ELON MUSK CEO and Founder, Tesla, SpaceX, XAI, and others - U.S.

Musk's bet-it-all-on-Trump strategy came up big, and has the mega-entrepreneur poised to wield an unprecedented amount of power.

- By JESSICA MATHEWS

> HIGH-STAKES RISK has been a hallmark of Elon Musk's career: defying industry standards with reusable rockets at his $210 billion interplanetary exploration company SpaceX-or, at $1 trillion Tesla, spending billions on titanic production facilities to manufacture electric-vehicle components in-house.

But it was Musk's recent zero-sum bet to stake his reputation, his newly purchased social media platform, and more than $130 million in political donations to Republicans and Donald Trump's third presidential campaign that has propelled him-and his companiesto an unparalleled level of power and influence in both business and politics.