Elon Musk’s 2025 recap: how the world’s richest person became its most chaotic
The Guardian••business
Key Points:
- In 2025, Elon Musk's public and political life was marked by controversy, including a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, staunch support for a young staffer, and a public fallout with Donald Trump, culminating in Musk accusing Trump of ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
- Musk’s business ventures saw mixed results: SpaceX secured major government contracts despite rocket failures, Tesla faced global sales declines and safety lawsuits yet approved a record pay package for Musk, and his AI company xAI acquired social media platform X, despite controversies around its chatbot Grok.
- Musk’s tenure in the Trump administration as head of the "department of government efficiency" (Doge) involved aggressive federal agency cuts, sparking lawsuits and protests over humanitarian aid disruptions and privacy
