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Former United States President Donald Trump may consider appointing Elon Musk to a role in his administration if he is re-elected in November, as he told Reuters during an interview on Monday. But what makes Musk so special?
A non-linear odyssey
The world’s richest man, the CEO of multiple multinational companies (Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company), and a video game enthusiast, Elon Musk is an unpredictable and intriguing figure.
Born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa, he is of British and Dutch descent. His mother, Maye (née Haldeman), is a Canadian-born model and dietitian, and his father, Errol Musk, is a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, sailor, consultant, emerald trader and real estate developer.
With degrees in physics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Elon Musk moved to California in 1995 to study at Stanford University. He dropped out two days later to co-found, along with his brother Kimbal, an online city guide software company called Zip2, which was acquired by Compaq for $307 million in 1999.
In the same year, Musk co-founded X.com, an online payment company that merged with Confinity in 2000 to form PayPal. In October 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion. With $100 million from the sale of PayPal, Musk founded SpaceX, a space flight services company, in 2002.
In 2004, Musk was one of the first investors to provide the majority of the initial funding for the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Inc. (later Tesla, Inc.), becoming its chairman in 2008. And in 2022, he purchased Twitter for $44 billion, renaming the platform X the following year.
A successful businessman, Elon Musk has also made his mark in politics. In September 2022, he rejected a Ukrainian request to extend Starlink network coverage to Crimea to support an attack on Russian forces in the region.
Member of government efficiency?
Elon Musk supported Trump’s presidential bid after the candidate survived an assassination attempt in July, interviewing him on X on August 12.
During the interview, Musk proposed the creation of a “government efficiency commission” to oversee public spending and “reduce waste” and expressed his interest in being part of such a council.
Trump discussed the idea of Musk joining his cabinet during an interview with Reuters on August 19. When asked about possibly appointing Musk to a ministerial or advisory role, Trump responded, “He’s a very smart man. I would certainly consider it.” Musk later responded on X, saying, “I’m ready to serve.”
However, relations between the two billionaires haven’t always been cordial. In July 2022, Trump called Musk a “bullshit artist” after Musk stated his intention to vote for Ron DeSantis. Musk had previously criticized Trump, describing him as “a bull in a china shop.”
Subsidies are bad, but…
In the same interview, Trump also mentioned that he was considering cutting the $7,500 federal subsidies offered by Joe Biden’s administration for purchasing electric vehicles, which could hurt Tesla’s sales.
As for Musk, in 2021, he argued that the US government should not subsidize businesses, but instead impose a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He believes that the free market would find the best solution and that producing environmentally harmful vehicles should have consequences.
Paradoxically, Tesla has received substantial subsidies. Since 2018, the company has earned $9 billion through zero-emission credit systems established by the US government. Thus, the unpredictable Musk, with his contradictions and ambitions, could very well redefine political engagement in the age of tech giants.
