The Men and Women Swirling Around Elon Musk

Peter Thiel Larry Ellison Joe Rogan Maye Musk Gwynne Shotwell Stephen Miller Nelson Peltz Donald Trump

A look at the people who influence the world’s richest man, and those who stand to gain from their association with him now.

By Theodore Schleifer, Ryan Mac, Lily Boyce and Kirsten Grind

Elon Musk occupies a rare place at the center of American power.

As the “first buddy,” he has won the ear of President-elect Donald J. Trump, having spent over $250 million in the final months of 2024 to help him get elected. Mr. Musk has appeared in family photos at Mar-a-Lago and joined Mr. Trump on calls with world leaders and chief executives.

Mr. Musk has never had more influence over business, global politics and the American democratic system. He helped kill bipartisan legislation in Congress to avoid a government shutdown, though a bill was later passed.

Where does he go from here?

These are the people who influence Mr. Musk right now, and those whom he influences in turn. They are longtime friends, investors, staff members or party buddies — and sometimes, those boundaries blur.

They shape how Mr. Musk operates and views the world. Many have propped him up, in the good times and the bad, and some now stand to gain from his new position in U.S. politics.

The Backers Steve Jurvetson Marc Andreessen Shaun Maguire John Hering Peter Thiel Roelof Botha Larry Ellison The Friends Antonio Gracias Ken Howery Michael Kives Luke Nosek David Sacks Sriram Krishnan Joe Lonsdale Rupert Murdoch James Murdoch Joe Gebbia Jason Calacanis Michael Dell Ari Emanuel Robin Ren Joe Rogan The Family Kimbal Musk James Musk Errol Musk Tosca Musk Grimes X Æ A-12 Musk Justine Wilson Musk Talulah Riley Shivon Zilis Maye Musk The Lieutenants Alex Spiro Chris Young Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy Mark Juncosa Omead Afshar Tim Hughes Ira Ehrenpreis Jared Birchall Jehn Balajadia Linda Yaccarino Robyn Denholm Tom Zhu Franz von Holzhausen Ross Nordeen Steve Davis Gwynne Shotwell The Trump World Alex Lorusso Tucker Carlson Vivek Ramaswamy Stephen Miller Nelson Peltz Donald Trump

These people have fueled Mr. Musk and his businesses. Over the years, they’ve invested millions of dollars in SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, the Boring Company, X and xAI. Some have gained board seats or become close friends with Mr. Musk for their loyalty.

Steve Jurvetson

Mr. Jurvetson is a longtime Silicon Valley venture capitalist and was an early investor in Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, where he is a board member. He is also a superfan of Mr. Musk’s. On a podcast in 2020, he praised the billionaire for being “the greatest gift of the American dream living right now.”

Marc Andreessen

The venture capitalist is one of Mr. Musk’s big financial supporters in Silicon Valley: His firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has backed SpaceX, X and xAI.

Shaun Maguire

A partner at Sequoia Capital, Mr. Maguire led the firm’s deals into Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, X, xAI and Boring Company, a tunneling venture. He has played a big role in Mr. Musk’s work during the presidential transition.

John Hering

Mr. Hering, a venture capitalist, invests in Mr. Musk’s companies and has become a trusted adviser. Recently, Mr. Hering has spent time in Palm Beach, Fla., helping with the presidential transition.

Peter Thiel

Mr. Thiel and Mr. Musk are members of the so-called PayPal Mafia, a group of founders and early employees of the payments company. While Mr. Thiel helped oust Mr. Musk from the company decades ago, he has recently become a political ally and supporter. Vice President-elect JD Vance once worked for Mr. Thiel’s venture capital firm, and Mr. Thiel was the one who introduced the running mates.

Roelof Botha

A fellow South African, Mr. Botha was a member of the PayPal Mafia. Now, as the managing partner of Sequoia Capital, he oversees the venture firm’s various investments into Mr. Musk’s companies, including X and xAI.

Larry Ellison

Mr. Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, is a self-described good friend of Mr. Musk’s and has taken part in some Trump transition meetings. When Mr. Musk bought Twitter in 2022, Mr. Ellison committed $1 billion to the deal.

Mr. Musk’s friends come from different areas of his life. Some started as colleagues or investors, but later developed personal relationships with the billionaire — to the point where they’ve attended Burning Man or vacationed together. Mr. Musk has also grown close with a number of figures in the tech scene around Austin, where he has been relocating some of his companies’ operations to, away from the San Francisco area.

Antonio Gracias

Mr. Gracias is one of Mr. Musk’s oldest friends; he was an early investor in SpaceX, Tesla and other companies, and he helped fund a pro-Trump super PAC started by Mr. Musk.

Ken Howery

A co-founder of PayPal, Mr. Howery is very involved in Republican politics. He and Mr. Musk are part of the same social circles in Austin.

Michael Kives

Mr. Musk has sometimes stayed with Mr. Kives, a Hollywood agent and Democratic financier, when he is in Los Angeles.

Luke Nosek

A close friend in Texas now and active in conservative politics, Mr. Nosek is one of the several entrepreneurs who helped start PayPal.

David Sacks

A PayPal Mafia associate, Mr. Sacks is a longtime friend who has grown closer to Mr. Musk after the acquisition of Twitter and his rightward political shift. Mr. Sacks has been picked to a tech position in Mr. Trump’s White House.

Sriram Krishnan

A former venture capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. Krishnan was part of the crew that took over Twitter after Mr. Musk bought it. President-elect Trump recently tapped him to work with Mr. Sacks on artificial intelligence initiatives.

Joe Lonsdale

A co-founder of the software company Palantir, which has numerous Defense Department contracts, Mr. Lonsdale provided guidance to Mr. Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC and has helped advise the world’s richest man on the presidential transition.

Rupert Murdoch

Mr. Musk dined at Mr. Murdoch’s apartment just before Election Day. The media mogul has remained close with Mr. Musk even as his flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, has reported critically on him.

James Murdoch

A current Tesla board member, as well as a SpaceX investor and a son of Rupert Murdoch’s, James Murdoch and Mr. Musk are friends who have vacationed together.

Joe Gebbia

A former Airbnb executive, Mr. Gebbia sits on Tesla’s board and is also part of the crowd that Mr. Musk hangs out with in Austin.

Jason Calacanis

A start-up investor and podcaster, Mr. Calacanis has been a longtime supporter of Mr. Musk’s from the early days at Tesla. He has attended Burning Man with Mr. Musk and most recently advised the billionaire during the takeover of Twitter.

Michael Dell

The billionaires have become closer as Mr. Musk has made Austin his home base. Mr. Dell has voiced his support of the government efficiency department and is developing computing infrastructure to help power Mr. Musk’s xAI.

Ari Emanuel

The Hollywood media mogul has grown close to Mr. Musk, who once sat on the board of his company, Endeavor. The SpaceX chief has vacationed with Mr. Emanuel and attended his wedding. Endeavor has also invested in X.

Robin Ren

Mr. Ren attended the University of Pennsylvania with Mr. Musk, who considered him to be better at physics during that time. Mr. Ren went on to work at Tesla as a vice president of business development and, for a time, led the company’s expansion into China. He also invested in Mr. Musk’s Twitter takeover.

Joe Rogan

The popular podcaster has hung out with Mr. Musk in Austin. Mr. Musk has appeared on his show five times in the last six years.

Mr. Musk has a large, complicated family. He has fathered at least 12 children with three different partners. He sometimes mixes business with family matters. His brother has sat on the boards of his companies, while his mother and young son have sat in on meetings for his companies and for his newly formed Department of Government Efficiency.

Kimbal Musk

Kimbal, Mr. Musk’s brother, has been a close confidant for years. He runs a restaurant business in Denver, but has long been involved in Elon’s companies: He was an early SpaceX and Tesla board member, in addition to advising on smaller endeavors.

James Musk

Mr. Musk’s younger cousin James now works as a trust engineer at X, after following Mr. Musk from company to company.

Errol Musk

Mr. Musk told a biographer that he and his father, Errol, are sometimes estranged, but Errol has said the two are in frequent contact. He has visited his son in Texas.

Tosca Musk

Mr. Musk’s sister, Tosca, is the head of a production company that focuses on adapting romance novels and erotic fan fiction. She has been a big Democratic donor, and helped host a fund-raiser for Stacey Abrams, the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia.

Grimes

The pop singer, born Claire Boucher, is the mother of three of Mr. Musk’s children and has been engaged in custody battles wtih him.

X Æ A-12 Musk

Mr. Musk’s eldest son with Grimes, the four-year-old X, as he is commonly known, has been a frequent presence with his father at his companies’ various offices and at Mar-a-Lago.

Justine Wilson Musk

Mr. Musk’s first wife and the mother of five of his eldest children, she helps parent some of those children with him. (Though one of the children, Vivian, has cut off ties with her father.)

Talulah Riley

Ms. Riley, an actress, is Mr. Musk’s second wife, having married and divorced him twice. They remain in contact.

Shivon Zilis

A former venture capitalist and current executive at Neuralink, Ms. Zilis is the mother of at least three children with Mr. Musk. She has been spotted at Mar-a-Lago after the election.

Maye Musk

Mr. Musk’s mother, a model and dietitian, frequently attends social and political events with her son.

With Mr. Musk leading six different companies, he’s kept a small circle of trusted advisers and deputies across those organizations to maintain operations. Some of these men and women have worked with Mr. Musk for more than a decade and joined Tesla or SpaceX in the early days, when neither company was a guaranteed success. Some of these lieutenants move from job to job with Mr. Musk as he deploys them on the latest issue he’s deemed important.

Alex Spiro

Mr. Spiro, an attorney with high-profile clients, notably defended Mr. Musk in a defamation lawsuit after the billionaire called a British cave explorer a “pedo guy” on Twitter in 2018. Recently, Mr. Spiro has become Mr. Musk’s attack dog against government regulators.

Chris Young

Mr. Young, a top Republican field operative, was hired to be Mr. Musk’s political adviser earlier this year. They did not know each other before the election, but Mr. Young has led Mr. Musk’s tactical work in Republican politics.

Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy

Mr. O’Shaughnessy, a retired Air Force general known as “Shags,” is one of Mr. Musk’s top lieutenants at SpaceX. He was recently pushed as a candidate for a Defense Department job.

Mark Juncosa

As the vice president of vehicle engineering at SpaceX, Mr. Juncosa has worked his way up the ranks in his more than 13 years at the company. He is one of Mr. Musk’s most trusted engineers.

Omead Afshar

Mr. Afshar, one of Mr. Musk’s right-hand men, previously oversaw the construction of Tesla’s factory in Austin, and is now involved with the production of the Starship rocket at SpaceX.

Tim Hughes

As a senior government affairs executive at SpaceX, Mr. Hughes has become vital to Mr. Musk as the company has looked to spread its influence and its satellite internet service, Starlink, outside the United States. Mr. Musk has put forth Mr. Hughes as a potential hire for the Department of Defense.

Ira Ehrenpreis

A current Tesla board member, Mr. Ehrenpreis helped push through a controversial pay package at Tesla that helped make Mr. Musk the richest man in the world.

Jared Birchall

Mr. Birchall, a former wealth manager at Morgan Stanley, is the longtime head of Mr. Musk’s family office, as well as of the Musk Foundation. He has also been advising the presidential transition.

Jehn Balajadia

Though she has the title of “operations coordinator” at the Boring Company, Ms. Balajadia is effectively Mr. Musk’s secretary, helping him with day-to-day tasks and scheduling. She often follows him as he travels, and was ever-present during his acqusition of Twitter.

Linda Yaccarino

A former executive at NBCUniversal, Ms. Yaccarino is the chief executive of X — and often parrots his political views and talking points.

Robyn Denholm

As the chair of Tesla’s board, the Australian business executive has exerted little oversight over Mr. Musk, who had to step down from his role as chairman after his fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018.

Tom Zhu

A senior vice preisdent at Tesla who oversees much of the company’s operations in China, an increasingly important market for the electric automaker.

Franz von Holzhausen

The lead designer at Tesla, he has been known to appear onstage with Mr. Musk during launch events. He has worked at the company for nearly 16 years and is one of Tesla’s longest-serving employees.

Ross Nordeen

One of Musk’s most trusted engineers, he has moved from Tesla to X and now to xAI. He has worked closely with Mr. Musk’s cousin James.

Steve Davis

Few people on this list have earned Mr. Musk’s trust more than Mr. Davis, who is often called upon to help with special situations. Mr. Davis, who by day is an executive at the Boring Company, has effectively led Mr. Musk’s work on the presidential transition.

Gwynne Shotwell

The second most powerful person at SpaceX, she has overseen the day-to-day operations of the rocket company as it has grown to be a major contractor of NASA and the Defense Department.

Mr. Musk’s introduction into the MAGA world has been swift, after his public endorsement of Mr. Trump’s candidacy in July. Since the election, Mr. Musk has become almost inseparable from the president-elect, building fast friendships not only with Mr. Trump, but also with some of his closest advisers. These alliances will become even more important, as Mr. Musk has said he will push to slash federal spending with his government efficiency organization.

Alex Lorusso

A business partner of Benny Johnson’s, the conservative media personality, Mr. Lorusso was a paid consultant for Mr. Musk’s super PAC. Mr. Lorusso is one of the several-high profile conservative voices who was once barred on Twitter and later reinstated by Mr. Musk.

Tucker Carlson

Before leaving Fox News, Mr. Carlson interviewed Mr. Musk for one of his last shows. Since then, the pair have bonded. Mr. Carlson posts episodes of his new online show on X, and has become one of Mr. Musk’s biggest defenders in media.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Leading up to the election, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur turned Republican presidential candidate was frequently cited online by Mr. Musk. Now, the two will be the co-leaders of the government efficiency department in an attempt to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget.

Stephen Miller

Mr. Musk has backed some of Mr. Miller’s prior political work. And the Trump senior adviser, known for his vocal stances on immigration issues that Mr. Musk cares deeply about, has worked side-by-side with the billionaire during the transition.

Nelson Peltz

Mr. Peltz has described himself as the “matchmaker” between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk. Mr. Peltz, an activist investor, hosted a dinner at his home in Palm Beach this February where Mr. Musk first voiced his desire to become involved with the election.

Donald Trump

Though they did not know each other well six months ago, the two have appeared insperable since the election. Mr. Trump tapped Mr. Musk to be the co-head of the new effort to downsize government, and publicly, they often seem to be mesmerized by each other.