Tesla CEO Elon Musk threw his money and influence behind Donald Trump.
He gave speeches, hosted rallies in swing states, posted frequently on X, and funneled at least $119 million into a pro-Trump super PAC called America PAC.
When Trump won the election, Tesla's stock soared. Its share price is now up nearly 33% year to date.
On Tuesday, President-elect Trump announced that Musk would take on an advisory role and co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Inside Tesla, the response to Trump's victory, and Musk's role in it, has been mixed. Business Insider spoke with nine current employees in states across the country, including California and Texas. Though they represent a sliver of the automaker's global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the conversations offer a glimpse into the internal response to the election.
Some of the workers said they wish Musk would pay more attention to Tesla. Others said the CEO's involvement with Trump could benefit the company.
Most of them were celebrating the company's surging stock price, as Tesla stock makes up a significant share of most workers' compensation.
Hope, celebration, and conflict
One engineer said that while they hadn't voted for Trump, they felt Musk could "supercharge" the US government. Another employee who did vote for Trump said they were "excited for what this could mean for Tesla and for our country."
Another employee said Trump's win and the sudden surge in Tesla's stock price had many at the company feeling more hopeful.
"Since being hired, the stock has primarily trended sideways, and it was difficult for a lot of employees to see value in the company as many of us are given stock to compensate for lower hourly pay," one employee said. "Now that the stock is moving in a positive direction, there is a sense of renewed hope for the company with employees generally."
For others who spoke to Business Insider, the rising share price led to conflicted emotions.
"On one hand, you want to celebrate the fact that the stock is up an insane amount, but on the other, it's difficult to be truly happy because of Trump and what it means for Tesla's mission," one engineer said. The employee said that Trump's climate-crisis denial could be a roadblock to Tesla's mission of transitioning to sustainable energy.
Trump has said he plans to increase US oil production and may roll back vehicle-emissions standards and incentives designed to promote the production and adoption of electric cars. At an October rally in Detroit, Trump said he planned to "frack, frack, frack, and drill, baby, drill." Musk has said in the past that he doesn't agree with tax incentives for electric cars.
Tesla and Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk's growing list of commitments
Some Tesla factory workers in Texas and California were given time off to vote on Election Day in compliance with state laws, multiple factory workers in both states said. Separately, Tesla managers were sent a guide on how to address political discussions in the workplace, one worker said.
Postelection, three employees said the election hasn't been discussed much at work. "No one is saying anything," said one. "I think everyone is just waiting to see how this all plays out now."
"There's this feeling that no one fully knows where anyone else stands," one manager told BI.
Some Tesla-connected figures have been more open. Tesla's director of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, posted about Trump's victory on X.
America just kicked into founder mode. Time to build!
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) November 6, 2024
Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk's brother and a Tesla board member, also appeared to celebrate the win.
Don’t bet against @elonmusk
— (@kimbal) November 6, 2024
Alternative Energy
Autonomous cars
Global internet for everyone
Free Speech
Inter-planetary civilization
⚡️
Let’s fucking go
The DOGE advisory role will be another time commitment for Musk, who's already involved with five companies. Musk's private jet has flown to and from Palm Beach, Florida, near Trump's estate in Mar-a-Lago, five times since November 5, according to data from the jet-tracking company JetSpy. On Wednesday, Musk's jet flew from Palm Beach to an airport near Washington, DC, where he attended Trump's first postelection meeting with House Republicans.
Six workers said they felt Musk had taken his focus off Tesla.
"It feels like a lot of political theater," one worker said. "We sell cars. Anywhere else you'd expect the CEO to be focused on that."
Do you work at one of Musk's companies or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com or 248-894-6012