Good morning.
Oh, to be inside the mind of Elon Musk. President-elect Donald Trump has called him a “super genius” and promised to create a new “government efficiency” position for Musk in his administration. His super PAC played a critical role in Trump’s victory, reaching millions of people in battleground states through advertising, paying people to knock on doors and a controversial $1 million giveaway that could change the script for how future candidates get out the vote. His net worth jumped $26.5 billion the day after the election, cementing his place as the world’s richest man while making the $130 million-plus he spent on campaigning look like money well spent. The only bummer this week was having gamers challenge his claim to being one of the 20 best Diablo 4 players in the world.
Musk’s MVP status with the incoming president makes one wonder where he’ll exert his newfound influence. Two areas that come to mind:
How does he hope to shape the U.S. relationship with China?
On the one hand, the Biden administration’s tariffs on Chinese EVs created an easier competitive landscape for Tesla in its home market. On the other, China is also home to Tesla’s biggest factory in the world and a key target for sales as it remains the world’s biggest auto market. Musk has also called Taiwan “an integral part of China that is arbitrarily not part of China” and asked SpaceX’s Taiwanese suppliers to transfer manufacturing outside Taiwan. Will Musk be an ally to Beijing in its push to ease trade relations?
What impact will he have on social policy, especially pertaining to families?
Musk, father of 12 with three different mothers, argues that “population collapse” is the No. 1 issue facing civilization and believes this “demographic time bomb” is a bigger problem than climate change. Musk once jokingly offered to impregnate Taylor Swift. He has also implied he’d support tax breaks for childcare and other policies to help working families. Having initially cut parental leave at Twitter (now X) from 20 weeks to two weeks, Musk doesn’t appear to see a correlation between having babies and raising them. Having conceived some of his kids through IVF and surrogacy, will he push for tax breaks there?
So much to discuss. More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
Follow on LinkedIn
