• Elon Musk used his money, power and influence to help re-elect former President Donald Trump.
• Now he is likely to benefit from ties with the newly elected president and possibly gain a government role.
• Trump has also promised to ease regulations, which will benefit Musk and his companies.

Elon Musk’s campaign in support of Donald Trump has paid off — and the billionaire has a lot to gain in the next four years.

Musk has spent months strengthening his ties with Trump and using his platform on X to advocate for him invests more than $130 million in pro-Trump efforts. He even promised a daily $1 million giveaway to swing state voters who sign his petition in support of free speech and gun rights.

Business Insider spoke to experts ahead of the election about Musk’s involvement in the campaign. Some suggested that Musk’s actions could be a hedging strategy to secure Trump’s support if he wins. Cary Coglianese, a law professor and director of the Penn Program on Regulation at the University of Pennsylvania, said Musk may only see himself as able to “turn around the federal government.”

Regardless of his underlying motivations, the billionaire will likely benefit from Trump’s second term in the White House. Erik Gordon, area chair of entrepreneurial studies at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, put it simply: “Friends of the winner share in the profits.”

Trump supports Musk’s idea for a ‘Department of Government Efficiency’

Trump has agreed to take up Musk’s proposal to create a ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ led by Musk. The president-elect has said this would conduct a “full financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.”

The role could give Musk leverage over agencies he has long complained about, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is investigating the 2022 acquisition of Twitter, now called that he had the financing. to take Tesla private.

At a recent meeting in Pittsburgh, Musk said he had discovered there were 428 federal government agencies. “What the hell do you need 428 agencies for? Why do you even need 100? This is insane,” he said. At a town hall in Pennsylvania on October 18, he proposed laying off federal employees.

Musk has already suggested using the role to his advantage. During Tesla’s most recent earnings call, Musk suggested that if there were a government efficiency commission, he would help move the state-by-state approval process forward with a “federal approval process for autonomous vehicles.”

What a Trump victory means for Musk’s business empire

Aside from direct influence within the government, a Trump presidency could lead to many victories for Musk’s business empire, which includes Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink and X. Many of these companies rely heavily on federal approvals, regulations, subsidies or contracts – and Trump has promised a lighter regulatory landscape with lower corporate and personal taxes.

Gordon said regulators would give Musk “more freedom to develop advanced technologies” under Trump.

Regulatory leniency could be crucial for Tesla, especially as investors closely watch Musk’s commitment to seeking approval for fully autonomous vehicles in Texas and California.

Francesco Trebbi, a professor of business administration and public policy at the University of California Berkeley, told BI that a Trump presidency could help SpaceX win major Defense Department contracts. The company has recently made major strides in space travel, and that kind of support could help the company maintain a competitive advantage over rivals like Blue Origin.

Some risks ahead

While Musk has a lot to gain over the next four years, his alignment with Trump is not without risk – and there is no guarantee that everything will go as planned.

Trump plans to withdraw unused funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to “quickly beat inflation and lower prices,” according to Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s national press secretary. The IRA offers Tesla benefits such as a $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles and tax credits for solar installations.

Coglianese said Musk also “relied on a president who is willing or willing to repay Musk for his loyalty.” He said it’s not always clear, however, that Trump’s strongest supporters get everything they want.

He cited the example of billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who acted as an unpaid adviser during Trump’s first term. Icahn reportedly received some relief from the Environmental Protection Agency for an oil refinery he owned eventually resigned amid criticism over potential conflicts of interest.

Joan MacLeod Heminway, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, told BI that there are “ethical rules that mandate compliance with a number of obligations, such as reporting conflicts of interest.

“Elon Musk may not want to take on these obligations,” Heminway said.