Barely re-elected to the White House on November 5, Donald Trump is making Elon Musk very happy, as much for his long-promised new government role as for his portfolio. However, the controversial founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of social network X (formerly Twitter) is far from the only one to benefit from the wind of pro-business optimism that seems to be blowing in the USA.
“Fight Fight Fight! ” chanted Donald Trump to his crowd of supporters as he escaped a sniper’s bullet last September.
With his new Department of Government Efficiency entrusted to two billionaires, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the fight is likely to be of a different nature, akin to the MMA bout that should have pitted the boss of Tesla against the boss of Meta: “dismantling government bureaucracy”.
And this Terminator job looks set to be a lucrative one. Elon Musk‘s support of the red-tie Republican’s victorious campaign has seen his personal fortune grow by $20 billion.
And the richest man in the world – in regular intermittence with Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos – isn’t the only one to see his support in a fundamentally pro-business, anti-immigration 47th president rewarded.
A Terminator in government…
They’re both as narcissistic and touchy-feely as each other, yet so far they’ve found each other well enough to earn a few perks for services rendered. A fervent supporter of Donald Trump’s campaign, Elon Musk contributed $119 million to help elect his champion via a Super PAC, a political organization responsible for campaigning… and raising funds for a candidate.
On November 12, Elon Musk inherited a ministerial position within the new Trump administration, that of supervisor of the “Department of Government Efficiency”. This new body, which goes by theacronym DOGE, a nod to Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, is tasked with “dismantling government bureaucracy”.
Officially, the structure is to work outside government to provide the White House with “advice and guidance ” and thus avoid any conflict of interest.
Elon Musk has already announced his intention to save $2,000 billion in the federal budget by laying off civil servants, a method the South African businessman is familiar with from his work with social network X (formerly Twitter). The plan is also to cut more than one in four federal agencies, including the Department of Education.
On his own platform, Elon Musk doesn’t beat about the bush to unveil his miracle recipe, going so far as to tweet “Department of Government Efficiency. Business will be (fire emojis)”. And more recently, “Threat to democracy? No, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!”
And Elon isn’t the only one who can play Trump’s cost-killer: Vivek Ramaswamy, former Republican primary candidate and businessman forms an apt tandem with the former.
The White House has insisted that their respective offices should end no later than July 4, 2026.
Richer than ever…
Since Donald Trump’s re-election, US stock market values have gained over $1,800 billion.
Elon Musk is no exception: the world’s richest man has seen his net worth rise by $41 billion to $285.6 billion, thanks to the rise in Tesla shares. The stock market value of the Californian electric car giant saw its share price soar by 30% in the week following Trump’s accession to the presidency.
Elon Musk is not the only one to have seen his fortune swell with Donald Trump’s return to power.
The tech sector has particularly benefited from the Republican camp’s victory. Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, earned $24 billion, taking his net worth to $230.7 billion. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos saw his fortune grow by $9 billion.
The phenomenon can certainly be explained by the Republican’s perceived pro-business stance and his tax-cutting promises, but also and above all by his pro-cryptocurrency stance.
The Friday after the election, Bitcoin peaked at $76,550, not far from its all-time high. As reported in Forbes magazine, Coinbase co-founders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam saw their wealth soar with the 48% increase in market value.
Long reticent about this type of digital currency, Donald Trump has finally changed his mind, to the delight of the aforementioned business leaders, themselves holders of cryptocurrency-related shares.
And the tech world seems more than ever to be counting on Elon Musk to soften the Trump administration’s anti-immigration rhetoric and pull off the deal of the century by simplifying legal immigration. Silicon Valley employs some 100,000 foreign professionals on H-1-B visas. Indeed, who better to guide the president’s policies than a naturalized South African billionaire?
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Front page photo: Getty Images
