Elon, Inc.

For the past day or so, Elon Musk has been singularly focused, on X, on one target: funding the US government. He has, basically, single-handedly, killed a bipartisan bill that would keep the federal government running through January 1, 2025. To unpack what is happening — and will what will happen — Max Chafkin sits down with Bloomberg News reporter Ted Mann. It’s a huge gamble, by Musk and Trump, on what could be a very problematic start to Trump’s new administration.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The simmering feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman is boiling again. In the latest round, OpenAI, which is being sued by Musk, uncorked a long post last week that included emails purporting to show that Musk didn’t really care about the safety of artificial intelligence (as he has long said he does). According to OpenAI, Musk just wanted to control the company. Also on the docket for Elon, Inc. this week: a conversation with Bloomberg reporter Loren Grush, along with regulars Dana Hull and Max Chafkin, about what Donald Trump’s designated head of NASA, billionaire Jared Isaacman, means for Musk. (Probably only good things.) Another story that is discussed is Hull’s deep dive into Musk’s funding of a preschool project. It’s part of a larger push from Musk to implement his own far-right agenda into education, and the money runs through at least two of his non-profit entities. There is a familiar cast of characters involved (like longtime money manager Jared Birchall) and some vague goals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elon Musk is frequently on the move, but in his new role as Donald Trump’s wealthiest enforcer, he seems to be everywhere at once. One minute he’s on Capitol Hill with Vivek Ramaswamy pushing his boss’s government-gutting agenda, the next he’s in Paris with the president-elect for some awkward mingling with the global elite. Then he’s back at Mar-a-Lago, huddling with Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban. Bloomberg political writer Josh Green joins Max Chafkin and Dana Hull to talk about these developments. Also on the episode this week, a discussion about the recent astronomical SpaceX valuation, Max thinks he might have spotted a possible feud, and a quick peak into the show email inbox.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This holiday season, it would seem that Elon Musk has much to be thankful for—he even spent Thanksgiving by Donald Trump’s side in Mar-a-Lago. But last night, a Delaware judge handed him a rare defeat, rejecting yet again his enormous Tesla pay package. To discuss this and other legal matters, the Elon, Inc. team has brought on Bloomberg legal reporter Jef Feeley as well as the regular crew: Sarah Frier, Max Chakin, and Dana Hull. The gang also discuss Elon's shifting customer base. One consequence of Musk’s far-right political turn has been how consumers now have to weigh the political ramifications of buying products from his companies. This has been the case at Tesla for a while now (a market for anti-Elon bumper stickers has flourished) but there’s a huge debate about the meaning of using X post-election.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There have been a lot of raised eyebrows over Elon Musk’s “DOGE” (not the cryptocurrency), short for Trump 2.0’s “Department of Government Efficiency.” It’s Donald Trump’s project for Musk: he’s assigned his wealthiest donor the task of cutting government spending by about $2 trillion (most of which is constitutionally up to Congress, but anyway...), in part by gutting or eliminating key regulatory agencies. The DOGE will be co-led by former presidential candidate, fellow tech entrepreneur and now full-on Trump acolyte Vivek Ramaswamy. Recent reporting has revealed a whole team of Trumpian billionaires, investors and tech personalities willing to join the feeding frenzy—a veritable Avengers team of MAGA fiscal expenditure. On the latest episode of Elon, Inc., David Papadopoulos and Max Chafkin break down who’s who behind the scenes of the DOGE team, and try to figure out what, if anything, it can do or what Musk’s end goal is.  The episode also includes a live recording in London from October with Papadopoulos, Chafkin and social media expert Devika Shanker-Grandpierre. The trio discuss the global consequences of Musk’s lax content moderation on X. To top things off, David confronts Max with Musk’s latest ploy: a suggestion that the billionaire should buy MSNBC. It may sound far fetched but, as David points out, didn’t the purchase of Twitter also start out as a joke? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this limited series, Odd Lots explains some of the thorniest issues facing the US economy through the medium of … chicken. Chicken occupies a unique position in the US diet, but issues facing the poultry industry illustrate wider points about the development of the US economy and the decisions being made about how it's structured and who benefits from it. So why has the chicken industry evolved in the way that it has? What’s been driving the price increases in eggs and meat? And what does it all say about things like inflation, the labor market and the nature of American capitalism? Check out Beak Capitalism on Odd Lots wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Donald Trump claimed victory, early in the morning of Nov. 6, he did so not only for himself, his campaign staff and the voters who backed him–but also for the billionaire industrialist and media mogul who’d become his most unlikely supporter. “A star is born: Elon,” Trump said, his mouth lingering on the name. “He’s an amazing guy.” In this episode, we talk to journalists, academics and a historian about how to measure the scale and scope of Musk's win. Can anyone, or anything, hold someone as rich and now politically power to account? It might be up to the people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does money speak? And if so, what is it saying about Elon Musk and Donald Trump? In this episode of Elon, Inc., the panel—host David Papadopoulos, Elon Musk reporter Dana Hull, social media reporter Kurt Wagner and Bloomberg Businessweek senior writer Max Chafkin—consider how Musk has benefited from his incredibly close relationship with the president-elect, even as some cracks emerge between them.  Also discussed: Bluesky, a new version of what Twitter was before Musk got a hold of it, has had a great few weeks, adding millions of users. It’s not clear how this will impact X, as its value—like all of the right-wing billionaire’s companies—is now tied to Trump. There might not be a good advertising business left for X, but it has other uses now, as the media arm of Musk’s political operation, and the Republican Party as a whole. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s hard to believe it’s only been a week since the US presidential election. First Friend Elon Musk has been very busy—from talking on the phone to world leaders to racking up billions of dollars in additional wealth as Tesla stock soars (thanks to widespread expectations of presidential favor). To hash all of this out, Bloomberg Businessweek senior writer Max Chafkin leads a discussion with Bloomberg technology editor Sarah Frier, Elon Musk reporter Dana Hull and wealth reporter Tom Maloney.  And we look at a new feud: Musk versus pop star Olivia Rodrigo. She had said that she asks men on first dates if they want to go to space—and if they say yes, “it’s just weird.” We’ll be looking for his response to this shot to the man-o-sphere. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mere hours after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election, Elon, Inc. headed to the studio to do some processing. Max Chafkin and Dana Hull discuss how much credit Musk can take, how he spent election day and night and what’s next for America as Musk seems poised to occupy an important role in shaping Trump’s second term.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consider this your Elon Musk-election night buffet: the Elon, Inc. crew, headed by host David Papadopoulos, discuss what’s at stake for Musk and what’s transpired over the last week of this seemingly endless US presidential campaign. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Be in the know this election with Bloomberg Podcasts. Follow Bloomberg News Now for up-to-the minute election results, all night long. And go deeper with The Big Take podcast, featuring in-depth global analysis of the US election every day this week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elon Musk announced his support for Donald Trump on July 13, minutes after the attempt on Trump’s life at a rally in Pennsylvania. Since then, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX has been engaged in what amounts to one of the all-time largest political spending sprees. That’s not even counting what many have called the biggest in-kind political gift in history: Musk’s social media platform, X. In this second episode of Citizen Elon, we explore what Musk stands to gain, how he's wielding his newfound political power and what is even possible when the world's richest man unites with TrumpSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This has been a huge week for Elon Musk: First, the Tesla stock rally, in reaction to a good earnings report, made him billions of dollars richer (at least on paper). Then, Musk continued his full-throated campaign for Donald Trump with a marquee appearance at Madison Square Garden, leading chants of “USA!” to adoring fans amid a rally that featured the most racially inflammatory language yet of the Republican’s campaign.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk occupied two entirely different worlds. Until they didn’t. In this episode, we learn how their paths as public figures — often informed and provoked by personal grievances — brought them together. Which snubs, perceived or not, prompted Musk to dip his toes in the politics pool?  We hear from misinformation scholars, right wing media experts, Bloomberg journalists, and people who have worked closely with Musk—close enough to discuss what he and Trump might have in common, and where they diverge.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elon Musk has made more headlines than usual as he travels all over Pennsylvania, working to help Donald Trump win the state in the Nov. 5 presidential election. As usual, the right-wing billionaire (Musk in this case) has been doing things his way, behaving like Trump by pushing traditional boundaries for campaigning, while also potentially violating election laws. Musk’s latest gambit, to offer swing state residents the chance at winning a $1 million if they sign a petition promising they’ll support the First and Second Amendments (which, for the record, became law several hundred years ago) has a caught the eye of Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro (to qualify, one has to register to vote). Shapiro has said that law enforcement should look at this practice, which has been criticized as yet another way to manipulate the election. On this week’s episode of Elon, Inc, host David Papadopoulos and Bloomberg Businessweek senior writer Max Chafkin discuss Musk’s latest political exploit in the Keystone State. But we also take a step back. How on Earth did we end up in this situation? What does it mean that the world’s richest person has been united with Trump, a twice-impeached, convicted felon who is the subject of multiple felony prosecutions? In the three part limited series Citizen Elon—hosted by Chafkin—we’ll explore how Musk’s politics have (and have not) changed over time; what the mercurial chief executive of a huge social network can do to tilt the political information war; how money (dark and light) provides the infrastructure for the 2024 presidential race; and finally, what’s at stake for Musk himself in this unprecedented dive headfirst into the political sphere. In today’s episode we run an excerpt from the first episode, “Flipping the Table.” Citizen Elon will publish in the Elon, Inc. feed on Fridays, but Bloomberg.com subscribers get every episode early. Subscribe today at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer, and follow Elon, Inc. on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the course of one weekend in July, the presidential election was turned on its head. This is when news organizations announced that Elon Musk was backing Donald Trump—and gave a real endorsement, something he said he’d never do. What does it mean that the world’s richest man has been united with not just any presidential candidate, but Trump? In this three-part series from Elon, Inc., we will explore how Musk’s politics have (and haven’t) changed over time; what the mercurial CEO of a huge social network can do to tilt the information war in presidential politics; how money, dark and light, provides the infrastructure for the 2024 presidential race; and finally, what is at stake for Musk himself in this unprecedented dive headfirst into the political sphere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When sports, business and culture collide, there’s often a deal to be made. Join Alex Rodriguez and Bloomberg correspondent Jason Kelly as they get the inside track from corporate titans, sports champions and game-changing entrepreneurs on investing, strategy, reinvention and the ones that got away. The Deal is a Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals series that’s passionate, relaxed, insightful and inspirational. If you think you know these icons, prepare to be surprised.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of his disappointing “robotaxi” launch and Wall Street’s punishing response, Elon Musk had at least one reason to celebrate this past week: the successful deployment of a complicated rocket retrieval system. But that doesn’t mean we are done picking through the Robotaxi unveiling and how the Optimus robots weren’t really “robots.” To unpack these events, we have reporters Loren Grush and Dana Hull as well as Bloomberg Television correspondent Ed Ludlow. Then we feature reporter Kurt Wagner interviewing Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, co-authors of the recently published book, Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was a late night for Tesla fans, investors and journalists as the much-discussed unveiling of Elon Musk’s “cybercab” (or is it “robotaxi?”) was significantly delayed from its scheduled 10 pm ET start. And while the aesthetics of the vehicle got some rave reviews, details on production of a new wave of autonomous vehicles—let alone their potential deployment—were scant. To get a quick round-up of thoughts, David Papadopoulos jumped into the studio with Bloomberg editor Craig Trudell to discuss.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.