Elon Musk spent $44 billion to buy Twitter, now known as X, and at least $130 million to help get Donald Trump elected president.
It’s a combination that’s paid off handsomely. Since Trump’s victory last week, Musk is about $70 billion richer on paper.
Most of Musk’s wealth is wrapped up in his holdings of Tesla, and in the four trading days since the election, the electric vehicle maker’s stock has soared by about 39%. That’s lifted the company’s market cap well past $1 trillion.
Musk’s net worth has swelled to $320 billion, according to Forbes, putting him close to $90 billion ahead of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest person. Ellison, a close friend of Musk’s and a former Tesla board member, is a longtime Republican donor who’s seen his own Trump bump, with Oracle’s 10% increase lifting his net worth by about $20 billion.
For Musk, getting Trump back into the White House became another full-time job. He funded a swing-state operation to register right-leaning voters, and he led rallies as a surrogate for his favored candidate. He started $1 million giveaways to registered voters who signed one of his America PAC petitions, and he faced a lawsuit over running an illegal lottery in Pennsylvania.
Musk also used X, the social media platform he acquired in 2022, to constantly tout his support for Trump while frequently spreading misinformation about his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as topics like immigration and voter fraud.
Now, Musk is trying to make sure he cashes in on his investments.
After the election last week, Musk briefly joined Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NBC News reported. Other outlets, including The New York Times and ABC, have reported that Musk has been weighing in on staffing decisions for the next administration, and he’s spent a lot of time since the election at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Brendan Carr, who is likely to be Trump’s choice to run the Federal Communications Commission, is seen as a longstanding Musk ally.
Musk ran a straw poll on X for his 200-million plus followers asking who should be Senate majority leader, and he’s personally endorsed Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott for the position. He also reposted a comment from Trump about the need for the majority leader to support recess appointments for his nominees so they don’t need Senate confirmation.
“Without recess appointments, it will take two years or more to confirm the new administration!” Musk wrote.
Benefiting Musk’s empire
Musk has long sought to reduce regulatory authority so that he can eliminate impediments to his sprawling business empire, which includes Tesla and X, as well as defense contractor SpaceX, artificial intelligence startup xAI, brain computer interface company Neuralink and tunneling venture Boring Co.
Those companies are currently embroiled in a range of probes and lawsuits from federal agencies pertaining to matters including alleged securities law violations, workplace safety, labor and civil rights violations, violations of federal environmental laws, consumer fraud and vehicle safety defects.
Given the executive branch’s outsized control over federal regulatory bodies, Musk can look forward to regulators and intelligence agencies winding down some or all of the 19 known ongoing federal investigations and lawsuits against Tesla, SpaceX and X.
“He’s got the golden touch right now and has the ear,” said Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster, a longtime Tesla bull, in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.
In addition to Tesla, SpaceX is also a “clear beneficiary” of a Trump presidency, Munster said. He added that xAI could be rewarded as the new administration considers AI regulations.
“I’m stretched to try to find out how this could play out negative for Elon,” Munster said.
Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk owns 411.06 million Tesla shares, as of the latest filings, and about 304 million performance-based options. In January, Judge Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court voided Musk’s historic pay package from 2018 that included the options, calling it “unfathomable” in part because Musk controlled the board. Shareholders then voted in June to retroactively ratify the package. McCormick has said a final ruling on whether to restore Musk’s compensation will come soon.
Musk and Ellison aren’t the only two billionaire tech executives to see a post-election windfall.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has added about $4.5 billion to his net worth since Trump’s victory. Coinbase shares soared 20% on Monday, bringing their gains since Tuesday to 67%.
The crypto exchange was a major contributor to pro-crypto candidates up and down the ballot, largely through a PAC called Fairshake. Most of its preferred candidates were victorious, setting the stage for the likelihood of a more favorable regulatory environment for the industry.
That’s a win for Tesla as well. At the end of the third quarter, the company reported “digital assets” with a fair value of $729 million. Cryptocurrencies have rallied since the election, with bitcoin jumping about 29% to a record of over $88,000 on Monday.
