Elon Musk's Political Views Clash Significantly with His Business Operations
Distinguishing between Elon Musk the entrepreneur and Musk the political figure has become increasingly challenging.
TroibNews 
If you choose to overlook the political news and Wall Street developments, Elon Musk had an extraordinary week.
On Sunday, his company SpaceX achieved an engineering milestone by launching the world's largest and most powerful rocket. Remarkably, during its maiden flight, the 23-story-tall booster was caught midair by mechanical arms resembling chopsticks. This unprecedented accomplishment impressed both government officials and aerospace experts.
“To manage to be that successful on your first attempt, I think it’s just remarkable,” remarked Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and astrophysicist from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who had doubted the feasibility of the catch.
A few days earlier, during a dramatic corporate reveal at a Hollywood studio, Tesla showcased its long-anticipated robotaxi prototype and introduced a group of robotic bartenders, which Musk claimed would be the “biggest product ever of any kind.” The flashy event garnered Musk significant social media praise for the vehicle's striking design and the robots' entertaining performances.
However, alongside these triumphs, Musk found himself embroiled in a separate set of controversies. On Oct. 5, he attended a Trump rally, energetically declaring himself “Dark MAGA,” complete with a matching hat. Following hurricanes Helene and Milton, he took to his platform X to spread misinformation regarding the federal response, seemingly aimed at undermining Democrats.
A challenge has surfaced for someone who garnered wealth, fame, and power by branding himself as a champion for humanity's future: it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish Musk the businessman from Musk the political figure.
This discussion first appeared in Digital Future Daily, PMG's afternoon newsletter focusing on the intersection of technology and power. Subscribe here.
To understand the potential consequences of this blending of roles, consider Musk’s escalating disputes with California and Washington.
Last Thursday, the California Coastal Commission rejected proposals for SpaceX to increase launch frequency from Vandenberg Air Force Base, citing Musk's political antics: “Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” commented Commissioner Gretchen Newsom during a meeting.
The Starship launch, which was SpaceX’s most significant test of the year, also faced potential delays due to Musk's confrontations with regulators. Recently, SpaceX has clashed with the Federal Aviation Administration over licensing requirements, resulting in hefty fines for alleged noncompliance prior to launches, prompting Musk to threaten legal action for “regulatory overreach.” As he promoted the Starship test and targeted Sunday for its flight, uncertainty remained about receiving FAA approval until just the day before.
Musk’s public recklessness does not appear to have negatively impacted his federal contracting business, at least for now. Jerry McGinn, a government contracting expert at George Mason University, noted that government officials purchasing services from SpaceX “are not looking at his kind of tweets or whatever … they're focused on their thing, their rockets, their launch capabilities and how SpaceX can meet that or not.”
In the long run, Musk has ambitions that extend beyond political implications, such as advancing human presence on other planets. He has grand plans for Starship, including its potential to return American astronauts to the moon, as well as future missions to Mars. These off-planet endeavors are expected to occur from the East Coast or possibly Texas, and are unlikely to be affected by his conflicts with California regarding West Coast launches.
In the near term, however, his interest in supporting Trump seems to overshadow some of those other aspirations. Musk has invested tens of millions into a super PAC to rally votes for the former president, suggested a campaign bus tour across Pennsylvania, and even claimed he could face imprisonment under a Harris administration. Trump has promised Musk a role in his administration if victorious. Musk's full-scale involvement in the presidential race has fueled his hunger for attention but may not significantly benefit his business interests.
Another crucial constituency Musk must consider is Wall Street. He retains his position as the world’s richest individual largely due to Tesla's extraordinary market valuation, yet the robotaxi reveal—despite its appeal—left investors feeling underwhelmed.
Without a clear trajectory to bridge the gap between Musk's ambitious business promises and reality, Tesla's stock plummeted, losing $68 billion in value almost overnight—indicating that at least one force still has the power to pull the tycoon back to Earth.
This is also a concern for SpaceX. While the Starship holds the potential to drastically alter the economics of space travel, McDowell pointed out that “there's a whole bunch of different steps before we're ready to go to the moon.”
“What's not clear is how deep his pockets really are at the moment, and can he get it working reliably before the money runs out?” he questioned. “If Starlink is making enough profit, it's not a problem, but it’s hard to tell.”
Daniella Cheslow contributed to this report.
Allen M Lee contributed to this report for TROIB News
On Sunday, his company SpaceX achieved an engineering milestone by launching the world's largest and most powerful rocket. Remarkably, during its maiden flight, the 23-story-tall booster was caught midair by mechanical arms resembling chopsticks. This unprecedented accomplishment impressed both government officials and aerospace experts.
“To manage to be that successful on your first attempt, I think it’s just remarkable,” remarked Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and astrophysicist from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who had doubted the feasibility of the catch.
A few days earlier, during a dramatic corporate reveal at a Hollywood studio, Tesla showcased its long-anticipated robotaxi prototype and introduced a group of robotic bartenders, which Musk claimed would be the “biggest product ever of any kind.” The flashy event garnered Musk significant social media praise for the vehicle's striking design and the robots' entertaining performances.
However, alongside these triumphs, Musk found himself embroiled in a separate set of controversies. On Oct. 5, he attended a Trump rally, energetically declaring himself “Dark MAGA,” complete with a matching hat. Following hurricanes Helene and Milton, he took to his platform X to spread misinformation regarding the federal response, seemingly aimed at undermining Democrats.
A challenge has surfaced for someone who garnered wealth, fame, and power by branding himself as a champion for humanity's future: it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish Musk the businessman from Musk the political figure.
This discussion first appeared in Digital Future Daily, PMG's afternoon newsletter focusing on the intersection of technology and power. Subscribe here.
To understand the potential consequences of this blending of roles, consider Musk’s escalating disputes with California and Washington.
Last Thursday, the California Coastal Commission rejected proposals for SpaceX to increase launch frequency from Vandenberg Air Force Base, citing Musk's political antics: “Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” commented Commissioner Gretchen Newsom during a meeting.
The Starship launch, which was SpaceX’s most significant test of the year, also faced potential delays due to Musk's confrontations with regulators. Recently, SpaceX has clashed with the Federal Aviation Administration over licensing requirements, resulting in hefty fines for alleged noncompliance prior to launches, prompting Musk to threaten legal action for “regulatory overreach.” As he promoted the Starship test and targeted Sunday for its flight, uncertainty remained about receiving FAA approval until just the day before.
Musk’s public recklessness does not appear to have negatively impacted his federal contracting business, at least for now. Jerry McGinn, a government contracting expert at George Mason University, noted that government officials purchasing services from SpaceX “are not looking at his kind of tweets or whatever … they're focused on their thing, their rockets, their launch capabilities and how SpaceX can meet that or not.”
In the long run, Musk has ambitions that extend beyond political implications, such as advancing human presence on other planets. He has grand plans for Starship, including its potential to return American astronauts to the moon, as well as future missions to Mars. These off-planet endeavors are expected to occur from the East Coast or possibly Texas, and are unlikely to be affected by his conflicts with California regarding West Coast launches.
In the near term, however, his interest in supporting Trump seems to overshadow some of those other aspirations. Musk has invested tens of millions into a super PAC to rally votes for the former president, suggested a campaign bus tour across Pennsylvania, and even claimed he could face imprisonment under a Harris administration. Trump has promised Musk a role in his administration if victorious. Musk's full-scale involvement in the presidential race has fueled his hunger for attention but may not significantly benefit his business interests.
Another crucial constituency Musk must consider is Wall Street. He retains his position as the world’s richest individual largely due to Tesla's extraordinary market valuation, yet the robotaxi reveal—despite its appeal—left investors feeling underwhelmed.
Without a clear trajectory to bridge the gap between Musk's ambitious business promises and reality, Tesla's stock plummeted, losing $68 billion in value almost overnight—indicating that at least one force still has the power to pull the tycoon back to Earth.
This is also a concern for SpaceX. While the Starship holds the potential to drastically alter the economics of space travel, McDowell pointed out that “there's a whole bunch of different steps before we're ready to go to the moon.”
“What's not clear is how deep his pockets really are at the moment, and can he get it working reliably before the money runs out?” he questioned. “If Starlink is making enough profit, it's not a problem, but it’s hard to tell.”
Daniella Cheslow contributed to this report.
Allen M Lee contributed to this report for TROIB News
