Donald Trump’s return to the White House may seem like a win for one of his most visible supporters: Elon Musk.
The world’s richest man spent election night in Florida with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort as the returnees poured in.
“The American people have given @realDonaldTrump a clear mandate for change tonight,” Mr Musk wrote on social media platform X as Trump’s victory began to look certain.
And in his victory speech at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Trump spent several minutes praising Mr. Musk and recounting the successful landing of a rocket built by one of Mr. Musk’s companies, SpaceX.
Mr Musk backed the Republican almost immediately after the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. in July.
As one of the president’s most important supporters, the tech billionaire has donated more than $119m (£92m) to fund a Super PAC aimed at re-electing Trump.
He also spent the final weeks before election day running a get-out-the-vote effort in battleground states, including daily donations of $1m to voters in those states. The offer became a legal challenge, however a judge later ruled that they could proceed.
After throwing his name, money and platform behind Trump, Mr. Musk has a lot to gain from Trump’s re-election.
The president-elect said in a second term, he would invite Mr. Musk to his post to eliminate government waste.
Mr. Musk called the potential effort the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, the name of the meme and cryptocurrency he popularized.
The businessman may also benefit from Trump’s office with his ownership of SpaceX, which is already a leader in the business of sending government satellites into space.
With a close ally in the White House, Mr. Musk would want to continue to make money from those government relationships.
Mr Musk has criticized rivals including Boeing for the way their government contracts are structured, which he says interferes with completing projects on budget and on time.
SpaceX has also moved into building spy satellites just as the Pentagon and American spy agencies appear ready to invest billions of dollars in them.
Mr Musk’s electric car maker Tesla is currently set to reap benefits from what Trump has said will be a “lower regulatory burden.”
Last month, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed that this is the case testing Tesla’s self-driving software programs.
Mr Musk has also been criticized for allegedly trying to stop Tesla workers from unionising. The United Auto Workers sued both Trump and Musk for labor practices after the two spoke about Musk allegedly firing striking workers during an interview with X.
Trump also promised to lower taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
This is another promise Mr Musk may be hoping to keep.
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