Elon Musk
CEO, Tesla & SpaceX; Owner, X (formerly Twitter)
Elon Musk is the wealthiest person on Earth. He bought Twitter in 2022, renamed it X, reinstated accounts that had been banned for promoting violence and hate, fired most of the moderation staff, and remade it into a platform where his own posts receive algorithmic amplification unavailable to other users. He used it to campaign for Trump.
He donated more than $270 million to Trump's 2024 campaign and affiliated PACs — more than any individual donor in American political history. In return, he received co-chairmanship of the Department of Government Efficiency, a non-statutory advisory body with no legal authority that was nonetheless given access to federal payment systems, personnel records, and agency data across the executive branch. His co-chair, Vivek Ramaswamy, left on Inauguration Day to run for Ohio governor. Musk ran DOGE alone.
In four months, DOGE fired thousands of federal workers — many with no performance issues — shut down USAID, targeted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and attempted to access Social Security and Treasury systems. Federal judges issued orders blocking access; DOGE proceeded anyway, triggering contempt proceedings. Musk, an unelected billionaire confirmed by no Senate, accountable to no electorate, had more effective power over the federal government than most cabinet officials.
He stepped down in May 2025, declaring the mission complete. The damage was not. Agencies remained gutted. Rehiring was blocked. And his companies — Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink — continued receiving billions in federal contracts throughout, and after. The conflicts of interest were never hypothetical. They were the entire point.
Musk completes his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. He fires half the staff on day one, reinstates banned accounts including neo-Nazis and violent offenders, and begins using the platform to amplify right-wing content — including his own posts, which internal documents later show receive special algorithmic treatment.
Musk donates more than $270 million to America PAC and other Trump-aligned organizations — the largest individual political donation in U.S. history. He campaigns in swing states, holds rallies, and conducts voter-list sweepstakes. He makes no attempt to conceal his goal: Trump's election, and a role in the administration in return.
Trump announces the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, co-chaired by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. DOGE has no statutory authority, no budget passed by Congress, and no Senate confirmation process for its leadership. It begins operating across the executive branch anyway.
DOGE gains access to Treasury payment systems, Social Security Administration records, and personnel data across multiple agencies. Federal judges issue orders blocking some access. DOGE proceeds anyway in several instances, triggering contempt proceedings. Thousands of federal workers are fired or placed on administrative leave. Multiple agencies are gutted. SpaceX and Tesla — companies in which Musk holds billions in equity — continue receiving federal contracts throughout.
Musk announces on X that his time as a special government employee is ending. He thanks Trump for "the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending" and declares the DOGE mission will "only strengthen over time." He leaves behind a stunned and demoralized federal workforce, gutted agencies, and ongoing litigation. Tesla stock, which cratered during his government tenure amid global boycotts, begins recovering. His companies' federal contracts remain intact.