All eyes were on Washington, DC, this past weekend, when Elon Musk joined Donald Trump’s inauguration events bigly, as our once and current president would say. The news was flowing throughout, including changes to the nascent DOGE project and a very controversial hand gesture. Also controversial? Musk’s ongoing video game scandal, in which influential gamers have accused Musk of not actually getting to the upper echelon of a few games by himself. To discuss DC, host David Papadopoulos is joined by series regulars Max Chafkin and Dana Hull, and Bloomberg video game reporter Cecilia D’Anastasio later joins to talk about her new story on the affair.

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On Monday, Bloomberg News broke the story that Chinese officials were considering allowing Elon Musk to buy TikTok—something that, if it happened, would be earth-shaking for a whole host of reasons (though Elon, Inc. listeners heard us discuss the possibility months ago). Host Max Chafkin talks to Bloomberg social media reporter Kurt Wagner about what a Musk-owned TikTok could mean for the US (and China).

Then Bloomberg political writer Joshua Green joins Chafkin and Musk reporter Dana Hull to unpack the ongoing MAGA feud between two of America’s most famous far-right figures: Musk and Steve Bannon. 

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For those who haven’t been following Elon Musk’s voluminous and combative X posts about the UK—good for you. It’s a confusing situation where Musk backed and then renounced fellow right-winger Nigel Farage, and then tried to taint Prime Minister Keir Starmer with a “scandal” tied to when he was a prosecutor. Starmer, for his part, said “a line has been crossed” with Musk’s messaging. Musk then made an X poll asking people, essentially, if it was time for a coup in the UK. David discusses this with Bloomberg  Opinion columnist Marc Champion, Musk reporter Dana Hull and UK government reporter Alex Wickham.

Then, Kurt Wagner and Max Chafkin join Hull to talk about changes at X. Musk seems to have changed the platform’s policy to privilege posts that are “positive” in nature. The timing of this has the panel wondering if he plans on boosting people who are saying nice things about, say, how his new boss is doing come Jan. 20.

Finally, “Adrian Dittman.” It’s been a longstanding rumor that this person is actually Musk—his voice sounds like Musk’s in various recordings and he posts often about Musk in glowing terms. A recent story seemed to debunk that rumor, but the internet doesn’t seem ready to let go.

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Over the holiday break, Elon Musk was busy making news on X, furiously posting his way into a multipronged fight with ultra-right wing MAGA luminaries Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon about immigration visas. But over the past 24 hours, two other stories arguably overshadowed the civil war in Trumpland: a deadly Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas and some surprisingly bad sales numbers from Tesla. David Papadopoulos is joined by Max Chafkin and Dana Hull to break down the news. 

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As we established in our last podcast—an episode recapping 12 months of ups and downs and ups for the world’s richest man—this was a unique year for Elon Musk. This week, our look back continues—along with a look forward—in the second part of a holiday special of Elon, Inc. 

Host Max Chafkin is joined by Elon Musk reporter Dana Hull, tech editor Sarah Frier and special guest Ryan Broderick, host of the podcast Panic World and founder of the Garbage Day newsletter. Together they play some games and handicap Musk’s next moves. 

On the game front, how well does the panel know Musk’s “eexing” (aka posting habits on X)? Can they identify who Joe Rogan is talking to—Musk, Donald Trump or a cryptozoologist? Can they determine the status of Trump’s relationship with his richest donor? We also get predictions not only from our panelists but from a slew of other personalities. How will Musk wield his new-found power as part of Trump’s second administration? Will there be more legal troubles? We try our best to prophesize.

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What a year 2024 has been for Elon Musk. From the ups-and-downs of Tesla stock, to his rapid ascent to the top of Republican party politics to various SpaceX wins and losses, it seems like a year that Musk won’t forget. And neither will we: for the year-end episode, we actually have a two-part special, featuring Max Chafkin as host, Dana Hull (Elon Musk reporter) and Sarah Frier (Big Tech editor) as panelists and a special guest, Ryan Broderick, host of his own podcast, Panic World, and Garbage Day newsletter founder.

In the first part, we go over the word (or words) that describe Musk’s year; discuss both the biggest and most underappreciated stories of the year; and figure out who was the most important sidekick among Elon’s ever evolving entourage.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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