Former PM’s private office forwarded business proposal from peer to owner of X in June 2024, leaked files suggest
Boris Johnson contacted Elon Musk on behalf of the Evening Standard owner, Evgeny Lebedev, as part of an attempt to get the US tech billionaire to support the ailing newspaper, leaked files suggest.
Johnson’s private office, which is taxpayer-subsidised, emailed an executive close to Musk in June 2024, forwarding a business proposal from Lord Lebedev.
“Dear Elon, I admire what you’ve done for liberty. Can the next step in the fight be putting together your AI power behind a 200-year-old trusted news voice called the London Evening Standard?” Lebedev wrote.
“My thoughts are in an age of deepfakes and general confusion about information this would be a powerful pairing. If you’re up for a chat I am up for coming to see you.”
