In 2024, Elon Musk managed to become the world’s most influential unelected man. He has the ear of the president of the United States and influence over the very agencies that would rein his companies. Those companies have become vital to the digital infrastructure of many nations. His purse makes US lawmakers genuflect or cower, and his tweets make leaders around the world cheer or fly into a rage.
Since Donald Trump’s election, Tesla’s stock price has nearly doubled. Musk’s fortune, already the biggest in the world at the start of 2024, has ballooned to $440bn, per Forbes. The nearest mogul on the list, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is $200bn behind, reports The Guardian.
Musk hasn’t been shy to flex his newfound muscles of power since Trump’s election, weighing in fiercely on government appointments.
His most daring move came last week, when he led the charge to tank the House’s bipartisan spending agreement, arguing it included too many giveaways to Democrats. Trump and a cadre of congressional Republicans soon followed suit, and the president-elect upped the ante by calling on Republicans to suspend the debt ceiling.
Republicans in the end did not cave to Trump and Musk’s demands, showcasing the limits of the CEO’s power, and offering a glimpse of the chaos that awaits us in 2025.
In the center of this week’s political storm, it’s hard to think back on how we got into this mess – and how Musk worked his way up to the helm of US politics. So let’s look back at a timeline of his year.
January
A judge rejects Musk’s $56bn pay package as CEO of Tesla. Musk vows to move Tesla’s headquarters to Texas in response. Neuralink announces it has implanted a computer chip in a patient’s brain successfully for the first time. Tesla’s earnings are not good and the company isn’t reaping large margins on sales of its other vehicles.
February
Musk moves SpaceX’s headquarters to Texas. Musk pays the debt after the incident goes viral on X.
Ukraine claims Russian soldiers are using Starlink internet terminals, made by SpaceX, in occupied Ukrainian territory. Musk denies selling to Russia.
March
Musk says he won’t endorse a candidate in the US presidential race. Trump and Musk meet at Mar-a-Lago. Musk sues OpenAI. The ChatGPT maker, founded by Musk himself, alongside CEO Sam Altman, calls the suit “frivolous”. SpaceX conducts its third test flight of the Starship rocket. It’s successful until the very end when it burns up on reentry into the atmosphere. Ex-Twitter executives sue Musk for $128m in unpaid severance.
April
Tesla sees its biggest revenue drop since 2012. Reports emerge that Trump and Musk are holding calls several times a month. Tesla keeps cutting its prices as it fights against the electric car giants of China, namely BYD. Musk makes a surprise visit to China.
May
Starlink says it will shut down in war-torn Sudan, which aid groups say would plunge the country deeper into chaos. Neuralink’s first implant partially detaches from its patient’s brain, hampering the miniature computer’s operations. Reports emerge that Trump is considering a White House role for Musk. Musk raises $6bn for his AI startup, xAI, to compete with OpenAI. Musk feuds with encrypted messaging app Signal. Australia’s eSafety regulator drops its case against X and Musk.
June
Tesla shareholders vote to reinstate Musk’s pay package. SpaceX successfully launches the next iteration of its Starship rocket. Tesla recalls the majority of all the Cybertrucks it has sold. It’s the fourth time the company has done so.
July
Trump is nearly assassinated. Musk publicly pledges his full support to Trump. Reports emerge that Musk plans to give $45m a month to Trump’s campaign. He denies the reports. Musk attends a session of the US Congress as the guest of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
August
Musk conducts a glitchy live-streamed conversation with Trump via X. Neuralink announces it has implanted a second computer chip in the brain of a patient. Venezuela’s prime minister feuds with Musk and blocks X for 10 days in the country. Musk touts X’s new AI image generator, which he uses to spread fake images of Kamala Harris. X goes offline in Brazil after Musk refuses to delete tweets with false information in compliance with the country’s laws. Starlink says it will not block X in Brazil. A court freezes its assets in response, and Starlink capitulates.
September
Passengers aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn complete the first privately funded spacewalk.
October
Musk appears alongside Trump at a rally in the same town where the former president was nearly killed. Musk warns it will be the “last election” in the US if Trump does not win. He shares conspiracy theories about the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the southeastern US, accusing the government of deliberate obstruction of Starlink. Tesla fails to meet expectations for car deliveries in the third quarter. Musk announces he’ll give away $1m to registered Pennsylvania voters who sign his petition. Tesla unveils what it says will be a self-driving taxi to be made available within the next three years. Investors are not impressed, and Tesla loses $60bn in value. Musk colludes with the Trump campaign to keep a leaked dossier on JD Vance from spreading on X. SpaceX launches the Starship rocket again and catches it in a giant pair of metal arms on its return to Earth.
November
Donald Trump wins the election. Musk is elated. Trump announces that Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead an advisory body that will not be part of the federal government, the “department of government efficiency”, charged with making major cuts to federal payrolls. Musk has pledged to fire tens of thousands of federal employees. Musk makes a surprise appearance on a call between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Tesla’s value hits $1tn. Trump joins Musk for a test flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket.
December
Trump nominated a close ally of Musk to lead Nasa, a billionaire who has captained SpaceX flights. Nigel Farage and Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy meet with Musk at Mar-a-Lago to discuss doing “great things together”, reigniting speculation Musk could fund Reform UK. The Delaware judge who rejected Musk’s pay package in January rejects it again. Musk ardently campaigns against a last-minute spending bill proposed by the US Congress. Musk endorses Germany’s far-right anti-immigrant party Alternative für Deutschland, tweeting: “Only the AfD can save Germany”.
Bd-pratidin English/Fariha Nowshin Chinika
