A take a look at the individuals who affect the world’s richest man, and those that stand to realize from their affiliation with him now.
Elon Musk occupies a uncommon place on the heart of American energy.
As the “first buddy,” he has received the ear of President-elect Donald J. Trump, having spent over $250 million within the closing months of 2024 to assist him get elected. Mr. Musk has appeared in household pictures at Mar-a-Lago and joined Mr. Trump on calls with world leaders and chief executives.
Mr. Musk has by no means had extra affect over enterprise, world politics and the American democratic system. He helped kill bipartisan laws in Congress to keep away from a authorities shutdown, although a invoice was later handed.
Where does he go from right here?
These are the individuals who affect Mr. Musk proper now, and these whom he influences in flip. They are longtime associates, buyers, workers members or social gathering buddies — and generally, these boundaries blur.
They form how Mr. Musk operates and views the world. Many have propped him up, within the good instances and the unhealthy, and some now stand to realize from his new place in U.S. politics.
These folks have fueled Mr. Musk and his companies. Over the years, they’ve invested thousands and thousands of {dollars} in SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, the Boring Company, X and xAI. Some have gained board seats or turn into shut associates with Mr. Musk for his or her loyalty.
Steve Jurvetson
Mr. Jurvetson is a longtime Silicon Valley enterprise capitalist and was an early investor in Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, the place he’s a board member. He can also be a superfan of Mr. Musk’s. On a podcast in 2020, he praised the billionaire for being “the greatest gift of the American dream living right now.”
Marc Andreessen
The enterprise capitalist is considered one of Mr. Musk’s massive monetary supporters in Silicon Valley: His agency, Andreessen Horowitz, has backed SpaceX, X and xAI.
Shaun Maguire
A accomplice at Sequoia Capital, Mr. Maguire led the agency’s offers into Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, X, xAI and Boring Company, a tunneling enterprise. He has performed an enormous position in Mr. Musk’s work in the course of the presidential transition.
John Hering
Mr. Hering, a enterprise capitalist, invests in Mr. Musk’s corporations and has turn into a trusted adviser. Recently, Mr. Hering has hung out in Palm Beach, Fla., serving to with the presidential transition.
Peter Thiel
Mr. Thiel and Mr. Musk are members of the so-called PayPal Mafia, a gaggle of founders and early staff of the funds firm. While Mr. Thiel helped oust Mr. Musk from the corporate a long time in the past, he has lately turn into a political ally and supporter. Vice President-elect JD Vance as soon as labored for Mr. Thiel’s enterprise capital agency, and Mr. Thiel was the one who launched the working mates.
Roelof Botha
A fellow South African, Mr. Botha was a member of the PayPal Mafia. Now, because the managing accomplice of Sequoia Capital, he oversees the enterprise agency’s numerous investments into Mr. Musk’s corporations, together with X and xAI.
Larry Ellison
Mr. Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, is a self-described good buddy of Mr. Musk’s and has taken half in some Trump transition conferences. When Mr. Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, Mr. Ellison dedicated $1 billion to the deal.
Mr. Musk’s associates come from totally different areas of his life. Some began as colleagues or buyers, however later developed private relationships with the billionaire — to the purpose the place they’ve attended Burning Man or vacationed collectively.
Mr. Musk has additionally grown shut with quite a lot of figures within the tech scene round Austin, the place he has been relocating a few of his corporations’ operations, away from the San Francisco space.
Antonio Gracias
Mr. Gracias is considered one of Mr. Musk’s oldest associates; he was an early investor in SpaceX, Tesla and different corporations, and he helped fund a pro-Trump tremendous PAC began by Mr. Musk.
Ken Howery
A co-founder of PayPal, Mr. Howery could be very concerned in Republican politics. He and Mr. Musk are a part of the identical social circles in Austin, Texas.
Michael Kives
Mr. Musk has generally stayed with Mr. Kives, a former Hollywood expertise agent and Democratic financier, when he’s in Los Angeles.
Luke Nosek
An in depth buddy in Texas now and energetic in conservative politics, Mr. Nosek is among the a number of entrepreneurs who helped begin PayPal.
David Sacks
A PayPal Mafia affiliate, Mr. Sacks is a longtime buddy who has grown nearer to Mr. Musk after the acquisition of Twitter and his rightward political shift. Mr. Sacks has been picked for a tech place in Mr. Trump’s White House.
Sriram Krishnan
A former enterprise capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. Krishnan was a part of the crew that took over Twitter after Mr. Musk purchased it. President-elect Trump lately tapped him to work with Mr. Sacks on synthetic intelligence initiatives.
Joe Lonsdale
A co-founder of the software program firm Palantir, which has quite a few Defense Department contracts, Mr. Lonsdale offered steerage to Mr. Musk’s pro-Trump tremendous PAC and has helped advise the world’s richest man on the presidential transition.
Rupert Murdoch
Mr. Musk dined at Mr. Murdoch’s condo simply earlier than Election Day. The media mogul has remained shut with Mr. Musk at the same time as his flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, has reported critically on him.
James Murdoch
A present Tesla board member, in addition to a SpaceX investor and a son of Rupert Murdoch’s, James Murdoch and Mr. Musk are associates who’ve vacationed collectively.
Joe Gebbia
A former Airbnb government, Mr. Gebbia sits on Tesla’s board and can also be a part of the group that Mr. Musk hangs out with in Austin.
Jason Calacanis
A start-up investor and podcaster, Mr. Calacanis has been a longtime supporter of Mr. Musk’s from the early days at Tesla. He has attended Burning Man with Mr. Musk and most lately suggested the billionaire in the course of the takeover of Twitter.
Michael Dell
The billionaires have turn into nearer as Mr. Musk has made Austin his house base. Mr. Dell has voiced his assist for the federal government effectivity division and is creating computing infrastructure to assist energy Mr. Musk’s xAI.
Ari Emanuel
The Hollywood media mogul has grown near Mr. Musk, who as soon as sat on the board of his firm, Endeavor. The SpaceX chief has vacationed with Mr. Emanuel and attended his marriage ceremony. Endeavor has additionally invested in X.
Robin Ren
Mr. Ren attended the University of Pennsylvania with Mr. Musk, who thought of him to be higher at physics throughout that point. Mr. Ren went on to work at Tesla as a vice chairman of enterprise improvement and, for a time, led the corporate’s growth into China. He additionally invested in Mr. Musk’s Twitter takeover.
Joe Rogan
The well-liked podcaster has frolicked with Mr. Musk in Austin. Mr. Musk has appeared on his present 5 instances within the final six years.
Mr. Musk has a big, difficult household. He has fathered not less than 12 youngsters with three totally different companions. He generally mixes enterprise with household issues. His brother has sat on the boards of his corporations, whereas his mom and younger son have sat in on conferences for his corporations and for his newly fashioned Department of Government Efficiency.
Kimbal Musk
Kimbal, Mr. Musk’s brother, has been a detailed confidant for years. He runs a restaurant enterprise in Denver, however has lengthy been concerned in Elon’s corporations: He was an early SpaceX and Tesla board member, along with advising on smaller endeavors.
James Musk
Mr. Musk’s youthful cousin James now works as a belief engineer at X, after following Mr. Musk from firm to firm.
Errol Musk
Mr. Musk advised a biographer that he and his father, Errol, are generally estranged, however Errol has mentioned the 2 are in frequent contact. He has visited his son in Texas.
Tosca Musk
Mr. Musk’s sister, Tosca, is the pinnacle of a manufacturing firm that focuses on adapting romance novels and erotic fan fiction. She has been an enormous Democratic donor, and helped host a fund-raiser for Stacey Abrams, the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia.
Grimes
The pop singer, born Claire Boucher, is the mom of three of Mr. Musk’s youngsters and has been engaged in custody battles with him.
X Æ A-12 Musk
Mr. Musk’s eldest son with Grimes, the 4-year-old X, as he’s generally identified, has been a frequent presence together with his father at his corporations’ numerous places of work and at Mar-a-Lago.
Justine Wilson Musk
Mr. Musk’s first spouse and the mom of 5 of his eldest youngsters, she helps father or mother a few of these youngsters with him. (Though one of many youngsters, Vivian, has lower off ties along with her father.)
Talulah Riley
Ms. Riley, an actress, is Mr. Musk’s second spouse, having married and divorced him twice. They stay in touch.
Shivon Zilis
A former enterprise capitalist and present government at Neuralink, Ms. Zilis is the mom of not less than three youngsters with Mr. Musk. She has been noticed at Mar-a-Lago after the election.
Maye Musk
Mr. Musk’s mom, a mannequin and dietitian, continuously attends social and political occasions along with her son.
With Mr. Musk main six totally different corporations, he’s saved a small circle of trusted advisers and deputies throughout these organizations to keep up operations. Some of those males and ladies have labored with Mr. Musk for greater than a decade and joined Tesla or SpaceX within the early days, when neither firm was a assured success. Some of those lieutenants transfer from job to job with Mr. Musk as he deploys them on the most recent concern he’s deemed vital.
Alex Spiro
Mr. Spiro, a lawyer with high-profile shoppers, notably defended Mr. Musk in a defamation lawsuit after the billionaire known as a British cave explorer a “pedo guy” on Twitter in 2018. Recently, Mr. Spiro has turn into Mr. Musk’s assault canine towards authorities regulators.
Chris Young
Mr. Young, a prime Republican discipline operative, was employed to be Mr. Musk’s political adviser earlier this 12 months. They didn’t know one another earlier than the election, however Mr. Young has led Mr. Musk’s tactical work in Republican politics.
Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy
Mr. O’Shaughnessy, a retired Air Force common referred to as “Shags,” is considered one of Mr. Musk’s prime lieutenants at SpaceX. He was lately pushed as a candidate for a Defense Department job.
Mark Juncosa
As the vice chairman of car engineering at SpaceX, Mr. Juncosa has labored his approach up the ranks in his greater than 13 years on the firm. He is considered one of Mr. Musk’s most trusted engineers.
Omead Afshar
Mr. Afshar, considered one of Mr. Musk’s right-hand males, beforehand oversaw the development of Tesla’s manufacturing facility in Austin, and is now concerned with the manufacturing of the Starship rocket at SpaceX.
Tim Hughes
As a senior authorities affairs government at SpaceX, Mr. Hughes has turn into very important to Mr. Musk as the corporate has appeared to unfold its affect and its satellite tv for pc web service, Starlink, exterior the United States. Mr. Musk has put forth Mr. Hughes as a possible rent for the Department of Defense.
Ira Ehrenpreis
A present Tesla board member, Mr. Ehrenpreis helped push via a controversial pay package deal at Tesla that helped make Mr. Musk the richest man on the planet.
Jared Birchall
Mr. Birchall, a former wealth supervisor at Morgan Stanley, is the longtime head of Mr. Musk’s household workplace, in addition to of the Musk Foundation. He has additionally been advising the presidential transition.
Jehn Balajadia
Though she has the title of “operations coordinator” on the Boring Company, Ms. Balajadia is successfully Mr. Musk’s secretary, serving to him with day-to-day duties and scheduling. She usually follows him as he travels, and was ever-present throughout his acqusition of Twitter.
Linda Yaccarino
A former government at NBCUniversal, Ms. Yaccarino is the chief government of X — and usually parrots his political opinions and speaking factors.
Robyn Denholm
As the chair of Tesla’s board, the Australian enterprise government has exerted little oversight over Mr. Musk, who needed to step down from his position as chairman after his combat with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018.
Tom Zhu
A senior vice preisdent at Tesla who oversees a lot of the corporate’s operations in China, an more and more vital marketplace for the electrical automaker.
Franz von Holzhausen
The lead designer at Tesla, he has been identified to seem onstage with Mr. Musk throughout launch occasions. He has labored on the firm for almost 16 years and is considered one of Tesla’s longest-serving staff.
Ross Nordeen
One of Musk’s most trusted engineers, he has moved from Tesla to X and now to xAI. He has labored carefully with Mr. Musk’s cousin James.
Steve Davis
Few folks on this checklist have earned Mr. Musk’s belief greater than Mr. Davis, who is commonly known as upon to assist with particular conditions. Mr. Davis, who by day is an government on the Boring Company, has successfully led Mr. Musk’s work on the presidential transition.
Gwynne Shotwell
The second strongest particular person at SpaceX, she has overseen the day-to-day operations of the rocket firm because it has grown to be a significant contractor of NASA and the Defense Department.
Mr. Musk’s introduction into the MAGA world has been swift, after his public endorsement of Mr. Trump’s candidacy in July. Since the election, Mr. Musk has turn into nearly inseparable from the president-elect, constructing quick friendships not solely with Mr. Trump, but in addition with a few of his closest advisers. These alliances will turn into much more vital, as Mr. Musk has mentioned he’ll push to slash federal spending together with his authorities effectivity group.
Alex Lorusso
A enterprise accomplice of Benny Johnson’s, the conservative media persona, Mr. Lorusso was a paid advisor for Mr. Musk’s tremendous PAC. Mr. Lorusso is among the a number of high-profile conservative voices who had been as soon as barred on Twitter and later reinstated by Mr. Musk.
Tucker Carlson
Before leaving Fox News, Mr. Carlson interviewed Mr. Musk for considered one of his final exhibits. Since then, the pair have bonded. Mr. Carlson posts episodes of his new on-line present on X, and has turn into considered one of Mr. Musk’s largest defenders in media.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Leading as much as the election, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur turned Republican presidential candidate was continuously cited on-line by Mr. Musk. Now, the 2 would be the co-leaders of the federal government effectivity division in an try and slash $2 trillion from the federal price range.
Stephen Miller
Mr. Musk has backed a few of Mr. Miller’s prior political work. And the Trump senior adviser, identified for his vocal stances on immigration points that Mr. Musk cares deeply about, has labored aspect by aspect with the billionaire in the course of the transition.
Nelson Peltz
Mr. Peltz has described himself because the “matchmaker” between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk. Mr. Peltz, an activist investor, hosted a dinner this February at his house in Palm Beach, the place Mr. Musk first voiced his want to turn into concerned with the election.
Donald Trump
Though they didn’t know one another nicely six months in the past, the 2 have appeared inseparable because the election. Mr. Trump tapped Mr. Musk to be the co-head of the brand new effort to downsize authorities, and publicly, they usually appear to be mesmerized by one another.