All three are living, and the first finding is a null one: no record we found puts all three in one room.
What follows is each pair, in date order, from documented acts and their own public words, and it says plainly where only their firms meet. Where a source gives only a plan or a report, it says so. A connection is not evidence of wrongdoing.
27 Oct 2026
No room for all three
We looked for places the record puts Larry Fink, Elon Musk and Ken Griffin together and found none that holds all three. Each pair shares something, but much of it is firms, not people: a BlackRock team votes shares for clients, and Citadel Securities is a company in which Griffin is the principal shareholder. Everything below is a documented act or someone’s own words, and a connection is not evidence of wrongdoing.
BIS conducts proxy voting for those clients who authorize us to vote on their behalf.
The Forum, which is composed of some of America’s most highly respected and successful business leaders, will be called upon to meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge
On 14 December 2016 the transition team added three members: Uber’s Travis Kalanick, PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi and Elon Musk, then chairman and chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla. From then on, Fink and Musk were named members of one body. Griffin was not.
America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this Forum today are at the top of their fields
Donald Trump, 14 December 2016. Primary record. Open the source
3 Feb 2017
The State Dining Room
The forum met President Trump at the White House on 3 February 2017, and the White House published the transcript. Each member introduced themselves: “Larry Fink, BlackRock,” and later “Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX.” Griffin was not a member.
the real purpose is to get things done, to advise the government as to areas where we can do things a lot better as a country, for all Americans, and de-bottleneck some things.
Stephen Schwarzman, forum chairman, 3 February 2017. Primary record. Open the source
1 Jun 2017
Musk leaves
On 1 June 2017, after the president announced that the U.S. would leave the Paris climate agreement, Musk wrote that he was departing the presidential councils. TechCrunch reported he had served on Trump’s economic advisory board and a manufacturing jobs council. Fink stayed on the forum.
Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.
Elon Musk, 1 June 2017. Scholarship & press. Open the source
16 Aug 2017
The forum ends
Amid the debate over Charlottesville, members left the president’s councils. NBC’s sources said a dozen forum members agreed on a call to dissolve it and Schwarzman told the White House, and Trump then tweeted that he was ending both councils. Fink told BlackRock staff he “could no longer in good conscience participate in the Forum.” Musk had been gone for two and a half months.
We believe the debate over Forum participation has become a distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans.
Statement of the forum’s leaders, 16 August 2017, as printed by NBC News. Scholarship & press. Open the source
25 Jan 2021
Citadel, Melvin and Robinhood
On 25 January 2021 Citadel funds and partners and Point72 announced $2.75 billion for Melvin Capital, for a non-controlling share of its revenue; Melvin’s Gabe Plotkin told Congress it was not “bailed out.” Separately, Robinhood routed customer orders to Citadel Securities, which paid for them: 34% of Robinhood’s 2020 revenue, by Robinhood’s own filing. Griffin runs Citadel and is principal shareholder of Citadel Securities, and Tenev told Congress Robinhood routes to seven market makers on uniform terms. No source in this story shows that Citadel or Citadel Securities had any part in Robinhood’s limits.
Now, Robinhood routes to market makers. Including Citadel Execution Services, we have seven in total across equities and options, and we route without consideration of payment for order flow. All payment for order flow arrangements are uniform across the market makers
Vlad Tenev, Robinhood, at the House hearing, 18 February 2021. Primary record. Open the source
26 Jan 2021
“Gamestonk!!”
At 4:08 p.m. on 26 January 2021, with meme-stock trading surging, Musk posted that word and a link to the wallstreetbets forum. House committee staff wrote that Robinhood employees saw a spike in new accounts right after. The report does not say the post moved GameStop’s price.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted “Gamestonk!!” with a link to the wallstreetbets subreddit.
House Financial Services Committee majority staff report, June 2022. Primary record. Open the source
31 Jan 2021
The Clubhouse questions
On 31 January 2021 Musk, a guest on a live audio show, took over the questioning and had Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev explain the week. Musk asked: “To what degree are you beholden to Citadel?” Tenev called the rumor of pressure from Citadel or other market makers “just false,” and when Musk asked whether market makers would have a say in who leads the clearinghouse, Tenev said he had no reason to believe that and that it was getting into “kind of the conspiracy theories.”
There was a rumor that Citadel or other market makers kind of pressured us into doing this and that’s just false.
Vlad Tenev answering Elon Musk, Clubhouse, 31 January 2021, as transcribed by TechCrunch. Scholarship & press. Open the source
18 Feb 2021
The hearing
On 18 February 2021 the House Committee on Financial Services held its “Game Stopped?” hearing online with six witnesses, Griffin and Tenev among them; Musk and Fink were not witnesses, and the transcript names no Fink or BlackRock. Asked whether anyone in his organization talked to Robinhood about restricting purchases, Griffin answered: “Absolutely not.” Representative Stivers asked Plotkin whether Musk’s post targeted him because Melvin had once shorted Tesla, and Plotkin called guessing at Musk’s motives “pure speculation.” In 2024 an appeals court upheld the dismissal of the one antitrust suit alleging that Robinhood and Citadel Securities coordinated, without deciding whether an agreement was plausibly alleged.
Let me be perfectly clear: Absolutely not.
Ken Griffin, answering Representative Vargas, 18 February 2021. Primary record. Open the source
3 Aug 2022
The Twitter subpoena
In August 2022, as Twitter sued to make Musk complete his $44 billion purchase, a subpoena notice for Griffin was filed. Bloomberg News called it a sweeping list, with more than a dozen investment firms and the banks on it, and wrote that Griffin’s involvement, if any, was unclear. A subpoena asks for documents; it is not a finding about anyone.
whose involvement -- if any -- in Musk’s proposed takeover of the company is unclear
Bloomberg News, 4 August 2022. Scholarship & press. Open the source
5 Apr 2024
BlackRock and Citadel Securities
In April 2024 BlackRock added Citadel Securities, with banks and a clearing firm, as an authorized participant of its iShares Bitcoin Trust, bringing the total to nine; the role is creating and redeeming the fund’s shares. In May 2024 the two were among the investors in the new Texas Stock Exchange, in which BlackRock called itself a founding investor. These are two firm-to-firm ties we found, and there may be more. Citadel Securities is separate from Citadel, and Griffin is its principal shareholder; we found no link between BlackRock and Citadel itself.
Authorized participants in ETFs are responsible for the creation and redemption process of the fund through which they create liquidity.
BlackRock says it supported Musk’s 2018 Tesla award despite “concerns regarding the structure and magnitude of the award,” and Vanguard says its funds did not. In June 2024 shareholders voted again on ratifying it, and Tesla says holders of 72% of shares excluding Musk and related persons supported it. BlackRock and Vanguard each say their funds voted for it: BlackRock adds that this “should not be taken as a general endorsement,” Vanguard that looking back removed its concern. These are votes cast by stewardship teams for clients, not by Fink.
Our support for this proposal should not be taken as a general endorsement of this style of award.
In December 2024 xAI, which The Irish Times calls Musk’s AI startup, named BlackRock among the investors in its $6 billion Series C; the sources do not say how much. In March 2025 BlackRock, Microsoft and MGX announced that xAI would join their AI Infrastructure Partnership, which Fink said creates “unique investment opportunities for our clients.” In February 2026 SpaceX acquired xAI. Neither Fink nor Musk is named in xAI’s round announcement.
AI has the potential to transform the global economy if we can build the necessary infrastructure to support it.
Larry Fink, BlackRock press release, 19 March 2025. Primary record. Open the source
Feb 2025
Griffin on Musk
In February 2025, at a UBS conference, Griffin thanked Musk “from the bottom of my heart” for his work on the federal DOGE cuts. “Is he breaking a lot of glass?” Griffin asked. “Absolutely.” In the same talk he criticized the president’s tariff plan. These are Griffin’s public words.
Absolutely. But he doesn’t have a lot of time. As a taxpayer, I’m so appreciative.
Ken Griffin, UBS Financial Services Conference, February 2025, as reported by Fortune. Scholarship & press. Open the sourceArchived copy
22 Jan 2026
Fink and Musk, in person
On 13 May 2025 Fox Business saw both at the Saudi royal court in Riyadh with President Trump, and listed both as speakers at that day’s investment forum. On 22 January 2026 Fink, as the World Economic Forum’s interim co-chair, interviewed Musk on stage at Davos and said: “he’s a great friend.” On 24 September 2026 the White House invitee list for Xi Jinping’s state dinner named both. We found Griffin on none of these lists.
I mean, there's so many myths around Elon Musk. I could tell you he's a great friend. And I constantly learn so much from him.
Larry Fink, closing the Davos session, 22 January 2026, World Economic Forum transcript. Primary record. Open the sourceArchived copy
15 Sep 2025
A filing, not a finding
On 15 September 2025 Tesla’s proxy listed Vanguard at 6.9%, BlackRock at 5.7% and Musk at 19.8%, a figure that counts 303,960,630 shares from options under the 2018 award. Federal rules let institutions file the short Schedule 13G only if they did not buy to change or influence control; that is the filer’s own statement, not a finding. Whether big index holders have influence is disputed: in August 2025 a judge largely refused to dismiss a suit by Texas and 12 other states against BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, which the firms contest and which is pending.
has acquired such securities in the ordinary course of the person's business and not with the purpose nor with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer
Federal rule for the short Schedule 13G, 17 CFR § 240.13d-1. Primary record. Open the source
6 Nov 2025
Austin, November 2025
Tesla’s shareholders approved a new award for Musk of 423,743,904 restricted shares, at a meeting held online and at Gigafactory Texas. The filing gives totals, but the count includes shares owned by Musk and Kimbal Musk, and it does not say how any named holder voted. Vanguard published that its advised funds supported the award, while other Vanguard fund shares were voted by investors’ own policy choices. We found no BlackRock bulletin on this meeting.
1,892,235,822 forVotes for the 2025 award; 564,940,908 against and 12,227,846 abstained. The count includes shares held by Musk; the filing does not split them out
1,892,235,822 564,940,908 12,227,846 302,456,274
Form 8-K, Tesla, Inc.: results of the 2025 annual meeting of shareholders, Tesla, 6 Nov 2025. Primary record. Open the source
19 Dec 2025
The court’s last word, for now
In January 2024 the Delaware Court of Chancery found the directors failed to prove the 2018 award was entirely fair, and rescinded it. On 2 December 2024 it refused to give the June 2024 vote effect. On 19 December 2025 the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the remedy, reinstating the 2018 plan and awarding the plaintiff $1 in nominal damages; it said the Justices have varying views on the liability finding, and did not decide it.
For the reasons explained below, we reverse the remedy chosen by the Court of Chancery – rescission of the 2018 compensation plan. We reinstate the 2018 plan and award the Plaintiff nominal damages.
Delaware Supreme Court, 19 December 2025. Primary record. Open the source
27 Oct 2026
What the record shows
No room we found holds all three, and no document we read shows any of them acting together. Fink and Musk shared a forum, a meeting and later a stage at Davos, and Fink’s firm and a Musk company share an investment round and a partnership. Griffin and Musk share a Clubhouse question, a subpoena list and Griffin’s public praise, and BlackRock and Citadel Securities share a fund’s participant list and an exchange’s investor list. A connection is not evidence of wrongdoing, and no source here says otherwise.
There is no one “Vanguard view” or voting decision on proxy voting at public companies.
Vanguard, December 2025, on how its funds vote. Primary record. Open the source