Topline

With Donald Trump’s presidential victory, the stage is set for one of his most prolific supporters – the world’s richest person, Elon Musk – to exercise his newfound political influence, and while it is a mystery what role he might play in government Musk set out this to set several priorities.

Important facts

What did Musk say he would do in a Trump administration?

In a series of posts on Tuesday and Wednesday on his social media platform, an image that described him as the US technology chief said the DOGE would be “so lit” reacted with fire emojis in a post in which he called to fire Federal Trade Commission chief Lina Khan and Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler, and responded affirmatively to a post calling to “destroy Washington as we know it.” Musk jabbed often with the Biden administration’s regulators. The Khan-led FTC fined of Twitter related to His role at Tesla dates back to a controversial tweet from 2018 in which Musk said he had secured the funding needed to take Tesla private.

How might Musk benefit from a Trump administration?

There are a number of outstanding lawsuits and government investigations against Musk and his companies, meaning he would likely welcome the looser regulatory environment touted by Trump. The legal and regulatory issues Musk faces include an appeal to reinstate his $50 billion bonus in Tesla shares, which was struck down by a Delaware judge in January, an investigation into Tesla’s autonomous driving systems the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and a reported warning from the Justice Department about America PAC’s $1 million contributions to certain swing state voters. And Tesla, which accounts for more of Musk’s fortune than any of his other companies, could get a boost from Trump’s economic proposals, which would likely hurt its electric vehicle rivals, an advantage reflected in its stock’s massive rally on Wednesday (see for more details below). .

When did Musk become an ally of Trump?

Musk supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and said he voted for Joe Biden in 2020. His shift to the right coincided with his purchase of Twitter in 2022, and he said in June of that year he voted for a Republican candidate for the first time for the former Texas representative. Mayra Flores. By November of this year, Musk said he would support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the presidential election, eventually endorsing Trump in July after Trump’s failed assassination attempt, and joining Trump on the campaign trail in subsequent months.

Main critic

“I’m not sure how they came up with that number,” hedge fund manager and Trump adviser Scott Bessent, a potential candidate to become Trump’s treasury secretary, told Forbes before the election, putting Musk’s goal at two trillion Saving US dollars in the federal government’s annual budget. “But I look at the way he runs his companies. He runs them pretty well,” Bessent added.

Important background

Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla are both among the world’s most valuable companies, with aerospace giant SpaceX the world’s second-largest private company at a reported valuation of $210 billion and electric vehicle maker Tesla the 10th-largest public company at more than $900 is billion market capitalization. Musk owns a 42% stake in SpaceX and 13% in Tesla, while he also owns majority shares in X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and the generative AI startup xAI. South African-born Musk is by far the richest person in the world, with a net worth of around $280 billion, more than $60 billion more than the second richest man, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

tangent

The fruits of Musk’s potential personal gain from a Trump administration became clear on Wednesday as shares of Tesla rose 14% to their highest level since last July, adding $20 billion to Musk’s fortune. “Musk’s big bet on Trump is a home run for Tesla,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. Trump’s proposal to eliminate federal tax credits for electric vehicles “could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in an environment where electric vehicle subsidies do not exist,” Ives wrote to his clients, adding that high tariffs on Chinese imports “continue to drive cheaper Chinese ones.” “Electric vehicle providers would crowd out the U.S. market in the coming years.”

Further reading

ForbesTrump calls Elon Musk a “super genius” in his victory speech: Here’s everything they said about the collaborationFrom Mary Whitfill Roeloffs