Elon Musk Questions Congress Members' Wealth: 'Where Did They Get All The Money?'

Billionaire Elon Musk targeted members of Congress who enjoy rising wealth amounts while in office, which comes as retail traders place larger emphasis on politicians’ stock and options trading activity.

What Happened: Members of Congress can buy and sell stocks, options and cryptocurrency as long as they disclose the transactions in a timely manner.

This activity has drawn increased scrutiny in recent years as trades made by members of Congress often appear to be conflicts of interest based on non-public knowledge and can sometimes be stocks related to government-funded contracts.

A post that discussed several prominent members of Congress with their annual salaries and net worths caught the attention of Musk, who is currently the world's richest person worth $379 billion.

"It's not like these politicians started companies or were NBA All-Stars, so where did they get all the money? Does anyone know?" Musk tweeted.

The quoted tweet included the following members of Congress:

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): Annual salary $223,000, Net worth $202 million
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): Annual salary $200,000, Net worth $95 million
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): Annual salary $210,000, Net worth $75 million
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.): Annual salary: $285,000, Net worth $67 million

The replies included a post from the original poster with additional examples of politicians who have net worths of more than $50 million.

"I am not suggesting anything. Make your own conclusions," the poster tweeted.

The annual salaries in the post could include other sources of income and may not be strictly their Congressional salary.

The post also doesn't take into account how much the net worth of members of Congress was before they took office or what their spouses do.

Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi is a venture capitalist who regularly buys and sells technology stocks. While the former speaker of the house has been accused of providing insider information to her husband in the past, her husband makes investments as part of his career.

People in the comments were quick to point out inaccuracies in the net worth amounts with Warren estimated to be worth significantly less than this amount.

Why It's Important: Musk's post took aim at members of Congress regardless of their political party.

In comments made alongside Donald Trump, Musk said he questions how members of Congress are getting significantly wealthier while in office, while joking that maybe they're just good at investing.

"I think the reality is they're getting wealthier to taxpayer expense," Musk said.

An investigation into members of Congress and their investing activity and payments made by special interest groups while in office could reveal that members of both the Republican and Democratic parties made questionable moves to help boost their wealth.

This could be an interesting move by Musk, who is currently aligned with the Republican party and has the support of many Republican members of Congress.

The Unusual Whales congressional trading report for 2024 showed that Democrats averaged a 31.1% return in 2024 and Republicans averaged a 26.1% return versus the S&P 500 at 24.9%.

The top 10 traders in 2024 list was made up of six Republicans and four Democrats with five Congress members having returns of more than 100% in 2024.

Of the individuals listed in Musk's quoted tweet above, Pelosi ranked 10^th in 2024 at +70.9%. McConnell ranked 21^st at +42.4%.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is a noted supporter of Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, ranked 23^rd at +30.2%. Greene's trades have often drawn red flags due to her committee roles and the timing of the trades.

Musk's comments on Congressional wealth comes after former President Joe Biden supported a ban on Congress trading last year.

"Nobody in the Congress should be able to make money in the stock market while they're in the Congress," Biden said in an interview.

Biden said he was able to live on a Congressional salary and not worry about becoming rich through playing the stock market previously.

Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) previously told Benzinga that he will continue to advocate for a vote to ban the practice.

“We should have a vote on it,” Khanna told Benzinga.

Khanna said that despite his continued speeches in the House advocating for a ban on stock trading, there is a “collective shrug” in Congress regarding the issue.

"It is shameful that over three years after the pandemic with the shenanigans from those senators who sold their stock after learning of the pandemic" there still hasn't been a vote, Khanna said.

Khanna said that people were outraged at the time when several senators sold their stocks in tourism and other sectors that would be hurt, knowing that the economy could crash from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Senators making money when the rest of the country was suffering during the pandemic."

Unusual Whales helped launch two Congress Trading themed ETFs in 2023 through a collaboration with Subversive. The Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF NANC and Unusual Whales Subversive Republican Trading ETF KRUZ provide investors with opportunities to invest in the same stocks as members of Congress.

Benzinga will continue to share Congressional trading activity of note. For more on Congress trades, check out Benzinga's Government Trades page.