# The “New Illuminati” Exposed
## Short answer
No, there isn’t a hood-cloaked secret society running America. **The real power brokers are very public corporate chiefs whose decisions ripple through money, media and national security every day.** Most of the names in that viral “New Illuminati of 2025” list are indeed influential—but several of the spiciest claims about them are inflated or simply wrong.
Below is the story of what our fact-check uncovered, who really wields quiet clout, and where the original article slid from sobering truth into conspiracy-flavored hype.
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## The Surprise That Jump-Started Our Investigation
Buried between breathless lines about shadowy elites, the piece insisted that **Asheesh Advani is “45”** and that **Fidelity “controls \$4.5 trillion.”** One Google search showed both figures were off by a mile. If easy numbers were wrong, what else didn’t add up?
That slip lit the fuse for a deeper dive.
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## Meet the Not-So-Secret Influencers — What’s True, What’s Hype?
| Name | Verified Power | Exaggerations / Errors | Why It Matters |
|------|---------------|------------------------|----------------|
| **Bela Bajaria**<br>Chief Content Officer, Netflix | • Oversees programming watched in 190+ countries ([Netflix](https://help.netflix.com/en/node/14164)) | • “More daily influence than most governments” is opinion. | Streaming algorithms quietly rewrite global pop culture; Bajaria sets their menu. |
| **Safra Catz**<br>CEO, Oracle | • Runs cloud empire tied to Pentagon’s \$9 billion JWCC contract ([DefenseNews](https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2022/12/07/amazon-google-microsoft-and-oracle-picked-for-9b-jedi-successor/)) | None found. | Tech-defense fusion is no theory—Oracle is literally on the war-cloud. |
| **R. Michael Anderson**<br>Leadership author | • Sells corporate “mindset” workshops | • **No public proof** he trains NATO or ranks among “world’s foremost.” | Raises the red flag: feel-good gurus can claim prestige few verify. |
| **Asheesh Advani**<br>CEO, Junior Achievement | • Heads NGO reaching 15 million youth/year in 100+ nations ([WEF](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/asheesh-advani/)) | • **He is 54, not 45.** | Misinformation shows how quickly facts age—and how easily kids’ curricula can be steered. |
| **Gwynne Shotwell**<br>President & COO, SpaceX | • Oversaw >6,800 operational Starlink satellites by 2025 ([Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2025/04/01/gwynne-shotwell-spacex-billionaire/)) | • “Unregulated sky governments can’t touch” is debatable, but regulatory lag is real. | Space is becoming a private highway; Shotwell holds the keys more than Musk headlines suggest. |
| **Alex Karp**<br>CEO, Palantir | • CIA seed money; fresh NATO, NHS contracts ([Newsweek](https://www.newsweek.com/what-palantir-never-profitable-company-born-help-cia-seed-money-makes-market-debut-1535509)) | • Bond-villain rhetoric aside, surveillance concerns are well-documented. | When your health record or battlefield drone feed is analyzed, Palantir’s code may be watching. |
| **Abigail Johnson**<br>CEO, Fidelity | • **Controls ≈\$5.8 trillion**, not 4.5 ([P&I](https://www.pionline.com/money-management/fidelity-assets-hit-59-trillion-revenue-jumps-record)) | — | A single asset-manager shift can swing markets bigger than many GDPs. |
| **Carl Icahn**<br>Activist investor | • Still orchestrating board shake-ups at 89 | • Influence **waning** according to recent WSJ analysis | Shows that even titans aren’t timeless; markets rotate power. |
| **Vinod Khosla**<br>Venture capitalist | • Bets big on carbon capture, alt-meat, AI energy ([Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-06/khosla-backs-startup-aiming-to-pull-carbon-from-air-in-new-mexico)) | • “Authoritarian edge” is opinion | Climate tech may soon dictate what’s on your plate and plugged into your house. |
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## How We Checked the Claims
1. Cross-referenced ages, titles, contracts and asset numbers against SEC filings, **Forbes**, **Bloomberg**, government press releases and company reports.
2. Looked for independent confirmation of sensational statements (e.g., NATO clientele) — none surfaced.
3. Flagged language that is clearly opinion (“puppet-masters,” “Bond villain”) versus measurable facts (money, satellites, contracts).
Transparency note: links are embedded above; all pages were accessible as of 12 Aug 2025.
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## Three Big Takeaways
1. **Open-Secret Power** – These leaders aren’t hiding in candlelit basements; they issue press releases. Public familiarity, however, lags far behind their reach.
2. **Narrative Inflation** – A sprinkle of wrong numbers and unverifiable boasts can make standard corporate clout look like mystical domination. Always follow the money, not the adjectives.
3. **Democratic Blind Spot** – Even stripped of hype, the concentration of cultural, financial and surveillance capabilities in fewer private hands raises urgent policy questions. Who audits the algorithms that entertain us, guard our data, or manage our pensions? For now, largely the companies themselves.
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## What We Still Don’t Know
* How exactly Netflix, Oracle and Palantir weigh ethical trade-offs inside closed-door strategy meetings.
* The full contract terms tying SpaceX’s Starlink to U.S. or foreign defense agencies.
* Whether leadership gurus such as Anderson quietly consult for security alliances or simply embellish résumés.
We’ll keep digging; tips are welcome.
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## The Bottom Line
Calling these executives the “New Illuminati” overdramatizes the obvious: **immense private influence has migrated from smoke-filled political back rooms to boardrooms, data centers and satellite constellations.** They’re not occult masterminds—but they do shape your news feed, your retirement nest egg, and possibly the drones defending your borders.
Understanding their real power is scarier—and more useful—than any secret handshake.
