Among the many audacious gambles that mark Elon Musk’s career, few have been bolder than the bet he is now placing on Donald Trump.
From satellites to electric vehicles, brain chips to AI-powered robots, Musk owns a series of businesses that depend heavily on contracts and rules set by the federal government.
Yet in an election that most political analysts believe to be a coin toss, the world’s richest man has tied his reputation and fortune to Trump’s latest quest for the White House.
Speaking earlier this month to Tucker Carlson, the firebrand former Fox TV host, Musk was only half-joking when he mused about Trump: “If he loses, I’m fucked.”
As the election enters its final stage, Musk’s embrace of the Trump campaign is becoming ever tighter.
It was revealed this week that Musk has donated at least $75mn to his pro-Trump group, America Pac, which has already spent over $118mn on efforts to support the campaign including ads, yard signs and a door-knocking operation.
When Trump held a rally two weeks ago in Butler, Pennsylvania — the site of the July assassination attempt on him — Musk was the surprise guest, bouncing on to the stage like an excited child.
Musk has used X, the social network he owns, to pump out pro-Trump content, including some of the most lurid conspiracy theories that have taken hold on the right.
Musk told a campaign event in the swing state of Pennsylvania this week that the biggest reason for backing Trump was the need for ‘sensible regulations’
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Trump, who until recently was highly sceptical of electric vehicles, speaks at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania where Musk was his surprise guest
Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/ReutersOn Thursday, Musk was back in Pennsylvania, the most important swing state in the election, to make the case for Trump to voters on his own. During the hour-long rally, he sported a gold Make America Great Again hat and gave some hints at the business rationale for his all-in support of Trump — a politician who until recently was highly sceptical of electric vehicles.
Musk said the biggest reason for backing Trump was the need for “sensible regulations”, claiming that “SpaceX can build a giant rocket faster than the licence can be processed by the government, which is insane.” He added: “If the current trend of strangulation by overregulation is not turned around, we won’t get to Mars.”
The owner of Tesla, SpaceX, xAI and X has aspirations to shape the future of humanity — a Neuralink chip in the brain, a robot in the home, a driverless car to get to work, a rocket to colonise Mars. Musk’s bet appears to be that if Trump wins, he would gain substantial influence over how the government treats his companies.