December 12, 2025 — 1.37pm Save The phone call had paid off. Nobody has gotten more online engagement from the world’s richest man over the past several years than Nawfal, a baby-faced Australian influencer and entrepreneur who lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Since last year’s US presidential election, Musk has reposted, shared or commented on posts originating from Nawfal’s X account 1311 times, according to an analysis by The New York Times, more than any other account. Nawfal’s output, which in great part mixes reverential praise for Musk and his companies with sensationalised recaps of major news events, is far from unique; social media is riddled with accounts pumping out nearly indistinguishable content. Yet it is his account that Musk – for no specific reason the billionaire has ever enunciated – has elected to highlight above all others. Advertisement Nawfal, 36, has recognised that attaching his brand to the single largest account on X is the best business decision he or any other online influencer could possibly make. For him, the content is entirely subordinate to the attention it generates. “Mario moulded himself to be exactly what Elon wanted out of his creators,” said Chet Long, a former employee of Nawfal. Until recently, Nawfal was best known, when he was known at all, for his luxurious lifestyle, his relentless promotion of crypto products and a series of claims of wrongdoing. In recent years, critics and former colleagues have accused him of using bots to artificially elevate engagement on his X account, of ripping off investors with misleading sales tactics, of having an uncomfortably close relationship with Russia and of being among the web’s most frequent spreaders of misinformation. Yet he has used his talent for capturing Musk’s eye to build a following of 2.6 million on X – and to turbocharge his cryptocurrency marketing firm and media brand, according to hundreds of pages of documents from Nawfal’s companies obtained by The New York Times and more than two dozen interviews with former employees, associates and clients. Nawfal’s companies, like his own social media account, are finely calibrated to capitalise on that attention. His media firm, Citizen Journalism Network, produces audio and video news shows that feature interviews with right-leaning political figures. Musk regularly reposts and comments on those interviews on X. Loading Those activities work in concert with his crypto firm, International Blockchain Consulting Group, or IBC, which Nawfal has said is his primary source of income. The firm touts Musk’s frequent social media engagement with Nawfal to help sell six-figure marketing deals: would-be clients are encouraged to believe that they, too, can expect similar attention from the world’s richest man. Over three interviews, two via videoconference as he reclined in bed in his Dubai penthouse, Nawfal said all of the past accusations about him and his business practices were “fabricated” but declined to discuss his relationship with Musk. He would not even discuss whether the two men had a real-life relationship – or had ever met in person – and Musk and X did not respond to requests for comment. ‘Is that the real Elon Musk, guys?’ On November 12, 2022, Nawfal was hosting The Roundtable, a live audio program about crypto that he created on the social network that was still called Twitter. The episode focused on the bankruptcy filing by the giant FTX crypto exchange the day before and the resulting panic in the industry. Tens of thousands of people had logged in to listen. Then someone new entered the chat. “Is that the real Elon Musk requesting to speak?” Nawfal asked excitedly. “Is that the real Elon Musk, guys?” Musk has reposted, shared or commented on posts originating from Nawfal’s X account 1311 times, according to an analysis by The New York Times, more than any other account. Credit: