Meet Liz Boeree And Ivan Kurganov The Stoner Poker Players Elon Musk Gave $5.7 Billion To

Hours after pale shirtless pics of Elon Musk rocked the internet earlier this week, news broke that the world's richest man may be allegedly caught up in a real scandal that reportedly involves the FBI, philanthropy, the international poker-playing community and possibly Russian intelligence.

WSJ's Rob Copeland reports that one of Elon Musk's entourage, poker player Igor Kurganov, drew the attention of the FBI over foreign interference concerns after he got involved in Musk's philanthropic business. Story says he wasn't accused of wrongdoing. https://t.co/Xg7duj64SO

— Lora Kolodny (@lorakolodny) July 16, 2022

Last November, Musk reportedly gave $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to his friend Ivan Kurganov, with instructions to donate that money to charity. The $5.7 billion, if it were donated (which is unclear) would have made Musk the second-biggest philanthropist of 2021 after Bill Gates, but likely wouldn't have ended world hunger. Kurganov and his partner, Liz Boeree (both professional poker players) are proponents of “effective altruism,” a giving strategy that argues rich people should target their donations to causes that will generate maximum good.

Kurganov is reportedly under investigation by the FBI for so rapidly working his way into Musk’s inner circle, with some suspecting him of corporate espionage.

For those without a WSJ subscription, this intro phrase captures most of it: “Mr. Kurganov had no ex­pe­ri­ence in fi­nance or se­cu­rity but…”

— Bancroft Sutherland (@bancsutherland) July 17, 2022

Kurganov, who is a self-confessed stoner, and was kicked out of high school for supposedly smoking too much, has no social media. But Liz Boeree – who works as an “ambassador” for an effective altruism organization – does.

Reportedly, it was Grimes who introduced Boeree and Kurganov to Musk. Grimes and Boeree have been friends for years, livestreaming together and sharing each others’ content on social media.

My friend Liv makes trippy science vids for deep thots 🧚🏻‍♀️ https://t.co/veo8g55pzn

— 𝔊𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 (@Grimezsz) November 24, 2019

Boeree’s Twitter revolves around a few themes that make sense for someone Elon Musk is friends with. She appears obsessed with being online, and commenting about it.

It’s called TikTok because that’s the sound of our time running out to stop it

— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) June 18, 2022

Twitter is the fertile primordial soup of memespace https://t.co/Dqu8AQIbaw

— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) July 14, 2022

Additionally, she purportedly lives a jet-set lifestyle with Kurganov.

Venice is v.nice 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/mdtFazvPrU

— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) July 4, 2022

Even further, Boeree has noted that she holds an extremely strong stance in favor of nuclear energy.

pic.twitter.com/7WN3grQhl8

— DespicableMemes (@DespicableMeme1) June 21, 2022

Kurganov and Boeree have not been previously accused of wrongdoing. Regardless, the allegations offer an interesting window into what Musk's life might be like and who he hangs out with.