How Elon Musk entrusted $5.7B to Russian-born Igor Kurganov

A Russian-born, previous experienced poker participant who won a overall of $18 million gambling in spite of remaining a confessed pothead was at the time tasked with overseeing charitable donations totaling billions of dollars of Elon Musk’s funds, according to a report.

Igor Kurganov, 34, has apparently had the ear of the world’s richest human being, which has prompted turmoil in the mogul’s inner circle, in accordance to The Wall Street Journal.

Considering the fact that moving from London to Texas very last calendar year, Kurganov has reportedly whispered into Musk’s ear about enterprise a charity tactic acknowledged as “effective altruism.”

The two adult males reportedly bonded above their shared appreciate of the Burning Man competition when Kurganov’s longtime lover, fellow specialist poker player Liv Boeree, was known to be mates with Grimes, the Canadian pop star and mom of two of Musk’s small children.

Musk’s belief in Kurganov has reportedly rankled Jared Birchall, the 48-year-old wealth supervisor and “fixer” who oversees several of his private and organization affairs.

Birchall confronted Musk and objected to Kurganov’s tries to gain control of initiatives to steer extensive amounts of his $219 billion private fortune toward philanthropic endeavors, according to the Journal.

Kurganov, who has no know-how in finance, has evidently attained Musk’s trust to the point exactly where he has been allowed to employ the service of and fire bodyguards in the Tesla CEO’s safety detail, the Journal claimed.

Musk and Kurganov reportedly grew so close that the tech mogul permitted him to slumber at his home in the course of the pandemic.

When Musk told Birchall that he wanted Kurganov to consider handle of charitable giving, Birchall, who reportedly has had an outsized function in advising Musk on his negotiations to invest in Twitter, reportedly instructed his boss: “Elon, you cannot.”

The tensions in between Birchall and Kurganov are exacerbated by a clash of personalities. While Birchall is a devout Mormon, Kurganov is a former specialist poker player who claimed he was kicked out of faculty for the reason that he smoked also a great deal cannabis.

The Journal documented that Musk reached a compromise amongst Birchall and Kurganov whereby the ex-poker participant would be accountable for $5.7 billion in Tesla shares that have been earmarked for philanthropic corporations.

The remainder of Musk’s $219 billion fortune would be overseen by Birchall.

But things adjusted past August when Birchall was produced mindful of an FBI inquiry into Kurganov, who was offered an formal posture with the Musk Foundation.

According to the Journal, the FBI launched a preliminary probe into no matter if Kurganov’s burrowing into Musk’s internal circle was component of an attempt by a overseas adversary to infiltrate a major American company.

When Birchall built Musk mindful of the inquiry, Musk reportedly agreed with his fixer that it was time to permit Kurganov go, in accordance to the Journal.

Kurganov by no means acquired the prospect to disperse any of Musk’s $5.7 billion for charity, the Journal described.