“I Can’t Wait to Serve America”: How Elon Musk May Profit from Donald Trump’s Election (and Why That’s Worrisome) ?

Shutterstock/Frederic Legrand – COMEO

“ I’look forward to serving America ” to the victory of Donald Trump. The entrepreneur had a good nose in publicly supporting the Republican and spending more than $100 million to support his campaign.

A windfall for Elon Musk  ?

He will soon be appointed head of a new “government efficiency commission” with the power to recommend large-scale budget cuts to federal agencies and changes to federal rules. A strategic position that could also benefit his companies.

As the Wall Street Journal points out, the revenues of the companies led by Elon Musk depend enormously on the billions of dollars spent by the American government. They are also dependent on the regulations and strategic choices made by the administration. This is the case for SpaceX contracts or the authorizations granted to autonomous cars issued by federal agencies for Tesla.

With this new role, the billionaire will probably be present at the discussion table where these decisions will be made. And our colleagues added: “This gives him the opportunity to adapt the policy to his own financial interests”.

Investors were not mistaken. Tesla's share price soared on the stock market this Wednesday and ended up 12%. But this new situation in Washington also provokes criticism.

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How to manage potential conflicts of interest ?

Democratic representative Gerry Connolly, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, thus castigates :

This is a blatant attempt by the world’s richest man to buy influence by interfering in the election in unprecedented ways, some of which are potentially illegal.

Republicans are holding off. Some elected officials believe that safeguards can be put in place to anticipate potential conflicts of interest. As for Elon Musk and the various companies he runs, they declined to comment on the matter.

However, the leader has hinted in the past that he intends to use his new role to advance certain issues. He explained in October: “The Department of Government Efficiency is the only way to extend life beyond Earth.”.

Similarly, and while Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, has launched federal investigations against her social network X, Elon Musk recently indicated: “She will be fired soon”. Other hot issues are in the balance and also concern the FDA which deals with his company Neuralink.

We will therefore have to see, if this new role comes to fruition, what prerogatives Elon Musk will really have and if real measures will be put in place to avoid potential abuses.

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