Just after midnight, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, Elon Musk video conferenced in from Washington D.C. to Dubai’s World Government Summit to pitch his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to a gathering of global leaders. “We do need to delete entire agencies,” said Musk, clad in a t-shirt that said Tech Support.
Elon Musk meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) at Blair House in Washington DC, USA on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Press Information Bureau / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Anadolu via Getty Images
Before the event wrapped, Musk and Omar Al Olama, the minister of artificial intelligence for the United Arab Emirates, announced that Musk’s tunnel startup The Boring Company would be building one of its underground loops in Dubai for an undisclosed cost. “[It] is gonna cover Dubai’s most densely populated area for people to go for point to point in a seamless manner,” said Al Olama, despite the fact that The Boring Company’s only existing tunnel, in which Teslas ferry people around a conference center in Las Vegas, is beset by trespassers and minimal traffic.
Later that day, Musk was meeting face to face in Washington with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Once again, the discussion was a mix of government cost-cutting and topics – space, mobility, and technology – that intersect with Musk’s business empire, as Modi later said on X. Starlink, Musk’s satellite company, is seeking approval to provide wireless internet to India’s 1.4 billion people.
Musk occupies an unprecedented position: he’s the world’s wealthiest person with vast business interests around the globe, while simultaneously acting as a de facto No. 2 in Donald Trump’s administration with the power to shape critical U.S. budgetary matters and foreign policy. The potential for Musk to use his position to benefit his companies and enrich himself is endless — whether that’s within the U.S. government, or with foreign leaders, on whom he depends for regulatory approval and contracts. Now, those leaders have another way to curry favor with President Trump: helping Musk and his companies.
“It appears that he’s treating his position as the head of DOGE as just one big business development opportunity,” says Don Fox, former acting director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics under President Obama. “If he really was committed to being a public servant, he wouldn’t be taking those kinds of meetings. What could possibly be his interest with government efficiency and meeting with those heads of government?”
The reach of Musk’s business empire is global. There are some five million Tesla cars on the road today, while Tesla controls over 60,000 charging stations across 51 countries. It has gigafactories in Shanghai and Berlin—and a proposed plant in Mexico. Starlink, the satellite company operated by his rocket launcher SpaceX, provides internet access in over 100 countries and territories around the world via its network of 7,000 low-orbit satellites. Other countries have contracts with Starlink to provide internet, including Ukraine, or are in talks with Starlink about future deals. On his social media company X, which has an estimated 415 million users across the world (according to Statista), Musk alternatively criticizes and praises foreign leaders and political parties, while controlling the algorithm that elevates some voices over others.
“Elon Musk is responsible for the biggest public corruption scandal ongoing, in real-time, right before our eyes—holding personal business meetings with world leaders from the White House, controlling government agencies that provide contracts to his companies, and seizing government data that can give himself a leg up on his competitors,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) in an emailed statement to Forbes. “Mr. Musk’s clear exploitation of his position in public office for self-enrichment cannot stand.”
Musk may have other foreign investments that remain a mystery. He has an estimated $9.5 billion in cash and other investments from previous sales of his Tesla shares; some of that money could now be in stocks or in shares of private foreign companies. As a special government employee, Musk only has to file a confidential financial disclosure form with the White House, which will likely not become public. In response to a question about conflicts of interest on Tuesday, Musk, speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, said that he would police himself.
“Given the scale of your power to carry out sweeping administrative policies and your vast personal financial interests, the American people deserve to know how you stand to profit from your role in the Trump Administration,” a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote in a public letter shared with Musk today.
Meeting with foreign leaders is nothing new for Musk, and some of these meetings aren’t unusual for a businessman who operates on his scale. For years, he met with Chinese officials, including future Chinese Premier Li Qiang, while working to secure approval for Tesla to build a gigafactory in Shanghai. The tycoon met with politicians from at least 13 different countries in the three years leading up to Trump’s victory, CNN reported.
But some meetings are less typical. Since 2022, Musk has been in semiregular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Wall Street Journal reported in October; he’s also played a significant role in the Ukraine-Russia war by providing Starlink terminals to Ukraine (and making a controversial decision to cut off access when he thought that a planned submarine drone attack would unnecessarily escalate the war).
Since Musk endorsed Trump in July, he has packed his schedule with meetings and calls with foreign leaders (and interactions on X). On November 8, the day after the election, Musk joined a call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump, Axios first reported. During that call Musk reportedly promised Zelensky that his Starlink satellites will continue to support Ukraine in its war effort.
Ahead of Trump’s inauguration in January, Musk met with China’s Vice President Han Zheng. According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, Han told Musk that China “welcomed” U.S. firms, including Tesla, to “seize opportunities and share the fruits of China’s development,” while Musk told Han that Tesla was prepared to “deepen investment in and cooperation with China,” and also play a positive role in “promoting U.S.-China economic and trade interactions.”
China is crucial to Tesla’s business. The EV maker’s sales in China have increased by more than sevenfold since December 2019 when it opened its Shanghai factory. In 2024, Chinese customers bought 36.7% of all Tesla cars, making China the company’s largest market ahead of even the United States. The factory, which also exports cars to other countries, produces over half of all Tesla vehicles. Cheaper labor and input costs in China have also boosted Tesla’s operating margins, powering its stock – and Musk’s fortune – to new heights. But Tesla’s ability to operate in China hinges on Musk’s relations with Chinese leaders.
At Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in November, the tycoon met with Argentine President Javier Milei, a libertarian whom Musk has praised repeatedly. “My companies are actively looking for ways to invest in and support Argentina,” Musk stated on X in September. The love is mutual, as Milei – who was in attendance at today’s Dubai event – has repeatedly praised Musk as a visionary.
When France and its president Emmanuel Macron hosted world leaders, including President-elect Trump, to attend the grand reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in December, Musk also attended. While in France, the tycoon met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with whom he has cultivated a close relationship. Italy is reportedly in talks with Musk’s SpaceX about a $1.6 billion telecom deal in which Starlink would provide encrypted telecommunications service to the Italian government.
Musk has also taken a special interest in Germany, where Tesla has one of its gigafactories. He has repeatedly criticized German chancellor Olaf Scholz while also boosting support on X for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In early January, he hosted AfD party leader Alice Weidel in an X Spaces conversation. Later that month he joined an AfD town hall via video conference. So far, Musk’s interference in Germany has backfired from a business standpoint: Tesla sales in that country plummeted 60% year over year in January.
According to Fox, Musk “has not accepted that by becoming a government employee, he can’t operate like he’s purely in the private sector anymore.” But so far, it seems that Musk can do whatever he wants.
Look back on the week that was with hand-picked articles from Australia and around the world. Sign up to the Forbes Australia newsletter here or become a member here.
