Elon Muskthe richest person in the world, du start up A major effort to help elect former President Donald Trump.
Musk, who owns X, frequently posts pro-Trump messages on the social media platform, where he has more than 202 million followers. At Trump rallies, Musk has occasionally appeared on stage to make an impassioned plea for votes. He also gave nearly $75 million to support Trump in the three months ending in September, government filings show.
Even more recently Musk it started a $1 million giveaway every day to registered voters in battleground states. Later Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sue Musk for running an illegal lottery.
To enter the drawing, individuals must sign a petition circulated by Musk’s America PAC, which supports the First and Second Amendments. The only people eligible to sign are registered voters in seven key swing states, the America PAC website says.
Musk’s attorneys denied the DA’s illegal claims and filed documents Wednesday seeking to take the case to federal court. Daily lotteries are running.
Musk, who runs Tesla and SpaceX, appears to align with Trump on a number of issues, including mass deportation and deregulation. But the election also has major implications for Musk’s companies, many of which do business with the US government and have conflicts with federal agencies.
“Elon Musk’s relationship with the federal government is unprecedented,” Stephen Diamond, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School who specializes in corporate governance and securities law, told ABC News.
ABC News reached out to Musk’s companies Tesla and Space X for comment. He didn’t answer right away. Musk’s America PAC also did not respond to a request for comment.
Here’s what’s at stake for Musk in the 2024 election:
Billions worth of government contracts
Many of the companies run by Musk do business with the US government or receive federal aid.
“You’re talking billions of dollars a year,” George Washington University law professor Richard Pierce, who focuses on government regulation, told ABC News of Musk’s business dealings. “The president has tremendous discretionary power in government contracting.”
The aerospace company SpaceX counts the USA as its main customer. In June, NASA awarded SpaceX $843 million to build a vehicle that would help lift the International Space Station out of orbit. As of last week, the US Space Force awarded more than $700 million to SpaceX to support various launches over the coming years.
Tesla has also received contracts from the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation, among other agencies.
Together, SpaceX and Tesla have received at least $15.4 billion in government contracts over the past decade, New York Times found analysis.
Tesla has also benefited from billions in federal grants. Since 2018, Tesla has received $9 billion in government aid, a Reuters analysis of securities files. The funds have primarily come from a program that rewards manufacturers for exceeding carbon emissions limits.
“Musk is tied to the federal government financially,” Diamond said.
The need for friendlier regulators
Musk-led companies are currently locked in numerous disputes with federal and regulatory agencies.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched several investigations into Tesla regarding alleged dangers related to Tesla’s self-driving capabilities. Earlier this month, the NHTSA announced a new study on the system’s ability to navigate in “reduced road visibility” conditions.
According to Tesla website“Currently enabled Autopilot and Full Self-driving (Supervised) features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board has filed multiple complaints against SpaceX over the terms of a severance agreement, as well as the alleged illegal termination of workers who wrote a letter to management critical of Musk.
A Model X sport utility vehicle sits outside a Tesla store in Littleton, Colo., on June 18, 2023.
David Zalubowski/AP
SpaceX sued the NLRB in January claiming its administrative charges violated the US Constitution. In the lawsuit, SpaceX’s attorneys alleged that procedures involving internal judges at the NLRB “deprive (SpaceX) of its constitutional right to a jury trial.”
The letter criticizing Musk “caused significant distraction to SpaceX employees across the country,” the lawsuit said. Some of the employees involved with the letter were fired for “numerous violations of company policy.”
In July, a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the NLRB’s complaints while the company’s constitutional challenge works its way through the courts. The judge did not give a reason for his decision, but the order must determine that the plaintiff will likely prevail in his case, Reuters notify
Federal agencies execute laws enacted by Congress, but enforcement decisions largely depend on presidential directives and staff decisions, Pierce said. Also, he added, the election has important implications for Musk in this area.
“Agencies are controlled by the president, so the president can tell agency heads to ‘do this or do that,'” Pierce added. “Of course they have statutory limits but they do what the president tells them to do.”
In August, Trump praised Musk for his willingness to lay off striking workers. “You’re the biggest cutter,” Trump told Musk in an interview at X. “I look at what you do. You come in and say, ‘You want to quit?’ I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, “It’s fine.”
The Trump campaign said the support of Musk and other entrepreneurs underscores the strength of the candidate’s economic plans.
“President Trump’s agenda includes economic, energy, and regulatory policies that will allow the U.S. to regain global leadership in innovation and technology. When you have industry leaders like Elon Musk and David Sacks on a long list of dozens of supporters, it’s a recognition. President Trump is the clear choice,” Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement to ABC News.
It can be a big tax break
Musk could benefit from a big tax cut if Trump wins the election.
The tax savings could come as a result of a plan proposed by Trump in which Musk would take a role in the Trump administration as “head of a new government efficiency commission.” Because Musk’s companies do significant business with the federal government, Musk may sell his stakes in various companies.
In those circumstances, Musk would likely take advantage of section 1043 of the federal tax code, which allows an individual to deduct all capital gains taxes on the sale of those assets.
Enacted in 1992, the tax law was intended to reduce the costs the wealthy faced when deciding whether to join the federal government, Edward McCaffery, a law professor at the University of Southern California who focuses on tax policy, told ABC News.
If he joins the Trump administration, Musk would become the richest person ever to use the supply. The tax break could save Musk tens of billions of dollars, he said leverwho first reported the potential benefit.
Despite the huge potential tax savings, Musk could avoid the requirement or give up an important role in the administration, McCaffrey said. Musk wouldn’t want to give up his holdings in companies he tightly controls, nor would it be attractive for Musk to trade holdings in growth stocks for less attractive investments allowed by law.
“There are reasons to be skeptical,” McCaffrey said. “I don’t see Musk wanting to relinquish control of Tesla or SpaceX.”
ABC News’ Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.
