The alliance between the nation’s leader and the world’s wealthiest individual is drawing to a close. This unraveling relationship has one prominent casualty – Elon Musk. His descent was just as swift as his ascension had been. Like an audacious Daedalus from a novella, he gambled repeatedly, oblivious to the dangers, flirted with disaster, and finally fell from the sky. His vision was distorted by the glow of his online fame until the actualities of his situation caught up with him.
Mr. Musk has accumulated numerous valuable government contracts and stands a chance at obtaining some more. However, he departs from the capital, leaving behind a tarnished image of a versatile genius; an image he relied upon to enhance his firm’s share values and attract financiers for his audacious endeavours. The man once compared with Tony Stark from the Marvel universe is losing popularity.
An increasing number of previous owners of his signature electrical vehicles, the Teslas, are either exchanging or expressing regrets on their bumpers for owning them. Business has taken a significant hit. Mr. Musk is by no means the pioneer wealthy businessman to turn to Washington. Millionaires from the historic Gilded Age with their toppers would concentrate on the Senate, where legislations were passed and tax impositions decided.
However, with the advent of industrial collapse, the implementation of the New Deal, and the onset of a global conflict, the Presidential Office started taking on more prominent roles in managing the economy, thus garnering more attention from these moguls. Scores of them flocked to the capital; others even found places in the cabinet. Regardless of when or what role they took on, they adhered to the protocols laid out by Washington, tackling clearly delineated, circumscribed roles and, for most part, remaining withdrawn from public scrutiny.
Mr. Musk, however, was a conspicuous break from this norm. No one could gag him or control his machinations. Roaming around the White House with his toddler on his shoulders or at a Conservative Political Action Conference rally, Mr. Musk became a spectacle, wielding a chainsaw in a gimmick to promote his thrifty management agenda.
Together with his compatriots from the inexplicitly named Department of Government Efficiency, Musk led an upheaval in the capital. Accusations range from locking personnel out of computer systems, intrusion into citizens’ private data, to identifying government employees as superfluous. Initially, President Trump seemed to endorse each of Musk’s unconventional decisions, proclaiming on his social media that he and his cabinet were ‘EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON.’
However, Musk irked the establishment by daring to voice criticisms against the head of the state’s policies and selections, not as a single instance or as a couple of grievances, but with a striking regularity. What unfolded was a rupture in the previously thought unshakeable alliance between the nation’s leader and one of its most notable business moguls. This schism signaled a powerful shift in relationships, leaving Mr. Musk grappling with an uncertain future in his ventures.