A senior Pentagon official in charge of military artificial intelligence policy recently made headlines after selling his investments in two AI companies, reaping substantial profits. Emil Michael, who earlier this year gained between $24 million from selling his shares in Elon Musk's xAI, has now reportedly sold his stakes in Perplexity, an AI-driven search engine, for amounts ranging from $5 million to $25 million, as indicated by documents reviewed by the Guardian.
Michael's profitable return from his investment in Musk’s xAI jumped significantly between 400% and 4,800%, as disclosed in previous reports. The latest filings reveal that in June, he completed the sale of his Perplexity shares, although the exact profit from this transaction remains unclear due to the broad financial range provided in the records. Perplexity is currently seeking a financial valuation of around $30 billion, hinting at its growing prominence in the AI market.
Furthermore, Michael's financial disclosures for 2025 indicate that he had also received a personal loan from Perplexity between $250,000 and $500,000 at an interest rate of 4.57%. He briefly served on the advisory board for Perplexity but resigned upon assuming his position with the federal government. His investment in the company included both vested and unvested stock options, and his ethics agreement stipulated that he would not profit from the unvested shares, although it remains unspecified which stock he sold.
The company had secured a contract with the General Services Administration last November, but there are no confirmed links between Perplexity and the Pentagon. Richard Painter, an ethics expert and former White House lawyer, argued that Michael should have divested his interests in the company prior to starting his governmental role to avoid potential conflicts of interest. A Pentagon spokesperson countered these claims, asserting that Michael and other officials comply fully with ethical regulations, and emphasized that their ethical framework is robust.
In addition to his AI dealings, Michael's recent financial disclosure reveals substantial gains from another venture. He sold shares in Brex LLC, a financial software startup backed by notable investors, including Peter Thiel, for at least $5 million in April. The business was acquired by Capital One the same month, and during his tenure as a consultant at Brex, Michael saw his holdings escalate significantly, with an earlier valuation of just $750,000.
Michael’s financial accomplishments extend beyond Musk’s xAI, as his total profit from the Brex sale could range anywhere from $4.25 million to as much as $24 million. Notably, Brex does not appear to be involved with the U.S. government, contrasting with his dealings in the AI sector.
Emil Michael has become a prominent figure, often voicing his opinions on defense technologies and AI. He regularly appears on various podcasts, including a sponsored episode in December focused on topics related to defense tech and innovations in AI, while still holding investments in the firm. Before taking on his current role, he was the chief business officer at Uber, a position that gained notable attention when BuzzFeedNews reported on his controversial suggestion to unearth damaging information about journalists, an assertion he later distanced himself from as an off-the-record remark.
