Politics

Long Lost Friend Goes Scorched Earth on Elon Musk in Scathing LinkedIn Update

DRIFTED APART

A fellow tech entrepreneur and former friend claims Musk is “consolidating power” to increase “his leverage over” President Trump.

Elon Musk and Phillip Low.
The Daily Beast/Getty/Youtube

A tech entrepreneur claiming to be Elon Musk’s former friend blasted the “First Buddy” as a “narcissist” whose sole aim is “acquiring and consolidating power.”

In a scathing LinkedIn update posted over the weekend, NeuroVigil founder Philip Steven Low alleged that the true intentions behind Musk’s much-maligned salute—which many criticized as remarkably similar to the “Sieg Heil” used in Nazi Germany—was a power play meant to garner him support from the extreme right-wing of President Donald Trump’s base.

“He was concerned that the ‘Nazi wing’ of the MAGA movement, under the influence of Steve Bannon, would drive him away from Trump, somewhere in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, rather than in the West Wing which is where he wants to be,” writes Low, alleging that Musk was “already feeling raw” because Trump administration officials did not take his cabinet recommendations.

In doing the controversial salute, Low alleged that Musk was “hoping the audience would reflect his abject gesture back to him, thereby showing complete control and dominion over it, and increasing his leverage over Trump.” However, that did not happen.

Before Musk became a White House hanger-on, Low alleges that he had known Musk “at a deep level for 14 years.” He added, “We used to text frequently. He would come to my birthday party and invite me to his parties. He would tell me everything about his women problems.”

Musk was also an investor in NeuroVigil, Low’s company, which was founded in 2009. Still listed on the company’s website, Musk served on its advisory board until he left in 2021 to create a rival company Neuralink in 2016.

“His lust for power is also why he did xAI and Neuralink, to attempt to compete with OpenAI and NeuroVigil, respectively, despite being affiliated with them,” claims Low.

Low writes that he believes Musk is “not a Nazi, per se”—but “he did give two Nazi Salutes, which is completely unacceptable.”

Musk so far has not responded to Low’s claims.