Elon Musk on stage before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, on Sunday, October 27, 2024.
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Elon Musk spent $44 billion to buy Twitter, now known as X, and at least $130 million to help Donald Trump become president.
It's a combination that pays off handsomely. Since Trump's victory last week, Musk is, on paper, about $70 billion richer.
Most of Musk's wealth is in his possessions Teslaand in the four trading days since the election, the electric vehicle maker's stock is up about 39%. As a result, the company's market capitalization has risen to well over $1 trillion.
According to Forbes, Musk's net worth has grown to $320 billion, putting him nearly over $90 billion oracle Founder Larry Ellison, the second richest person in the world. Ellison, a close friend of Musk and a former Tesla board member, is a longtime Republican donor who has experienced his own Trump surge: Oracle's 10 percent raise boosted his net worth by about $20 billion.
For Musk, getting Trump back to the White House became another full-time job. He funded a swing-state operation to register right-wing voters and led rallies as a surrogate for his favorite candidate. He launched the $1 million drawing to registered voters who signed one of his America PAC petitions and faced a lawsuit for 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 often spreading misinformation about his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as issues such as immigration and voter fraud.
Now Musk is trying to make sure he benefits from his investments.
After last week's election, Musk briefly joined Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, NBC News reported. Other media outlets, including The New York Times and ABC, have reported that Musk is involved in personnel decisions for the next administration and has spent significant time at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since the election. Brendan Carr, who is likely to be Trump's nominee to head the Federal Communications Commission, is considered a long-time Musk ally.
Musk conducted a runoff vote on He also posted a comment from Trump about the need for the majority leader to support his nominees' appointments during recess so that they don't need Senate confirmation.
“Without recess appointments, it will take two years or more to confirm the new government!” Musk wrote.
Musk's empire benefits from this
Musk has long sought to reduce regulatory powers to remove obstacles to his sprawling business empire, which includes Tesla and
These companies are currently embroiled in a number of federal investigations and lawsuits relating to alleged violations of securities laws, 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 regulators, Musk can look forward to regulators and intelligence agencies dropping some or all of the 19 known ongoing federal investigations and lawsuits against Tesla, SpaceX and X.
“He has the golden touch and the ear right now,” Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster, a longtime Tesla bull, said 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 government considers AI regulations.
“I’m excited to find out how this might negatively impact Elon,” Munster said.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk owns 411.06 million Tesla shares and about 304 million performance-based options, according to the latest filings. In January, Judge Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court voided Musk's historic 2018 pay package that included the options, calling it “unfathomable” in part because Musk controlled the board. In June, shareholders then voted to retroactively ratify the package. McCormick said a final decision on whether to restore Musk's compensation will be made soon.
Musk and Ellison aren't the only two billionaire tech executives experiencing a post-election windfall.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has increased his net worth by around $4.5 billion since Trump's victory. Coinbase shares rose 20% on Monday, extending their gains since Tuesday to 67%.
The crypto exchange played a major role in driving pro-crypto candidates up and down the ballot, most notably through a PAC called Fairshake. Most of his preferred candidates emerged victorious, setting the stage for the likelihood of a more favorable regulatory environment for the industry.
This is also a win for Tesla. 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 rising about 29% to a record above $88,000 on Monday.
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