Original title: How ELON Musk's $ 130 million investment in Trump's victory could reap a huge pay off for Tesla and the rest of his business empire

Original author: Jenn Brice, FORTUNE

Original translation: zhouzhou, BlockBeats

Editor's note: Trump returned to the White House, Musk became 'Ma Baoguo', and people were surprised to find that Musk had written in a biography published last year, 'I think it is important to have an inclusive and trustworthy digital public space for everyone.' He replied, then paused and added, 'Otherwise, how can we help Trump be elected president in 2024?'

Fortune magazine wrote in this article that Trump's presidency may bring about loose policies, benefiting Musk's companies. SpaceX and Starlink are expected to reduce regulatory pressure and seek more government contracts; TSL may also receive support in autonomous driving regulation and electric vehicle tax incentives; The Boring Company and Neuralink may benefit from infrastructure projects and faster approval processes. Musk will use his relationship with Trump to influence policies in multiple areas and promote business development.

The following is the original content (for ease of reading and understanding, the original content has been reorganized):

In his national speech on election night, Trump not only confirmed himself as one of the biggest winners of the night, but also made Elon Musk the focus. In this chaotic victory speech, Trump spent a lot of time thanking Musk. Recently, Musk has invested over $130 million, as well as a lot of time and tweets, in support of conservative politics, and Trump particularly praised Musk's rocket company SpaceX and its Starlink internet satellites - two business sectors with great potential for government contracts.

The president-elect said, “We must protect these super geniuses.” During the campaign, Trump also revealed that at Musk's request, he would establish a 'government efficiency' position specifically to support the tech entrepreneur.

Musk is known for his opposition to government intervention. Whenever faced with fines or penalties, he always points out that it is excessive government intervention. Therefore, it is not surprising that he has aligned with Trump, who promised to relax regulations.

In addition to the potential reduction in government regulation, Musk's alliance with Trump could also help him secure more federal contracts. According to The New York Times, SpaceX and TSL have already secured at least $15.4 billion in government contracts over the past decade. Colleagues and government officials, as reported by Reuters, said that the billionaire's support for Trump is also to better protect his company from regulation and ensure access to government subsidies.

After Trump's return to the White House, here are some ways in which Musk's various businesses may benefit:

SpaceX and Starlink

SpaceX has a tense relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In September, Musk demanded the resignation of FAA chief Michael Whitaker, as SpaceX was fined $630,000 for violating rocket launch regulations. Musk stated that he hopes to establish a 'Department of Government Efficiency' (DOGE) under the Trump administration, one of whose tasks is to relax regulations on rocket launches.

Meanwhile, SpaceX's satellite internet service Starlink may also receive better treatment from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during Trump's tenure, especially if Trump appoints Republican commissioner Brendan Carr to replace current chairman Jessica Rosenworcel. Carr has called the FCC's revocation of $885 million in subsidies for Starlink in 2022 'regulatory harassment.' Trump has also proposed using Starlink's satellite service to provide internet connectivity to remote areas, which could bring financial benefits to Starlink and be part of the government's future $42 billion broadband subsidy plan.

X

After Musk's $44 billion acquisition of the original Twitter, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated whether he and X violated the current FTC data privacy protocol. Following the acquisition, Musk reduced the privacy and security team responsible for ensuring company compliance, prompting FTC's attention. Last week, Musk promised to "dismiss" FTC Chair Lena Khan if the Trump administration came to power. Despite Trump's vice presidential candidate JD Vance praising Lena Khan for her tough stance on combating monopolies, Musk seems indifferent to these differences.

xAI

Elon Musk's generative AI startup xAI has developed a chatbot that competes with large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT, so he is particularly following any regulatory policies that may impact AI development.

So far, there has been no federal discussion on comprehensive regulation of AI companies. However, Musk can still influence policy by suggesting alternative approaches to relaxing regulation to Trump, instead of the AI executive order issued by the Biden administration, which sets some restrictions on the use and development of AI.

In California, Musk once supported the controversial security bill SB 1047, which attempted to restrain large AI companies, but faced strong opposition from venture capital firms and large-scale developers, who believe that the potential huge risks of AI cannot be ignored.

TSL

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Administration launched an investigation last month into the TSL fully autonomous driving mode after a TSL driver killed a pedestrian while using the mode.

Musk may use his influence to influence federal regulation of autonomous vehicles, especially federal automotive safety enforcement. He is particularly following this area because TSL hopes to launch autonomous taxis to challenge more mature competitors such as Alphabet's Waymo and General Motors' Cruise.

Musk may also exert pressure on Trump to seek his opposition to the Biden government's electric vehicle tax credit policy, which aims to encourage consumers to purchase electric vehicles.

However, Trump's promise to increase tariffs on China and other competing countries may have a complex impact on Musk. Restricting the import of cheap electric vehicles may reduce TSL's competition in the US market, but escalating trade wars may also affect the entire technology industry, especially the chip Supply Chain that relies on China and Taiwan.

In any case, investors are looking forward to this prospect: after Trump's victory speech, TSL's stock price soared 15%.

The Boring Company

Musk's vision for high-speed transportation, such as Boring Company's 'Hyperloop' project, has been hindered by regulatory and technological constraints. The company is currently focusing on a lower-tech version, using TSL cars to transport passengers in underground tunnels near the Las Vegas Convention Center. The project is also facing an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding workplace safety.

Despite the high cost, complex infrastructure, and inadequate safety conditions, Musk attributes the failure of tunnel projects in other cities to excessive government regulation. With government allies, Boring Company may have an easier time winning large-scale infrastructure projects.

Neuralink

As the founder of the brain-machine interface company Neuralink, Musk has criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the excessive length of the approval process for new drugs and medical devices. He referred to 'over-regulation harming people's lives' at a gathering in Pennsylvania.

Although the cancer drugs he mentioned have actually been approved, Musk still believes that relaxing regulations can speed up the approval process of Neuralink. Currently, Neuralink has implanted FDA-approved brain-machine interface devices in two patients.