Elon Musk dropped more than $100 million to help get Donald Trump back in the White House. Big-time surrogates are often rewarded with prominent cabinet positions. But Musk stands to lose a lot more if he enters government life.
“If Elon Musk comes into the cabinet or into any government position, he will have to either recuse from matters that affect his financial holdings or he will have to sell off those financial holdings,” said Richard Painter, a law professor and former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush.
Unlike the president and vice president, Painter says cabinet members are subject to a criminal conflict of interest statute. As Tesla’s CEO and largest shareholder, SpaceX’s CEO and X’s owner, Musk has a lot of conflicts.
“I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms,” Trump said during a speech in September. “And Elon, because he’s not very busy, has agreed to head that task force.”
When Trump made this declaration, Musk posted to X that he looks forward to serving America, “no pay, no title, no recognition is needed.” Painter said not getting paid is not a workaround when it comes to conflicts of interest.
Elon Musk would have to decide whether to recuse from any and all of those matters or divest his financial interest. And if he doesn’t want to do that, he’s going to have to stay out of the government.
Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer
“It doesn’t matter whether you get paid or not,” Painter said. “If you are working for the government and you’re appointed by the president or by anyone else in the government, to a government position, you are bound by the criminal conflict of interest statute whether or not you get paid.”
Wealthy cabinet members in history have had to unwind significant financial holdings in the past, like Trump’s former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. But nothing is as significant as the holdings of the richest person in the world.
“The only way for him to avoid that would be to be a government contractor,” Painter said. “That is a loophole, and we have a lot of financial conflict or conflicts of interest embedded in our government contractors, whether the military contracting companies or others.
“Perhaps Elon Musk may choose to take advantage of that loophole and simply become a contractor, but if he starts to have an office in the White House or in an agency, or he’s given a title that implies that he’s an appointee of the president, then he’s inside the government and he would be bound by that criminal conflict of interest statute,” he continued. “Whether it is matters that pertain to social media and his ownership of X or electric vehicles, transportation, and his ownership interest in Tesla, Elon Musk would have to decide whether to recuse from any and all of those matters or divest his financial interest. And if he doesn’t want to do that, he’s going to have to stay out of the government.”
Musk has already benefited from his investment in Trump. Tesla’s stock price is up nearly 30% since Trump won the election, as of Friday, Nov. 8.
“Clearly there is a perception that this benefits Tesla and hence the stock rally, which I’m not sad about as I still own a lot,” notable Tesla investor Ross Gerber told Straight Arrow News over email. “Unfortunately, the reality is Tesla is a business, not a vote on Elon. That business has many issues, starting with [full self-driving, which] doesn’t work and doesn’t look like it will anytime soon.”
Musk’s place in Trump’s White House will surely be dictated by his financial conflicts. But Musk isn’t wasting any time as an unofficial adviser to the president-elect. The Washington Post reports he joined a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The call reportedly began with a discussion about one of Musk’s other ventures, Starlink.
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