Burning Man has added Elon Musk’s youthful brother Kimbal Musk to its board of administrators, stoking concern amongst Burners about connections between the annual desert occasion and the brand new Republican tech oligarchy overhauling the US authorities.
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A a lot greater Burning Man controversy was quietly enjoying out on a number of message boards and social media teams on the identical time, alleging that the Burning Man Challenge had introduced Tesla CEO and first Donald Trump cheerleader Elon Musk’s youthful brother Kimbal Musk onto its board of administrators. One such put up above alleges “Why is Kimbal Musk on the Burning Man Board of Directors, and why is this hidden on the website?”
Image: Burning Man (emphasis ours)
SFist looked into these claims, and we can report that yes, the first claim is true. Kimbal Musk is listed on the Burning Man Project Board of Directors in the nonprofit’s Form 990s for 2023, 2022, and 2021. (He appears in the above screenshot right above Leo Villareal, creator of the Bay Bridge’s famed Bay Lights installation.)
Though there are frankly quite a few people on the Burning Man Project Board of Directors, the board listed 33 members in 2021. Most of these members, like Kimbal Musk, serve in a completely unpaid volunteer capacity. Musk is listed as contributing an average of two hours of work per week in his board duties, so that does not sound super high-level.
(As an aside, another unpaid Burning Man Project board member is Fred Brathwaite, better known as hip-hop legend Fab 5 Freddie.)
SFist is actually not the first to report that Kimbal Musk is on the Burning Man Project Board of Directors. This was originally noted very briefly, halfway down the article “Burning Man’s Gentrification Was Inevitable” printed final August within the hard-left publication Jacobin.
However sure, this does look like the identical Kimbal Musk who’s brother to Elon Musk, the Tesla and X CEO who’s Donald Trump’s right-hand man, presently implementing an oligarchic dismantling of the federal authorities with a crew of inexperienced wealthy youngsters (who’re wildly misstating their outcomes), and likewise selling far-right nationalist ideology all over the world. Elon Musk is curently attempting to sledgehammer sources going to San Francisco, and appears to have a definite hatred of the town that’s the birthplace of Burning Man.
To place it mildly, Elon Musk’s politics and worldview don’t align with that of most Burners. Now that there’s a Musk on the group’s board, which could shock or appall many attendees on this present political surroundings. So we reached out to the Burning Man Challenge for his or her ideas on the matter.
“Kimbal Musk joined the Burning Man Project Board of Directors in 2021, as reflected in the Form 990s,” the undertaking’s director of communications tells SFist. “Burning Man Project Board members attend quarterly board meetings, participate in strategic conversations about the management and future of the nonprofit and Black Rock City event, and generously give their time to help Burning Man thrive and achieve its potential as an arts and cultural movement.”
And sure, Kimbal Musk is a longtime Burner, and by his personal telling, has missed the occasion solely twice since first attending in 1998.
“We appreciate the diversity of experience and perspective of the Burning Man Project Board,” the spokesperson provides. “Kimbal’s experiences and perspectives as a Burner – he first went to Black Rock City in 1998 and has only missed two events since – and entrepreneur make him a valued participant on the Board.”
There’s additionally this declare that Kimbal Musk is “hidden on the website” of the undertaking’s board of administrators, which is technically true, however not a very damning factor. There are eight different members of the present sitting Burning Man Challenge Board of Administrators who’re additionally not listed as such on the web site. Nonprofits typically don’t replace little-viewed sections of their web sites, and the composition of the Burning Man board modifications considerably yearly. There’s nothing inherently sinister to this.
Picture: Burning Man
There’s additionally the likelihood that Kimbal Musk has made vital monetary donations to maintain Burning Man afloat. It’s well-known that the group is working a big deficit, after the substantial lack of income from having to cancel the occasion within the COVID years of 2020 and 2021. Burning Man’s tax returns present that some contributor or contributors — and the varieties don’t say who, nor are they required to — gave the group greater than $5 million in each 2022 and 2023.
These could also be two totally different contributors, and possibly neither was Kimbal Musk. However there’s a chance that he was named to the board for having contributed vital cash to the undertaking.
There appears to be sufficient right here to conclude that the Kimbal Musk who’s Elon Musk’s brother is identical Kimbal Musk whose social media posts says he has been to Burning Man many occasions, first attended with a sister named Tosca in 1998, and is now on the Burning Man Challenge Board of Administrators. Kimbal Musk additionally serves on the boards of Tesla and SpaceX, and was even on the board of administrators for Chipotle Mexican Grill for about six years. So this type of factor is inside his talent set.
And Kimbal Musk reliably posts on social media about his journey to Burning Man in any given 12 months. He famous in a 2022 Medium put up that he attended the earlier 12 months’s unsanctioned “Renegade Burn” when the formal occasion was canceled over COVID. And it seems he was solely of these Burners who was caught within the muck when Tropical Storm Hilary rainfalls rendered the Burning Man gates closed for a number of days.
Once more, we should reiterate that Kimbal Musk is a distinct individual than his brother Elon Musk. His predominant pursuit is a restaurant chain referred to as The Kitchen that he co-owns, with places in Austin, Boulder, Chicago, and Denver. He additionally co-founded a nonprofit referred to as Huge Inexperienced that teaches youngsters about gardening, and moreover co-founded an organization that makes delivery containers for indoor farming.
And amusingly, Kimbal Musk was the one who spilled the beans that he and Elon got here to the US as unlawful immigrants after they arrived right here from South Africa in 1995.
Kimbal Musk appears umpteen million occasions much less poisonous and racist than his older brother Elon. He doesn’t have legions of kids out of wedlock with a large number of various baby-mamas, Kimbal appears fortunately monogamous along with his spouse of six years , and he even posted an image of Amanda Gorman studying her poetry at Biden’s inauguration.
Examine this to Elon Musk, as we speak seen swinging round a chainsaw at CPAC whereas the estranged mom of certainly one of his kids Grimes is tweeting issues like this.
However nonetheless, Kimbal Musk’s fortune is completely intertwined with Elon’s. His preliminary jolt of (non-family) wealth got here when he and Elon offered their startup Zip2 to Compaq for $305 million within the 12 months 2000. He’s identified to incessantly make a killing by promoting Tesla inventory, and there have been allegations of insider buying and selling that probably concerned collusion between the 2 brothers.
Might this proximity to prime Trump lieutenant Elon Musk by some means profit Burning Man? It may. Musk’s federal funds cuts have resulted in 800 layoffs on the Bureau of Land Administration that manages the Black Rock Desert, so Elon clearly has some affect over that company. This might result in simpler allowing for the occasion on a federal degree, although who is aware of with the mercurial Elon Musk.
There’s nothing to recommend that being Elon Musk’s brother in any approach influences Kimbal Musk’s decision-making on the Burning Man Challenge Board of Administrators. However it’s definitely now a actuality that Tesla wealth has a seat on the desk on that board of administrators.
And extra importantly to individuals who attend Burning Man, there’s now just one diploma of separation between Burning Man and the highest ranges of the Donald Trump administration that so many Burners worry and detest.
Associated: Burning Man Admits to $14 Million Deficit, Says Ticket Value Hikes Might Be within the Works [SFist]
Picture: (Left) kimbalmusk through Instagram, (Proper) burningman through Instagram
