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Elon vs. Sinema, Mob Politics, and a Hollywood Shakeup
Good afternoon and welcome back to The Daily Courant, our private email highlighting the latest must-read journalism available across Puck.
Today, Teddy Schleifer considers the vertiginous growth of Elon Musk’s philanthropic portfolio, which has more than quintupled in size just as Democrats, possibly including Krysten Sinema, consider whether to adopt an unprecedented—and possibly unconstitutional—new tax on the wealth of U.S. billionaires.
Plus, below the fold, Baratunde Thurston delivers the second installment of his remarkable series on race in America. And Matt Belloni reports on the jockeying to succeed Dawn Hudson as the proprietor of Hollywood’s ultimate depreciating asset: the Oscars.
The world’s richest man is stepping up his public displays of generosity, just as a controversial new wealth tax becomes a tantalizing possibility this week in Kyrsten Sinema’s Washington. The bull-market bonanza has done more than just make the wealthy wealthier over the last decade. It has also supercharged the asset value of many Silicon Valley charities, which often invest their endowments in their founders’ company stock. There is no better exemplar of this trend than Elon Musk, whose personal foundation assets—much of which is likely Tesla stock—almost quintupled in value from summer 2019 to summer 2020, from $207 million to $930 million. Foundations invest in asset classes of all types, and if a donor makes a contribution in their company stock, foundations don’t have any obligation to diversify. I hear Tesla has been doing pretty well.
The soaring value of charitable endowments challenges the critics of the billionaire class. It’s true that Musk, for instance, hasn’t focused much on philanthropy, historically. But isn’t it better for a founder’s long-term ability to fund good works to single-mindedly maximize the value of his or her company? That’s an argument I hear all the time, although it strikes me as an all-too-convenient, ex post facto rationalization. Why not both? Would Tesla stock really suffer if Musk spent more time building out his foundation’s laughably-nonexistent website or adding to his staff, which currently has zero full-time employees? Clearly he has plenty of time for Twitter...
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FOUR STORIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 
Saving the Oscars must be the focus—and with Dawn Hudson’s compensation reaching $950,000, the Academy should be able to convince a strong candidate to take the job. Who? MATT BELLONI 
In a country struggling with racial progress, we cannot condemn potential allies for their mistakes, but we can’t coddle them either. BARATUNDE THURSTON 
The inside scoop on the three big media stories that everyone is talking about in New York, D.C., and Silicon Valley. DYLAN BYERS 
The DWAC merger is full of red flags: peripatetic sponsor, nonexistent product, outrageous valuation. But a mysterious bulk order may be the most telling market signal of all. WILLIAM D. COHAN 
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