Musk speaks during a rally for Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, October 27, 2024, in New York, New York.
The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Elon Musk spent $44 billion to acquire Twitter (now known as X) and spent at least $130 million to help elect Donald Trump as president.
This combination pays off handsomely. Musk’s paper wealth has increased by about $70 billion since Trump’s victory last week.
Much of Musk’s wealth is concentrated in his holdings of TeslaIn the four trading days since the election, the electric car maker’s shares have soared about 39%. This gives the company a market capitalization of well over $1 trillion.
According to statistics, Musk’s net worth has increased to $320 billion Forbesputting him nearly $90 billion ahead Oracle Founder Larry Ellison, the second richest man in the world. Ellison, a close friend of Musk and a former Tesla board member, is a longtime Republican donor who has seen his own rise to prominence under Trump, with Oracle’s 10% growth boosting his net worth by about $20 billion. Dollar.
For Musk, getting Trump back in the White House has become another full-time job. He funded a swing-state effort to register right-leaning voters and led rallies as a surrogate for his favored candidate. He faces challenges as he starts giving away $1 million to registered voters who sign US Political Action Committee petition litigation Lottery operations are illegal in Pennsylvania.
Musk also uses X, He has continued to promote his support for Trump on the social media platform he acquired in 2022, while often spreading misinformation about his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, and topics such as immigration and voter fraud.
Now, Musk is working to make sure his investment pays off.
After last week’s election, Musk briefly participated in a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. nbc news reported. Other outlets include new york times Musk has been weighing staffing decisions for the next administration and has spent a lot of time at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since the election, ABC News and ABC reported. Brandon Carr, who is likely to be Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Communications Commission, is seen as a long-time Musk ally.
Musk ran one straw poll On Agree Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is running for the position. He also retweeted Trump’s comments that the majority leader needs to support his nominees’ recess appointments so they don’t need Senate confirmation.
“Without recess appointments, confirmation of a new administration will take two years or more!” Musk wrote.
Benefiting Musk’s empire
Musk has long sought to reduce regulatory power to remove obstacles to his vast business empire, which includes Tesla and X, as well as defense contractor SpaceX, artificial intelligence startup xAI, brain-computer interface company Neuralink and tunneling company Boring Co.
The companies are currently involved in a series of investigations and lawsuits by federal agencies involving alleged violations of securities laws, workplace safety, labor and civil rights violations, violations of federal environmental laws, consumer fraud and vehicle safety defects, among other topics.
Given the executive branch’s vast control over federal regulators, Musk can expect regulators and intelligence agencies to end some or all of the 19 known ongoing federal investigations and lawsuits against Tesla, SpaceX and X.
“He’s got the Midas touch now and he’s got a keen eye for it,” Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management, a long-time Tesla bull, told CNBC on Wednesday.
Munster said that in addition to Tesla, SpaceX is also a “clear beneficiary” of Trump’s presidency. He added that xAI could pay off as the new administration considers artificial intelligence regulations.
“I’m interested in figuring out how this will negatively impact Elon,” Munster said.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As of the latest filing, Musk owns 411.06 million Tesla shares and about 304 million performance-based options. In January, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick Eliminated Musk’s historic compensation package from 2018, which included options, and called it “unfathomable,” in part because Musk controls the board of directors. Shareholders subsequently voted to retroactively approve the plan in June. McCormick said the final ruling on whether to reinstate Musk’s salary will be Come quickly.
Musk and Ellison aren’t the only billionaire tech executives to reap post-election windfalls.
Coin library Chief Executive Brian Armstrong’s net worth has increased by about $4.5 billion since Trump’s victory. Coinbase shares soared 20% on Monday, taking their gains to 67% since Tuesday.
Cryptocurrency exchanges are major contributors to getting pro-crypto candidates up and down the ballot, primarily through a PAC called Fairshake. Most of the preferred candidates prevailed, setting the stage for a more favorable regulatory environment for the industry.
It’s also a win for Tesla. At the end of the third quarter, the company reported “Digital Assets” fair value $729 million. Cryptocurrencies have continued to rally since the election, with Bitcoin rising about 29% on Monday to reach a record above $88,000.
watch: Elon Musk was closely involved in shaping the Trump administration