This column was originally published on Nov. 3Terraforming Mars may be a pipe dream, but Elon Musk is all in on colonizing somewhere closer to home: the White House. The world’s richest man is lavishing money and vast corporate resources on ensuring Donald Trump is reelected as the US president.
The web of contracts and subsidies that bind his empire to government largess have not prevented him from inserting himself into America’s fraught politics — and, depending on the outcome, ever more deeply into the fabric of society and national security. Billionaires, corporate titans and anyone else with financial interests on the line rarely offer their wealth and time gratis. So what is Musk after, and what potential conflicts of interest arise when someone with such broad influence throws himself into one of the most consequential elections in US history?After all, the man behind Tesla Inc.
, X Corp., Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and a host of other companies isn’t simply campaigning for the man who might be president again.
Musk may also join a potential second Trump administration. While the boundaries between business and politics in the US have always been malleable, for better and worse, Musk’s roles and reach raise unprecedented questions about self-dealing and the evaporation of ethical, legal and financial guidelines meant to protect the public interest and good government. Consider Musk’s sway, built over an undeniably remarkable career.
Tesla brought .
