Elon Musk

Joe Lancaster | 11.12.2024 5:47 PM

One of President-elect Donald Trump's biggest benefactors in his bid for a second term was Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX and the richest man on the planet. Musk went all in on Trump's reelection bid and now seems primed to exert an outsized role in a second administration. But what is he likely to get in return?

Even before hopping onstage and declaring himself "dark MAGA" at an October Trump rally in Pennsylvania, Musk put a staggering amount of cash into the race: Starting in the summer, when he endorsed Trump after the former president narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, Musk poured more than $118 million into his own pro-Trump political action committee—an amount greater than what Trump's official campaign raised in total small-dollar donations.

After that, Musk was fully on board, casting Trump as America's last hope. "Very few Americans realize that, if Trump is NOT elected, this will be the last election," he wrote in a September post on X. "Far from being a threat to democracy, he is the only way to save it!"

But given his business portfolio, Musk had very clear financial interests in the election's outcome—especially since the president wields considerable discretionary authority over many government subsidies. In a second Trump administration, Musk could stand to exert considerable influence on government policy to his own benefit. But if he pushes Trump to adopt a more broadly deregulatory agenda, it could provide benefits far beyond just........

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