在专栏文章中，风险投资家兼奥莱利媒体 CEO 蒂姆·奥莱利（Tim O'Reilly）对埃隆·马斯克及其商业帝国所代表的新型资本主义进行了深刻解构。在创纪录的1万亿美元特斯拉薪酬方案和持有SpaceX公司85%超级投票权的支持下，马斯克建立了一套剥夺普通股东治理权的法律架构。公开股票持有者被迫放弃陪审团审判和集体诉讼的权利，使马斯克无需向独立的董事会或市场监督机制负责，彻底打破了传统现代公司的治理平衡。

这一现象颠覆了自孟德斯鸠与亚当·斯密时代建立的经典经济学假设。历史上的“温和商业”（le doux commerce）理论认为，商人对金融利益的理性追求能够约束君主的任意权力；凯恩斯后来也提出，对银行账户的控制胜过对公民的暴政。然而，马斯克将股东资本主义的法律形式转化为摆脱市场约束的工具，利用集聚的庞大资本服务于其个人对火星移民、人形机器人及通用人工智能的野心，使商业资本演变成为施加政治与社会权力的绝对手段。

更深层次的风险在于，公司治理机制的失效直接预示了人工智能治理的失控。公司作为一种依靠窄化输入并大规模运行的“人工系统”，历史上依靠独立董事、股东表决、法院裁决及监管机构等反馈回路来修正偏差。马斯克在构建超级 AI（如 xAI）的同时不断剥离这些经过数百年探索建立的对齐与监督回路，不仅暴露出权力高度集中于不受约束个人手中的脆弱性，也对全球技术安全与社会治理构成了根本性威胁。 

In a featured essay, venture capitalist Tim O'Reilly analyzes the risk profile of modern corporate governance embodied by Elon Musk. Supported by a historic trillion compensation framework at Tesla and 85% voting control at SpaceX achieved through super-voting shares, Musk has established corporate structures that strip minority shareholders of traditional governance rights. Investors in these enterprises must waive rights to jury trials and class-action lawsuits, exempting the management structure from independent board oversight and decoupling capital allocation from standard corporate accountability.

This structural evolution challenges foundational economic theories established by Montesquieu and Adam Smith. The historical concept of "le doux commerce" posited that the commercial self-interest of merchants would constrain autocratic impulses, a principle John Maynard Keynes later summarized by noting that economic accumulation was preferable to political tyranny. However, Musk has inverted this dynamic by utilizing the mechanisms of shareholder capitalism to raise vast sums while removing institutional checks, allowing commercial wealth to function as a direct instrument of political and civic power.

The broader systemic danger lies in how corporate governance rollbacks foreshadow artificial intelligence safety challenges. Corporations operate as complex administrative algorithms governed by statutory feedback loops—including independent boards, regulatory disclosures, and judicial review—designed to prevent catastrophic failures. By dismantling these oversight mechanisms within xAI and related ventures, Musk establishes a dangerous precedent for frontier AI development, where powerful autonomous technologies are built without the historical alignment and accountability controls developed over three centuries of institutional governance.

Source: The merchants are becoming princes, writes Tim O’Reilly

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Dateline: Jul 23rd 2026