After completing his purchase of Twitter, serial entrepreneur Elon Musk — the wealthiest person in the world — is now the leader of two publicly-traded companies: Tesla and soon-to-be-private Twitter.
The two companies, which are cumulatively worth billions, have traded for years on the NASDAQ stock market, sometimes even by some of the nation's most powerful politicians and their families.
Insider found that at least 13 members of Congress or their family members personally traded stocks in Twitter or Tesla in 2022.
Congress, meanwhile, is currently debating whether its members, their spouses, and dependent children should even be allowed to buy, hold or sell, individual stocks.
Musk, for his part, has emerged as an unavoidable global presence deeply involved in media, communications, transportation, and even space.
The reigning TIME magazine "person of the year," the New York Times this week dubbed Musk a "geopolitical chaos agent" who unpredictably involves himself in the governmental and international affairs of numerous nations, including Ukraine, Iran, China, Russia, and, of course, the United States.
* On March 17, 2022, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, exercised 25 call options (2,500 shares) of Tesla stock at a strike price of $500, with the trade valued at between $1 million and $5 million
* Rep. Pat Fallon purchased stock in Twitter valued between $15,001 and $50,000 on January 19, 2022
* Fallon purchased stock in Twitter valued between $50,001 and $100,000 on January 24, 2022
* Fallon sold between $50,001 and $100,000 worth of Twitter stock as part of the company's corporate stock buyback after Musk took the company private
* Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse purchased stock in Tesla valued between $15,001 and $50,000 on January 28, 2022
* On January 14, 2022, Rep. John Garamendi's spouse sold between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of stock in Twitter
* Rep. Mike Garcia purchased stock in Tesla worth between $15,001 and $50,000 on January 25, 2022
* Garcia purchased stock in Tesla valued between $15,001 and $50,000 on February 23, 2022
* Garcia purchased stock in Tesla worth between $50,001 and $100,000 on September 29, 2022
* On January 26, 2022, Rep. Josh Gottheimer and his spouse jointly sold stock in Tesla valued between $1,001 and $15,000
* On January 31, 2022, Gottheimer and his spouse jointly sold between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of Tesla stock
* On February 7, 2022, Gottheimer and his spouse jointly purchased Tesla stock valued between $1,001 and $15,000
* On May 26, 2022, Gottheimer and his spouse jointly purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of Tesla stock
* On March 22, 2022, Rep. Kim Schrier's spouse, David Gowing, sold stock in Tesla worth between $250,000 and $500,000
* On March 22, 2022. Rep. Kim Schrier and her spouse jointly sold stock in Tesla worth between $250,000 and $500,000
* On May 29, 2022, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez purchased Tesla stock valued between $100,001 and $250,000
* On July 18, 2022, Rep. Chris Jacobs purchased stock in Tesla valued between $1,001 and $15,000
* On September 12, 2022, Rep. Kathy Manning's husband, Randall Kaplan, sold stock in Tesla valued between $1,001 and $15,000
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On October 12, 2022, Manning's husband purchased stock in Tesla valued between $1,001 and $15,000
* On September 5, 2022, Rep. Ro Khanna's dependent child sold Tesla stock worth between $1,001 and $15,000
* On September 19, 2022, Khanna's dependent child sold Tesla stock valued between $1,001 and $15,000
* On September 29, 2022, Khanna's dependent child purchased Tesla stock valued between $15,001 and $50,000
* On September 29, 2022, Khanna's spouse, Ritu Khanna, purchased stock in Tesla valued between $1,001 and $15,000
* On September 21, 2022, Rep. David McKinley purchased stock in Tesla valued between $1,001 and $15,000
* On December 5, 2022, Rep. Robert Aderholt's child sold stock in Tesla valued between $1,001 and $15,000