A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free, here.
Let’s just get this out of the way: Elon Musk is almost certainly not going to work for a Donald Trump administration.
Anything’s possible, of course, in a Trump 2.0 White House. But to take on any major role in that administration, Musk would have a mountain of conflicts of interest to climb.
By law (and by common sense), you can’t work on government matters that would affect your own personal finances. That’s a big problem for someone like Musk, whose $245 billion fortune is largely tied up in shares of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), along with his holdings in the fields of biotech, artificial intelligence, satellite communications and road infrastructure projects.
Typically, people entering public office remedy that problem by divesting their stocks and other holdings or by putting them in a blind trust. But Musk, the CEO and single largest shareholder of Tesla, can’t just sell his stake without causing the price to collapse. And given the scope of his business interests, it’s hard to see where he could serve without having to recuse himself regularly.
“Much would depend on what the job is and how it relates to his economic interest,” said Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School. “Is there anything that wouldn’t relate to his economic interests? I’m not sure what that would be.”
Still, the MAGA odd couple of Musk and Trump is clearly having fun teasing at the idea of a Secretary Musk. On Monday, Trump told Reuters that he would consider naming Musk to an advisory or Cabinet role if reelected in November.
“He’s a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He’s a brilliant guy,” Trump said.
Musk didn’t respond directly to that comment, but he posted on X that he is “willing to serve.” That statement was posted in Muskian fashion, over a doctored image of himself standing at a lectern labeled “D.O.G.E. Department of Government Efficiency,” a reference to the crypto meme token. So make of that what you will.
Musk, who rarely speaks directly to the press, didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The chatter about Musk taking a DC gig intensified last month after he publicly endorsed Trump, and again after the two alluded to the possibility during a glitchy, rambling interview on X last week.
There are many reasons to take all of this speculation with a grain of salt. Not least: They both tend to lie and exaggerate to keep their names in the headlines.
But just as a thought experiment, let’s say they were serious and that Musk would actually want to serve in public office.
“The biggest hurdle for Musk would be to obtain Senate approval, as all Cabinet officers must do,” said Alan Morrison, a professor at George Washington University Law School. “Depending on the position, the Senate might well insist that he divest himself of specific securities” — including but not limited to Tesla, if he went to the Transportation Department, or SpaceX if he went to the Defense Department.
He wouldn’t be the first executive to go through that process.
Before becoming George W. Bush’s Treasury secretary in 2006, former Goldman Sachs president Henry Paulson sold more than 3 million shares of the bank, valued at nearly $500 million, and vowed to recuse himself from any substantive issues relating to the institution or its executives without an explicit waiver from the government. (That got pretty hard to do when the financial system nearly collapsed two years later, of course.)
Beyond the legal and ethical quagmire Musk would face in DC, the bigger opposition might come from Wall Street.
Musk may be the wealthiest person on the planet, but if there’s one thing he can’t afford, it’s another job title.
Tesla shareholders are already rather annoyed by the CEO’s extracurricular activities, especially all the time he spends tweeting memes and conspiracy theories on X, the platform he spent $44 billion on two years ago and which is now worth less than half of that (by Musk’s own estimation).
“Musk potentially being offered a Cabinet position in a Trump White House would be a disaster scenario Tesla investors would not want to see,” said Dan Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities. “Musk needs to be focused on Tesla … The last thing the Street wants to see is Elon side by side with Trump in the Oval Office.”
Asked about how likely such he thinks such a scenario would be, Ives said the idea “feels far-fetched. But it’s Trump and Musk, so anything is possible.”
