Billionaire Elon Musk took a wild gamble backing Donald Trump’s White House candidacy, however the wager has paid off – no less than for now – with the US president-elect handing him an outsized function to overhaul the government.

Juggle his new function

Musk mentioned earlier than the election {that a} new “Department of Government Efficiency” would slash $2 trillion from the federal finances – a giant promise echoing his sky-high enterprise ambitions which have made him the world’s wealthiest individual.

With few particulars launched, questions as to how Musk will lead the company, together with how he’ll juggle his new function whereas managing SpaceX, Tesla and his different ventures, together with X.

With Musk’s companies all having various levels of interactions with US and international governments, his new place additionally raises issues about battle of curiosity.

In his announcement, Trump mentioned that Musk and one other rich ally, Vivek Ramaswamy, would co-lead the brand new initiative and “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government.”

Endorsing a Republican candidate and serving to propel him to victory was a shift in the direction of politics for Musk.

The 53-year-old South Africa-born entrepreneur rose to fame because the face of the nascent electrical car business and has often expounded on the threats of local weather change.

When Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords in 2017, Musk resigned from two presidential advisory councils in protest.

Years later, Elon Musk has turn out to be Trump’s most distinguished movie star endorser, leaning totally in to get him and his “Make America Great Again” agenda again within the White House.

Musk reportedly spent over $100 million to assist Trump get elected, a large sum, although a tiny fraction of his estimated $300 billion fortune.

He additionally used his affect on X, the place he has greater than 200 million followers, to push pro-Trump messages, in addition to inflammatory disinformation about unlawful immigration and voting.

However, it stays to be seen how two notoriously selfish personalities like Musk and Trump will get alongside in the long run.

Illegal immigration

Born in Pretoria on June 28, 1971, to an engineer father and a Canadian-born mannequin mom, Musk left South Africa in his late teenagers to attend Queen’s University in Ontario.

He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania after two years and earned bachelor’s levels in physics and enterprise.

After graduating from the Ivy League faculty, Musk deserted plans to review at Stanford University in California.

He as an alternative dropped out and began Zip2, an organization that made on-line publishing software program for the media business.

During the 2024 marketing campaign – throughout which unlawful immigration was as soon as once more Trump’s key concern – studies resurfaced that Musk had possible violated his visa when he left Stanford.

Musk banked his first tens of millions earlier than the age of 30 when he offered Zip2 to US laptop maker Compaq for greater than $300 million in 1999.

Elon Musk’s subsequent firm, X.com, finally merged with PayPal, the net funds agency purchased by web public sale big eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.

After leaving PayPal, Musk launched into a sequence of ever extra formidable ventures.

He based SpaceX in 2002 – now serving as its chief govt officer and chief know-how officer – and have become the chairman of electrical carmaker Tesla in 2004.

Colony of individuals residing on Mars

After some early crashes and near-misses, SpaceX perfected the artwork of touchdown booster engines on stable floor and ocean platforms, rendering them reusable – a serious development within the discipline.

Musk has mentioned he desires to make people an “interplanetary species” by establishing a colony of individuals residing on Mars.

To this finish, SpaceX is creating a prototype rocket, Starship, which it envisages carrying crew and cargo to the Moon, Mars and past.

The spaceship, the world’s largest, has already accomplished a number of exams, most just lately a profitable “catch” of a booster.

Musk, who holds US, Canadian and South African citizenship, has been married and divorced thrice: as soon as to the Canadian creator Justine Wilson and twice to British actress Talulah Riley.

He additionally dated the artist and singer Grimes.

He has had 12 kids, one in every of whom died in infancy.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse