Out of DOGE, Elon Musk Returns to His Bruised Business Empire

Tesla TSLA 0.43%increase; green up pointing triangle is about to launch its first robotaxis, SpaceX is trying to launch a spacecraft to Mars, and xAI is racing to develop human-level artificial intelligence before the competition does it first.

“Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms,” he posted on X Saturday. “I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week).”

Musk is known for maniacal focus on whatever is in front of him, and for years has carved up his time to try to advance difficult technologies across his business empire. The companies he is returning to are still wrestling with those kinds of heady challenges, but now must do so with Musk transformed into a deeply polarizing figure.

At SpaceX’s Starship launch earlier this week, he appeared locked into mission details, wearing his trusty “Occupy Mars” shirt during interviews and when he was in a company flight-control facility near Brownsville, Texas. There was no “Make America Great Again” hat in sight.

On Wednesday evening, Musk said he was stepping down from his work with DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency), a four-month project to slash government spending that promised as much as $2 trillion in cuts and, in reality, has accomplished a tiny fraction of that. Still, many allies of President Trump have called Musk’s work a valiant effort to eliminate waste from federal spending, and other budget hawks are carrying the torch forward.

Combined with the $300 million he spent on Republican races in the latest election cycle, Musk has become one of the most powerful political donors in the U.S. while also introducing new uncertainty into his business empire of five companies, including three where he holds the role of CEO. 

At Tesla, damage to the electric vehicle maker is clear, evidenced by a steep downturn in sales in the U.S. and Europe, which analysts say reflects car buyers’ distaste for Musk’s controversial role in the Trump administration.