denver, Colo.-based provider of health care training and compliance solutions, from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

• Merck agreed to acquire Caraway Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech company developing treatments for neurodegenerative and rare diseases, for up to $610 million.

• FGS Global acquired Longview Communications and Public Affairs, a Vancouver, B.C.-based corporate communications and public affairs firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Term Sheet will not be published on Thursday and Friday in recognition of the Thanksgiving holiday. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Monday, Nov. 27.

That’s all for today folks! We hope you enjoyed this rollercoaster ride through the world of finance and business. If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to reach out to us. Have a fabulous day and keep up the good vibes!