WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� , clad in tuxedo and black tie, took the stage at President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort shortly after the election with all the swagger of the winning candidate himself.
鈥淭he public has given us a mandate that could not be more clear, the clearest mandate. The people have spoken. The people want change," Musk told the audience of Trump's biggest donors, campaign leaders and appointment seekers. 鈥淲e are going to shake things up. It's going to be a revolution.鈥�
Musk's attachment to Trump has between America's most powerful politician and its richest businessman 鈥� and roughly the same percentages of Americans have favorable views of each, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Experts are split on whether that overlap in public opinion is a good or bad thing for Musk鈥檚 businesses or for Trump鈥檚 politics. But it could have far-reaching effects in both realms.
Musk, whose net worth tops $400 billion, oversees six businesses while continuing to work closely with Trump: electric car manufacturer Tesla, the X social media platform, space technology company , brain link company Neuralink, the startup xAI and tunneling operator The Boring Co.
鈥淓ven though there鈥檚 a negative impact, in terms of potentially alienating some of their customers that might not be fans of Trump, the benefits far outweigh any negatives when it comes to having a right-hand seat next to Trump in the White House,鈥� said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, identified himself as an investor in Musk's Tesla and a driver of Tesla鈥檚 new Cybertruck, the futuristic pickup that has gotten huge amounts of attention but also been the subject of safety concerns and .
鈥淗aving your CEO not working at your company and working at the job of having to fire government employees ... as a shareholder, I鈥檓 paying someone to not work for my company,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a Cybertruck owner with self-driving that sucks and doesn鈥檛 work, I鈥檓 like, 鈥楧ude, this isn鈥檛 fair.鈥欌��
But despite his skepticism, Gerber said he won鈥檛 stop investing in Musk鈥檚 businesses.
鈥淚鈥檝e made a lot of money with Elon,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not in the business of investing based on the popularity of CEOs.鈥�
Musk's favorability is similar to Trump's
Musk doesn鈥檛 appear to give Trump much boost with people who don鈥檛 back the incoming president.
He is no more popular with the U.S. public than the president-elect himself, and viewed unfavorably by about half of Americans, according to the AP-NORC poll.
About 4 in 10 Americans have a somewhat or very favorable view of the world鈥檚 richest person, very similar to the percentage who view Trump positively. Likewise, about half of adults have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Musk 鈥� again, similar to Trump.
Instead, said one political strategist, Musk is the ideal validator for someone who cultivates an image of success in business and who has stocked his Cabinet and key adviser roles with billionaires.
"Trump has always pushed this narrative that he鈥檚 a successful developer and a very successful businessman. I think having Musk with him is his double-down on this business success, good-for-the-economy, good-for-everybody-making money kind of persona,鈥� said Christine Matthews, a national political pollster who has worked for Republicans. 鈥淚n this case, Musk is seen as this successful, innovative, tech entrepreneur, frontier-buster.鈥�
Musk also has at his disposal X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that and turned into a megaphone for conservative ideas. And having to support Trump in the election, Musk has signaled he is willing to back Republican primary challenges to GOP members in the House and Senate seeking reelection in 2026 who waver on Trump's appointments and agenda.
Trump has tasked him with to reduce the size of the federal government and reduce the rulemaking authority of the federal bureaucracy.
Musk retains a wide array of businesses
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump鈥檚 plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
Some analysts believe the billionaire鈥檚 role will create a very friendly landscape for Tesla over the coming years. Ives, the analyst at Wedbush Securities, said Musk鈥檚 relationship with Trump could 鈥渞evolutionize the Tesla story, especially around robotics, AI and autonomous.鈥�
Investors, he said, are betting on Musk and see his political ascent as a 鈥渃hampagne moment.鈥� Unlike Gerber, Ives believes that ending the EV credit and taking subsidies from Detroit carmakers, Hyundai and other companies will create only opportunity for Tesla.
鈥淚 think Wall Street is starting to fully digest the potential benefits from Musk,鈥� Ives said.
Tesla鈥檚 stock price has nearly doubled since Trump鈥檚 victory, creating an additional $750 billion shareholder wealth in the past six weeks. But Gerber feels that jump is because investors believe Tesla will have an advantage when it comes to autonomous driving because Trump could grant the company a national autonomy license.
Still, he thinks Tesla will be the 鈥渂ig loser鈥� of Musk鈥檚 businesses because of Trump鈥檚 promise to end the EV tax credit for carmakers.
鈥淔or Tesla, I don鈥檛 see a ton of benefit from this,鈥� he said. 鈥淓lon is misleading people to say it hurts the competition if the credit goes away.鈥�
Musk鈥檚 other companies 鈥� including his artificial intelligence company, xAI 鈥� could reap the benefits of working within the Trump administration, he said.
鈥淎I is a transformative investment that will create lots of regulatory and governmental issues, especially around safety and information,鈥� Gerber said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of benefit, from an AI perspective, to having Elon where he is.鈥�
The relationship between the two men has no parallel in U.S. history, said David Nasaw, biographer of American business tycoons Andrew Carnegie and William Randolph Hearst. He noted that Musk, to a level unlike other tycoons, has relied on subsidies and favorable government decisions for his success from Tesla to SpaceX.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a unicorn,鈥� Nasaw said of Musk.
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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Parvini reported from Los Angeles.
Thomas Beaumont, Sarah Parvini And Amelia Thomson-deveaux, The Associated Press
