Wouldn’t it be the other way around? I think Musk would rather have TSLA bagholders shareholders prop up his private companies, of which he likely owns a higher percentage than Tesla. The pitch could be that xAI has what Tesla needs for some of the vaporware he keeps promising and that Tesla should therefore acquire xAI.

I don’t think so, at least when it comes to US citizens, because deportations would cost them and spark controversy for no benefit. I think they’d prefer to keep these deeply indebted people in the US as indentured servants willing to work for pennies and too poor to engage politically.

I didn’t mean to dispute that. I just checked what you stated and posted what I found for anyone else who, like me, wasn’t up to date on this meeting. I share your assessment.

The AP reported:

The 88-year-old pope offered the Catholic vice president three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance’s three young children, who did not attend, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.

I can’t even believe the trump admin is going after tech giants.

I share the disbelief. I think it is mostly a power play against not just Google, but all tech giants, which must be watching this closely, given most of them operate in a similarly anticompetitive manner: kiss the ring or else. The Trump administration could give Google reprieve in exchange for axing DEI further and helping push their political agenda.

I can’t imagine anything the admin does will be good for society so maybe its safe to assume they will be broken up so elon can buy a chunk?

I think so too: if Google doesn’t satisfy Trump and his administration, parts of it will be forcibly sold as private equity, outside of shareholder scrutiny and beyond the reach of the SEC. Such a private company would be easier to control than a publicly traded one.