How Elon Musk’s $130 million investment in Trump’s victory could reap a huge pay off for Tesla and the rest of his business empire

Trump spent much of his choppy victory speech thanking Musk, who recently spent more than $130 million and a lot of time and tweets to the conservative political cause. In particular, Trump spoke highly of Musk’s rocket company SpaceX and its Starlink internet satellites, two commercial units ripe for government contracts.

“We have to protect our super-geniuses,” the president-elect said. During his election campaign, Trump said he would create a new “government efficiency” position in his administration for the chief technology officer, at Musk’s request.

Musk is known to cite government abuses in the face of any fine or punishment. So it’s no surprise that the billionaire has linked himself to Trump, who has promised to eliminate regulations.

On top of potentially looser government oversight, Musk’s alliance with Trump may help him secure federal contracts. the New York Times Reports SpaceX and Tesla have already generated at least $15.4 billion in government contracts over the past decade. Musk’s colleagues and government officials He said Reuters The billionaire’s investment in Trump is part of a broader effort to protect his companies from regulation and secure access to government support.

Here are some ways each of Musk’s companies can benefit from Trump regaining the White House.

SpaceX and Starlink

Tensions between the FAA and SpaceX are high. In September, Musk called for the resignation of Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Whitaker, who is slapped with more than $630,000 in fines on SpaceX for violations related to rocket launches. Musk said his plans to create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Trump include relaxing regulations related to rocket launches.

Meanwhile, Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet unit, can do it too Get friendlier reception from the FCC Under Trump, assuming the president appoints Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr to replace incumbent Jessica Rosenworcel. Carr called the FCC’s decision in 2022 to cancel $885 million in subsidies for Starlink “regulatory harassment.” Trump himself has proposed using Starlink satellite services for rural communications — a potential financial boon for Starlink — as part of the government’s $42 billion plan to fund broadband in the future.

X

After Musk acquired what was formerly known as Twitter for $44 billion, it took over the Federal Trade Commission Investigate whether X and its new owner It was in violation of the FTC’s existing data privacy agreement with the company. After acquiring the service, now known as X, Musk cut the privacy and security compliance teams that were supposed to keep the company under the auspices of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Last week, Musk promised some payback when he said that Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lena Khan would be fired under the Trump administration. Not to mention the fact that Trump’s Vice President, J.D. Vance, praised Khan for being tough on monopolies.

xAI

Musk’s AI startup, xAI, has a chatbot that competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other big language models. Therefore, Musk is very interested in any regulation that affects artificial intelligence.

So far, federal talks about passing broad regulation of AI companies have not materialized. But Musk could still intervene by advising Trump on A A lighter alternative to the Biden administration’s executive order on artificial intelligencea framework for the use and development of artificial intelligence that places some restrictions on AI companies.

In California, Musk supported controversial safety legislation, SB 1047, that would have reined in large AI companies. This legislation has been strongly opposed by venture capitalists and major developers, citing the potentially catastrophic risks of artificial intelligence.

Tesla

Federal auto safety regulators hit Tesla last month with a new investigation into its Full Self-Driving mode, which partially automates human driving, after a Tesla driver fatally struck a pedestrian. Musk could use his influence to shape federal auto safety enforcement or federal regulation of self-driving cars or robotaxis. It’s an area he’s keenly interested in, with Tesla hoping to offer a robotaxi to take on more established competitors like Alphabet’s Waymo and even GM’s Cruise.

Musk could also try to pressure Trump on his opposition to the Biden administration’s electric vehicle tax breaks, which incentivize electric vehicle purchases.

Trump’s promise to lift Biden’s current tariffs on China and other competing countries could be complicated for Musk. Limiting imports of cheaper electric cars would eliminate some of Tesla’s competition in the United States, but escalating the trade war would also hurt the technology more broadly by disrupting reliance on China and Taiwan for chips.

Whatever the case, investors are optimistic: Tesla stock rose 15% after Trump’s victory speech.

Boring company

Musk’s visions of high-speed transportation like The Boring Company’s Hyperloop project are being stifled by regulation and limitations of current technology. Instead, it focused on a lower-tech version: Tesla cars transporting passengers underground near the Las Vegas Convention Center. The project faced an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation into workplace safety. But despite the high costs, complex infrastructure and unsafe conditions, Musk persisted Government regulation is responsible For tunnel projects in some other US cities that are falling through the roof. However, having allies in the US government could make it easier for Boring to win major infrastructure projects.

Neuralink

As founder of brain-chip company Neuralink, Musk has criticized the FDA’s lengthy approval processes for new drugs and medical devices, claiming at a rally in Pennsylvania that “overregulation is killing people.” It was later reported that the cancer drug “Musk” was a reference to him It was actually approved. However, Musk’s vision of “government efficiency” will likely be targeted broadly at the FDA as well, and will likely get Neuralink faster approvals. To date, Neuralink has implanted brain devices in two patients with FDA approval.

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