Latest news with #US175
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
It's hard to admit, but we can all learn something from Elon Musk
This is not something I ever imagined I'd find myself saying, but I think we could all learn something from Elon Musk, particularly when it comes to money habits and ideology. I know, I know. At first glance, it's difficult to see what any of us normal people who pay mortgages, fly economy and budget for groceries each week have in common with the world's richest living individual, but stay with me. This week, Musk announced that after four months of serving as the unofficial BFF of President Donald Trump he is going to say goodbye to Washington and is stepping down from his role as a top government adviser. Like so many friendships between the mega-rich, it looks like the two have had an ideological falling out over … yep, you guessed it, money. As you'll no doubt remember, Musk has been a key fixture of the White House since Trump's return thanks to his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he and a bunch of young and extremely inexperienced tech bros (who called themselves 'Muskrats' due to their idolisation of the Tesla CEO) attempted to cut down on 'wasteful' government spending. This included things like slashing 300,000 government jobs and cutting funding to research programs aimed at raising US literacy rates in schools. When the Tesla CEO began talking about his plans for DOGE in October last year during the presidential campaign, Musk said the agency would be able to find 'at least $US2 trillion ($3.1 trillion)' in cuts – a third of the entire US federal budget – which he saw to be 'a target-rich environment for saving money'. Challenging ourselves is essential if we want to understand our reasons for spending or saving the way that we do, and to get better at it. By January, Musk had wound that estimate back, saying that $US2 trillion would be the 'best-case outcome', and that more likely, the cuts would be closer to the tune of half of that figure – $US1 trillion. This number, he said, would still be 'an epic outcome'. Now that he's on his way out, Musk is saying his final DOGE cuts figure is actually closer to $US175 billion (though audits suggest the true figure is far less than this). In terms of delivering Trump the 'savings' that were promised, it really is the Temu version showing up on his doorstep.
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
It's hard to admit, but we can all learn something from Elon Musk
This is not something I ever imagined I'd find myself saying, but I think we could all learn something from Elon Musk, particularly when it comes to money habits and ideology. I know, I know. At first glance, it's difficult to see what any of us normal people who pay mortgages, fly economy and budget for groceries each week have in common with the world's richest living individual, but stay with me. This week, Musk announced that after four months of serving as the unofficial BFF of President Donald Trump he is going to say goodbye to Washington and is stepping down from his role as a top government adviser. Like so many friendships between the mega-rich, it looks like the two have had an ideological falling out over … yep, you guessed it, money. As you'll no doubt remember, Musk has been a key fixture of the White House since Trump's return thanks to his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he and a bunch of young and extremely inexperienced tech bros (who called themselves 'Muskrats' due to their idolisation of the Tesla CEO) attempted to cut down on 'wasteful' government spending. This included things like slashing 300,000 government jobs and cutting funding to research programs aimed at raising US literacy rates in schools. When the Tesla CEO began talking about his plans for DOGE in October last year during the presidential campaign, Musk said the agency would be able to find 'at least $US2 trillion ($3.1 trillion)' in cuts – a third of the entire US federal budget – which he saw to be 'a target-rich environment for saving money'. Challenging ourselves is essential if we want to understand our reasons for spending or saving the way that we do, and to get better at it. By January, Musk had wound that estimate back, saying that $US2 trillion would be the 'best-case outcome', and that more likely, the cuts would be closer to the tune of half of that figure – $US1 trillion. This number, he said, would still be 'an epic outcome'. Now that he's on his way out, Musk is saying his final DOGE cuts figure is actually closer to $US175 billion (though audits suggest the true figure is far less than this). In terms of delivering Trump the 'savings' that were promised, it really is the Temu version showing up on his doorstep.
The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Musk leaves Trump administration after criticising president's ‘big beautiful bill'
Washington: Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk is leaving the Trump administration after leading a tumultuous efficiency drive, during which he upended several federal agencies, but ultimately failed to deliver the generational savings he had sought. His 'off-boarding will begin tonight', a White House official said late on Wednesday, Washington time, confirming Musk's departure from government. Musk earlier took to his social media platform X to thank US President Donald Trump as his 130 days as a special government employee with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency draws to an end. While the precise circumstances of his exit were not immediately clear, it came shortly after he criticised Trump's signature legislative priority to cut taxes and lift border security spending, saying it would increase the budget deficit and undermine the work of his DOGE team. Musk, a key Trump ally and until recently a constant presence in Trump's White House, also complained DOGE became a 'whipping boy' for other problems in the administration. The world's richest man has stepped back from Washington and returned to the Texas base of his SpaceX venture this week for another rocket test flight, which made it into space but sprang a leak and broke up on re-entry. Trump is seeking Senate support for his so-called 'big, beautiful bill', which passed the House of Representatives last week. It raises the US debt ceiling by $US4 trillion ($6.2 trillion), extends the tax cuts from Trump's first term that were due to expire at the end of the year, and eliminates tax on tips and overtime until the end of 2028 – a key election promise. The additional spending wipes out savings made by DOGE, which says it has found savings of $US175 billion – although its 'wall of receipts' amounts to less than half of that figure. On the campaign trail, Musk had said DOGE would be able to cut at least $US2 trillion in federal spending, though he later slashed that ambition. Earlier, Musk told CBS: 'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Musk leaves Trump administration after criticising president's ‘big beautiful bill'
Washington: Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk is leaving the Trump administration after leading a tumultuous efficiency drive, during which he upended several federal agencies, but ultimately failed to deliver the generational savings he had sought. His 'off-boarding will begin tonight', a White House official said late on Wednesday, Washington time, confirming Musk's departure from government. Musk earlier took to his social media platform X to thank US President Donald Trump as his 130 days as a special government employee with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency draws to an end. While the precise circumstances of his exit were not immediately clear, it came shortly after he criticised Trump's signature legislative priority to cut taxes and lift border security spending, saying it would increase the budget deficit and undermine the work of his DOGE team. Musk, a key Trump ally and until recently a constant presence in Trump's White House, also complained DOGE became a 'whipping boy' for other problems in the administration. The world's richest man has stepped back from Washington and returned to the Texas base of his SpaceX venture this week for another rocket test flight, which made it into space but sprang a leak and broke up on re-entry. Trump is seeking Senate support for his so-called 'big, beautiful bill', which passed the House of Representatives last week. It raises the US debt ceiling by $US4 trillion ($6.2 trillion), extends the tax cuts from Trump's first term that were due to expire at the end of the year, and eliminates tax on tips and overtime until the end of 2028 – a key election promise. The additional spending wipes out savings made by DOGE, which says it has found savings of $US175 billion – although its 'wall of receipts' amounts to less than half of that figure. On the campaign trail, Musk had said DOGE would be able to cut at least $US2 trillion in federal spending, though he later slashed that ambition. Earlier, Musk told CBS: 'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.
The Age
6 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Elon Musk is the textbook example of a workplace ‘seagull'
If you ever find yourself near the White House in Washington, DC, and hear a loud noise above you, you should be careful when looking up. Because there's a chance, if you squint hard enough, that you might just witness a careless seagull flying away after unloading its dirty business all over the (now formerly) white walls. Now, I'm not talking about an actual bird here, but the heavily foreshadowed exit by Elon Musk as his work leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) comes to an unceremonious end. I've previously written about some of the most common animal archetypes you're likely to find in most workplaces, including hippos, zebras and wolves. HiPPO stands for the Highest Paid Person's Opinion that can dominate any meeting. ZEBRA means Zero Evidence But Really Arrogant who jumps to quick conclusions. And a WOLF is always Working On the Latest Fire. On top of that, there are even more animals in the work menagerie, including a RHINO, or colleagues who are Really Here In Name Only and PARROTs that are Pretty Annoying and Ridiculously Repeating Others. Which leaves us with the SEAGULL, or a Senior Executive that Always Glides in, Unloads and Leaves Loudly. Most people will recognise a seagull at some stage of their career, but if you want to see a textbook example of what this animal looks like in the workplace, look no further than the world's richest man, Elon Musk. After US President Donald Trump was elected, Musk swooped into one of the most complex bureaucracies in the world and unloaded on everything in his sight. From foreign aid to tax processing, diversity programs to national parks, everything was viewed from a great height with little time or care given to its consequences. You're never going to stop seagulls from swooping in on your work, but you can at least make the aftermath a little bit easier to clean up. Arriving with an ambition to cut $US2 trillion ($3.1 trillion) from the US federal government, Musk is now leaving having reached just 8.75 per cent of his target, or $US175 billion of savings if you believe the higher end of the double-counting and dubious maths posted on DOGE's official website. Having made his mess in record time, he's now retreating from the hard work involved with genuine reform, inspired no doubt by falling sales of Teslas around the world.
