by Ivan Martchev
June 10, 2025
Given the spectacular public rift between Elon Musk and President Trump last week – which moved the stock market dramatically down on Thursday – I decided to do some investigating, using Grok (Elon Musk’s creation). The chatbot was very sincere with me, given that my questions were about Elon Musk.
Here is the conversation, verbatim:
Me: When was xAI started?
Grok: xAI was founded in July 2023.
Me: What is it worth in a private market estimate today?
Grok: As of June 7, 2025, recent reports indicate xAI’s private market valuation is estimated at $113-billion, based on a $300-million share sale.
Me: When did it buy X formerly known as Twitter and for how much?
Grok: xAI acquired X (formerly Twitter) on March 28, 2025, in an all-stock deal valuing X at $33-billion, or $45-billion including $12-billion in debt.
Me: How much did Musk buy Twitter for, debt and equity?
Grok: Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X) in October 2022 for $44-billion. The deal included $33-billion in equity and $11-billion in debt financing.
Me: Are there emails to Sam Altman to make OpenAI part of Tesla?
Grok: Yes, emails between Elon Musk and Sam Altman reveal Musk proposed merging OpenAI with Tesla. In a February 2018 email, Musk forwarded a note from an ally suggesting OpenAI “attach to Tesla as its cash cow,” to which Musk replied, “exactly right,” adding, “Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google.” These emails, published by OpenAI in response to Musk’s lawsuits, show he supported OpenAI pivoting to a for-profit model and merging with Tesla to secure funding and compete with Google’s AI efforts. Musk’s proposals were rejected, as OpenAI felt one person having absolute control was against its mission.
To be honest, I am a little surprised that the bot answered the last question in such great detail without protecting its master. I am listing the conversation verbatim, only adding an underline and changing a few of my typos, as I was chatting late at night. (The bot does not have typos, and does not need glasses).
Here are the conclusions I draw after looking at the dates, amounts and Grok’s brutal honesty. I knew most of the answers before the bot spat them out, but I wanted to double-check all the dates. (For the record, I think Grok, the xAI chatbot, is as good as ChatGPT, OpenAI’s main chatbot, which I also use).
I think Elon must have bought Twitter knowing that he would use it for a feeder of raw data for Grok, which did not exist at the time. (Note how xAI bought X/Twitter for the same price Musk paid for it, not losing a dime on paper). There was some drama in the Twitter acquisition, with him wanting to back out, but now that seems like that was his attempt to lower the price. Musk changed his mind on the non-profit structure and tried to use Tesla as a funding company for the growth of OpenAI, which the AI leader rejected. Notice how the drama between OpenAI and Musk accelerates after it becomes obvious that they will be commercially successful and Musk enters the same for-profit business.
This is where the plot thickens. Grok quoted another Musk outburst – neither Grok nor Musk has any problem using the “f” word when asked questions, but I will disguise that word here:
Grok: “Musk’s “f!@# you” to Bob Iger occurred on November 29, 2023, during a live interview at the DealBook Summit, in response to Disney’s ad pullout from X. The Disney-X relationship deteriorated, with Disney maintaining its advertising pause and Musk escalating with calls for Iger’s firing. No reconciliation or resumed advertising has been reported, and the feud highlighted broader tensions between Musk’s X and major advertisers.”
I think that, by November 2023, Musk already knew he wanted to fold X into xAI, which started in July 2023, and he wanted to get rid of the advertisers – and the whole purpose of the platform had changed. He needed to get rid of advertisers like Disney, and he did so rather bombastically.
All this lengthy discussion about Elon Musk is because it shows that his erratic behavior sometimes has a much less erratic objective, in many cases only visible a long time after his outburst. Obviously, Musk, like Trump, can move the stock market dramatically with his seemingly deranged tweets, which may have an ulterior motive similar to his Twitter purchase and his rift with Bob Iger. What he is doing with President Trump is not wise, but we will only know his true objective later, maybe a year or two later.
Graphs are for illustrative and discussion purposes only. Please read important disclosures at the end of this commentary.
In the meantime, the S&P 500 managed to rebound from the Elon Musk diatribe to close above 6,000 for the first time since February, when we hit all-time highs before this tariff drama evolved. We are now less than 150-points away from an all-time high, which we are likely to hit this month if we get a few of the major pending trade deals completed. Obviously, unforeseen complications can cause the opposite effect.
Graphs are for illustrative and discussion purposes only. Please read important disclosures at the end of this commentary.
A fresh all-time high for stocks is likely as the junk bond total return chart for 2025 shows multiple fresh highs for the year. As I have discussed previously, junk bonds have a high correlation to stocks, not well known by many individual investors. All we need is a few wins on the trade front and we are there.
All content above represents the opinion of Ivan Martchev of Navellier & Associates, Inc.
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The Market is Shrugging Off Risks, as Fears of Recession Recede
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History Tells Us That America Will Likely Thrive After Crises
Global Mail by Ivan Martchev
Elon Musk May Have Ulterior Motives
Sector Spotlight by Jason Bodner
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Ivan Martchev
INVESTMENT STRATEGIST
Ivan Martchev is an investment strategist with Navellier. Previously, Ivan served as editorial director at InvestorPlace Media. Ivan was editor of Louis Rukeyser’s Mutual Funds and associate editor of Personal Finance. Ivan is also co-author of The Silk Road to Riches (Financial Times Press). The book provided analysis of geopolitical issues and investment strategy in natural resources and emerging markets with an emphasis on Asia. The book also correctly predicted the collapse in the U.S. real estate market, the rise of precious metals, and the resulting increased investor interest in emerging markets. Ivan’s commentaries have been published by MSNBC, The Motley Fool, MarketWatch, and others. All content of “Global Mail” represents the opinion of Ivan Martchev
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