Antonio Gracias, a close associate of Elon Musk, has quietly left his role at a US government agency department of government efficiency (DOGE), the agency was set up by Donald Trump and Elon Musk to reduce government spending. Gracias was doing this government work while also running his private investment company, Valor Equity Partners. That raised red flags for the american federation of teachers (AFT), which raised concerns about conflicts of interest, according to NBC news. The AFT wrote to nine public pension funds asking whether working with Gracias’ firm was still safe, given his political role. In response, Valor confirmed that Gracias stopped working with DOGE on July 1, but said he was still active in managing the company throughout.
Who is Antonio Gracias?
- Antonio Gracias founded Valor Equity Partners in 1995. The company now handles about $17.5 billion in investments.
- Gracias was one of the early investors in
Tesla and was on its board. He helped Tesla go public and became a billionaire mostly through his Tesla shares. His net worth is estimated at $2.3 billion. - While at DOGE, Gracias said they had found 57 cases of non-citizens registered to vote and reported them to the justice department. But he admitted they weren’t sure if those people had actually voted.
- At a public event in Wisconsin, Gracias claimed that many undocumented immigrants were getting social security benefits. According to NBC news, in reality, many undocumented workers pay into social security but can’t claim any benefits.