Silicon Valley ’s wealthiest and most galaxy - brained executives and venture capitalist went all - in on Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election , and their investment is get going to pay off . harmonize to the Wall Street Journal , more than three dozen people who have either bring under or are associates of Elon Musk , Peter Thiel , Marc Andreessen , and Palmer Luckey have been place in roles at federal agency that oversee the businesses of their Silicon Valley bosses .
Per WSJ , at least 18 Union agencies , including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , Department of Labor , Treasury Department , and Department of Defense , all use at least one person with tie to one of Trump ’s four favorite tech bros . Musk ’s web is the most racy , with connections now occupying more than a XII agencies . But all of the White House are positioned to benefit , as they have managed to place their own people — current and former employees , lawyer , investors , and financial advisors — in positions that superintend , regulate , and award governance contracts to their party .
The WSJfoundthat companies founded , owned , or invested in by Musk , Thiel , Andreessen , and Luckey have already snagged about $ 6 billion worth of Union contracts just since Donald Trump hire office . And while some of the bidding process started before Trump ’s second full term begin , those companies are presently pitching themselves for many more contracts worth billions of dollars and will probably find themselves with a leg up in the procurance process .
Elon Musk and Donald Trump do an ad for Tesla at the White House on 8 May 2025.© White House / Flickr
There have been some high - profile winnings for these companies in that clip . Palmer ’s Anduril Technologiestook over a government declaration in the beginning award to Microsoftto build mixed - reality goggles for the Army , which could ultimately pay out $ 22 billion . Musk ’s SpaceX scored$5.9 billionto launch Space Force mission . Thiel ’s Palantir got tapped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement tobuild software program for exile processing .
That ’s a solid payout for the billionaires , who have poured their own money into Trump ’s campaigns . Muskspent $ 290 millionon the project of start out Trump back to the White House , while Andreessengave at least $ 2.5 million , and Luckey gaveat least $ 400,000 . Thiel , unlike these more recently Trump - queer opportunist body snatcher , has been a recollective - metre trumpet angel andgave around $ 1.5 millionto Trump - link chemical group going back to the 2016 election .
All of this is on top of the cuts that Musk has pull off to make at all of these office through the Department of Government Efficiency , which will likely reduce the resistance these companies will see in regulative pushback . It ’s hard to say some of those cuts did n’t seem at least in part aim . USAID , which Musk endeavor to fold the doors on solely , wasreportedly investigating Starlink contractsat the time it got axe . Employees at the Food and Drug Administration tasked with overseeing reviews and applications related to Musk ’s Neuralinkwere fired . Staffers at the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration who were researching the safe of self - drive applied science like Tesla ’s FSD wereforced out , too .
Trump has always take his goal was to drain the swampland . Instead , it seems he ’s just handed control of the swamp over to tech titans , who are happily swim in it .
Donald TrumpElon MuskMarc AndreessenPalmer LuckeyPeter ThielTrump organization
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