Elon Musk’s reputation and wealth stem from his willingness to make risky bets decades ago with SpaceX and Tesla. None seemed riskier than his high-profile, big-ticket bet that Donald Trump would win the presidency. And, like those previous bets, this one is likely to pay off by making him the most influential executive in the new administration, and even richer.
Musk, already the richest person in the world, increased his net worth by $21 billion to $285.6 billion on Wednesday, as Tesla shares rose 15% on news of Trump’s victory. The stock closed at $288.53, its highest level in more than a year. SpaceX, his rocket company that has become essential to NASA and Department of Defense launches, is likely to become an even bigger beneficiary of the Trump administration’s federal contracts, which would further increase Musk’s wealth.
The implications of your support go beyond the short-term financial gains you can make from your Tesla shares. Trump has said he wants him to serve as a government efficiency adviser in his new administration, which, at the very least, suggests there will be a much looser deal with rules and regulations for big businesses, particularly those he favors.
“He is a special guy. “He’s a super genius,” Trump said of Musk in his victory speech on Wednesday. “We have to protect our geniuses. We don’t have that many. We have to protect our super geniuses.”
“Elon Musk is not just any billionaire, and he is not like most billionaires who try to enter politics”Michael Morris, Columbia Business School.
While his relations with Biden have been frosty, with perceived slights early on that saw Musk not included in White House events focused on electric vehicle makers, things are set to be dramatically different in the incoming administration. Musk, who has never been a major campaign donor in the past, funneled about $120 million to Trump and Republican candidates through his America PAC, made a controversial cash giveaway to voters in key states to help his preferred candidate and made numerous public appearances at Trump rallies in the final weeks of the campaign. It did so despite the fact that multiple consumer surveys showed that such actions are not well received by Tesla’s core buyer base, who largely identify as climate-conscious consumers.
“Elon Musk is not just any billionaire, and he’s not like most billionaires who try to get into politics,” said Michael Morris, a leadership professor at Columbia Business School. “While there is a risk of conflicts of interest if he serves in any official capacity, “I believe that, overall, Musk’s motivations are not based on profit. I mean, he takes on companies because he believes they can change the future of humanity.
Tesla faces a number of ongoing investigations by federal regulators, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for accidents related to its Autopilot and full self-driving features, many of which have resulted in deaths. Tesla’s manufacturing operations have run into investigations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, for workplace hazards and industrial pollution. And the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has already sanctioned Musk for false tweets about taking Tesla private, is seeking new sanctions against the billionaire for failing to provide testimony for its investigation into his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. In Texas, SpaceX’s massive launch facility was also recently fined $140,000 for violating groundwater regulations.
“America is a nation of builders,” Musk said on X, formerly Twitter, after Trump’s victory became clear. “Soon they will be free to build.”
While it’s unclear whether a father of 11 who runs several companies, including xAI, The Boring Co. and Neuralink, in addition to Tesla and SpaceX, can get a job in the Trump administration, some Tesla investors are delighted. Ross Gerber, president of Los Angeles-based investment firm Gerber Kawasaki, expects Musk to push for fewer regulations, and his companies and others should benefit greatly.
“It’s just good,” said Gerber, whose fund owns about $60 million in Tesla shares. “Do you know how much time and money corporations spend just dealing with stupid document requests that ask about nonsense that the regulators themselves have no idea what they’re talking about? The story goes on and on.”
However, he is unsure whether Musk will work to influence Trump’s policies on electric vehicles and trade tariffs, which would add significant costs to Tesla vehicles that are produced with numerous imported parts and materials.
“It depends on whether Trump wants to listen to anyone,” Gerber said. “Elon has a particularly delicate balance of nations he has to please, including China. It is a very delicate dance and I may or may not do it well.”
Musk’s shifting priorities, steering Tesla toward robotaxis, robotics and artificial intelligence and appearing to abandon his past concerns about climate, should also benefit the next administration.
“Trump is likely to be a negative for the EV industry as tax incentives and rebates for EVs are likely to be withdrawn, but for Tesla we see it as a very positive,” he said in a note. research equity analyst Dan Ives, an outspoken Tesla bull. “It has unparalleled scale and reach in the EV industry and this dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in an environment without EV subsidies.”
Ives also believes Trump can help accelerate Musk’s robotaxi dreams, primarily by limiting new federal barriers to the technology. “The acceleration of autonomous driving will be a central theme for investors in this scenario, as some of Tesla’s 2026/2027 goals could be accelerated to meet China’s schedule for autonomous driving that is currently underway.”
The unexpectedly close bond between Musk and Trump that has developed over the past year is likely to turn the tech billionaire, already a larger-than-life figure in multiple industries, into a uniquely influential figure in the years to come, if the current romantic relationship continues.
“He loves power. He has depended on the government to build his companies and this will be very beneficial to everything he is doing, so he will be very involved” in the new administration, Gerber said. “The risk that most people haven’t mentioned is that Trump quickly tires of big egos. It’s one thing to share the spotlight to use Elon’s power to win. It’s another thing to deal with Trump once you’re in office, and he has many interests competing for his love. And if you remember last time, everyone who was close to him on the first day was dead by the 35th.”
This article was originally published by Forbes US.
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