Posted by bookofjoe 12 hours ago
The situation has changed, so from the outside it may seem like he switched side. But he didn't: he was always fighting for himself and himself only.
Story by Michael Moritz
The writer is a longtime Silicon Valley investor, former board member of PayPal and an investor in SpaceX (i.e. a Musk fan)
> While Musk has left Washington with his reputation tarnished and his businesses impaired, the president’s family has inked deals for new hotels and golf courses around the world. Membership fees at Mar-a-Lago, his Floridian sanctuary, ballooned last year. And he is milking the enthusiasm of his supporters with his own controversial memecoin, launched days before his inauguration.
> One word of advice for those in Silicon Valley who followed Musk’s lead and sided with Trump. Leave. Don’t delude yourself that you are working to make crypto a part of global finance, minimising artificial intelligence regulation, helping start-up companies or protecting the interests of Silicon Valley. You have no sway. You are just cannon fodder.
[0] https://www.ft.com/content/c779b3b6-e989-4277-91fd-d72468291...
Trump doesn't care about his free Tesla. Hundreds of millions from meme-coins talks louder. Ditto with new markets for influential financial players to grow into, and a vast new area for VC to cash-in on (the IPO cash-outs greatly benefit from "legitimacy"). Follow the money. Although I do have to circle back to the first point which is that they do seem to have played the game right on many fronts (including threatening to primary politicians/using the stick effectively).
People are still talking about how “Elon” cut USAID, even though that was very clearly a Trump priority from the beginning.
I think they are in FAFO mode, learning how they were used and abandoned by Trump, like the people who sat out the election because of the (Gaza) peril they felt from Harris, aided by Russian bots bombarding social media, ignoring the blueprint that was circulated, called Project 2025, a profoundly anti-science and racist volume.
I just read that the CT folks call Project 2025 a Democratic hoax, like pretty much everything else they want to distance themselves from.
Very loud warnings were issued, and people ignored them in their emotional frenzy. Be careful what you wish for. You might get it, and get it, they did, big tech and supporters of what's left of Gaza.
Think things through, people.
I know it can be seen as a conspiracy theory now, but once the Tesla house of cards crumble, Enron will look relatively minor in comparison.
> 'Elon has woken up'
He's woke now?!