Donald Trump has hurt Elon Musk deeply – he may never recover from the harm done

Independent

a day ago

One moment, you are the richest person in the world, a genius, a self-proclaimed 'techno-king', able to dock a returning space rocket as if it were a car. The next? You have protesters boycotting your products, and your company's stock price is crashing.
Suddenly, Elon Musk, a genuine claimant to be a master of the universe, appears decidedly human, even ordinary. Thinking he could easily add a role in Donald Trump 's administration to his existing positions, Musk's plight is the result of hubris, or, to point to an ancient legend that, given his interest in galactic travel, he must know backwards, he is a 21st-century Icarus. He flew too close to the sun because he thought it could do no harm, and now he has plummeted to earth.
He paid $250m towards the Trump campaign. Loose change for the billionaire, but enough to gain the new president's ear and favour. Musk impressed on his new bestie, he was the 'First Buddy', that he could take an axe to the US federal budget, cutting out waste and with it a large amount of wokery, spectacularly boosting the books. It has not happened. Musk was responsible for thousands of firings, but his brutal purging has barely dented the public outlay. In the process, he became a hate figure, a pin-up for the laissez-faire, devil-may-care attitude of his boss. With that, too, came the stomaching of the rest of Trumpian ideology, which went against his own business needs.
Musk's Tesla cars rely on parts and materials supplied from overseas. Trump skewered the industry and its dependence on globally entwined supply chains by imposing heavy tariffs. They are electric, and Trump is a four-square fossil fuel advocate.
As far as Trump is concerned, the climate crisis belongs with the liberal intelligentsia he so abhors, so he wishes to remove tax credits for electric vehicles. Likewise, Musk wants to harvest the world's best scientific brains, regardless of their origin. Trump cracked down on immigration and the awarding of visas.
Musk declared his unhappiness and was ignored. Friction was reported along the corridors of power in Washington. He should not have been surprised. Being Potus is about the big picture, more so if you happen to be Trump. Musk received a rude awakening, made to feel, for all his achievements, wealth and undoubted ability, a bit player in a mighty machine. Politics is cynical, and no one is as cynical as the self-serving White House occupant.
So, Musk has returned to the day job. Except he will find it in very different health from when he left, or to be precise, from the point he ceased to give it his full attention. Tesla shares have slumped by more than 24 per cent since their peak in December 2024, sales of its electric cars dropped 13 per cent versus the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, there are calls for the company to divest in Europe and the US. From being the clear market leader, the disruptor of the world's car industry, Tesla now faces strong competition – other manufacturers have caught up quickly, especially in China. Musk's company now must continue reinventing and conjuring up models capable of mass production and sales – or else the Tesla magic wanes.
Tesla showrooms have been attacked and picketed, and Tesla shareholders are saying they have had enough. From acclaiming Musk and going along with all his foibles, including a disregard for the normal rules of corporate governance, they are now seeking change. In a public show of defiance and rebellion, they are seeking his commitment to devote 40 hours a week to Tesla.
There is deliberate irony in their demand, since Musk said he expected a minimum of 40 hours from state employees. The problem the investors face is that Musk is not a typical worker, and his week is far from a typical working week. He puts in around 80 hours, a figure that has risen to more than 120 after he bought Twitter/X and began assisting Trump. He manages four major businesses and a foundation.
Even without the Trump job, he is by any standard spread far and wide. There are too many organisations that require careful steering. Twitter, now X, is lagging behind its rivals, down 11 million users in Europe alone. Starlink has seen contracts in Canada and Mexico scuppered. SpaceX is the subject of official probes. This, from a position when they seemed to be benefiting from Trump's arrival, along with his Neuralink brain-implant innovator.
Given Musk's capacity to jump from one to the other, his resurrection should not be written off. But he has not severed his links to Trump entirely – he says he will continue to spend a day or two on government business, 'for as long as the president would like me to do so'.
Trump is a canny operator at heading off potential pitfalls. He is calculating and brooding. Despite their differences in some areas, he would almost certainly prefer to have the high-profile, voluble, well-connected and super-rich Musk on his side. He would also like to bask in the reflected glory of future Musk advancements. It's to be expected, then, that while a certain distance has grown between them, Musk will not be disappearing from government services, as he says, just yet.
How, faced with all this, can the redoubtable Musk, who still is a human being, manage his time, as his shareholders require? Few corporate chiefs have begun to saddle themselves with the same workload.
Which raises the question as to how much longer his shareholders will allow this situation to persist. When things were performing swimmingly, they were prepared, happy even, to cut Musk some slack. But as problems crowd in, they are less inclined to do so. That is why their letter highlights governance concerns and asks if he has a succession plan in place. Other companies do, so why not Tesla?
There is one more decisive question. He is scaling back his government involvement, and the expectation must be that the hostility towards him and his brands will cease. But will it? The organised demonstrations will stop, but mentally, he will forever be associated with the first chaotic, chest-beating and, at times, vicious period of Trump's second term. Consumers may not so willingly rush back to buying his wares. The damage might well prove to have been done, and it may be too late.
It was once all going so well; then he thought he would go that bit higher. The modern-day tale of Musk truly serves as a warning.