Elon Musk’s side hustle with Trump is already paying off for Tesla
CNN
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, will be taking on an official role to try to help President-elect Donald Trump make government more efficient. It will add yet another responsibility to an ever-growing to-do list for the increasingly distracted CEO and business leader.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, will be taking on an official role to try to help President-elect Donald Trump make government more efficient. It will add yet another responsibility to an ever-growing to-do list for the increasingly distracted CEO and business leader. Musk, chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, owner of X and CEO of other ventures, including Neuralink, xAI and the Boring Company, is already a busy guy. Even if the Trump job is just a side hustle (the announcement said it’s kind of an advisory gig), it’s one more thing for Musk to do that isn’t running the world’s most valuable car company. But here’s the thing: Musk’s recent distractions may not ultimately matter for his (many) businesses. And there’s actually a strong case to be made that they’re paying off for investors. Tesla, Musk’s most valuable company, in recent years has struggled to maintain its dominance of the electric vehicle market. Sales slowed as Tesla faces increased competition on both the higher end and lower end of the market, and Tesla was recently overtaken by Chinese rival BYD for EV sales. Meanwhile, Tesla has faced numerous federal investigations over its self-driving technology, and the company’s long-promised autonomous “Cybercab” announcement last month included a number of pie-in-the-sky promises that sounded like a lot of fluff – even coming from notorious over-promiser Musk. But, for Tesla investors, that’s all been in the rear view mirror over the past week. Tesla’s (TSLA) stock has surged 31% since Election Day, because investors believe that Musk’s influence in Trump’s government will usher in an era of deregulation – particularly in key industries and technologies that could benefit the company. “The benefits of Musk’s involvement in Trump’s government outweigh the negatives,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Tesla investors want Musk more involved in the Trump White House – not less – because of his influence on advancing AI, China tariffs and fast-tracking autonomous driving regulations.”
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, will be taking on an official role to try to help President-elect Donald Trump make government more efficient. It will add yet another responsibility to an ever-growing to-do list for the increasingly distracted CEO and business leader.
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