Elon Musk makes unexpected promise after major tech meltdown
After a turbulent year marked by setbacks and controversies, Elon Musk surprises everyone with a bold new commitment to turn things around.
This is not the best year for billionaire Elon Musk. Or is it?
Last year, the Tesla (TSLA) CEO endorsed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump by donating around $290 million to support his campaign. Now, he says he doesn’t see a reason to do more political spending in the future.
However, since his direct involvement in politics as an unpaid special government employee leading a newly created advisory board The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a lot has changed for the world’s richest man.
Related: Elon Musk gets devastating news as the 'anti-Tesla' catches on
For one, regulatory pressure on Musk’s companies has eased, and his SpaceX is poised to profit from billions in new federal contracts, writes The New York Times.
Yes, Tesla stock has dropped about 20% since Trump’s second and current tenure started on January 20, 2025; however, the stock is up 91.99% since May 2024. Additionally, his company SpaceX nearly doubled in value, reaching $350 billion, and his AI and social media business xAI Holdings tripled its value compared to a year ago.
It looks like Musk’s wealth has also increased by $170 billion since endorsing Trump in July 2024, hitting about $419 billion, according to Forbes.
How we define a good year or success varies from person to person. While Musk’s monetary wealth has increased, his political involvement impacted his reputation. and some of his companies suffered setbacks recently. Now, Musk is announcing a change. 
‘Brand Destruction’, SpaceX’s unsuccessful launches
The top electric vehicle brand has been widely criticized over Musk’s involvement with right-wing politics and the Trump administration. There have been protests at Tesla dealerships across the U.S. and Europe, where the company has seen a significant drop in sales.
Some very passionate political opponents have even taken things too far, and about 80 Tesla vehicles at a car dealership in Canada were damaged. Similar incidents happened in the U.S. over the last few months.
Marketing professor Scott Galloway recently criticized Musk for ruining Tesla’s brand through his political involvement, including spending cuts, which enraged Tesla’s major customer base, writes The Guardian.
Galloway pointed out that most Republicans don’t buy electric cars and that the billionaire’s political affairs have damaged Tesla’s global sales and reputation. In ranking of most reputable brands, the company dropped from a ranking of 8 to 95 in a recent poll.
“This has arguably been one of the greatest brand destructions,” Galloway. “Tesla was a great brand. He’s alienated his core demographic.”
More Tesla News:
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans raise major red flags for regulators
- Here's why Tesla's robotaxi launch is destined to fail
- Elon Musk confirms Tesla's summer plans
Meanwhile, SpaceX has launched multiple Starship rockets this year, two of which have literally blown up. Flight 7 and Flight 8 dramatically exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, which was seen from Florida, the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos.
The company recently identified a hardware failure in one of the rocket’s center Ratpro engines that led to inadvertent propellant mixing and eventual self-destruction of the vehicle, writes Space.
After the incidents, Space X made several design improvements, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), together with NASA and other agencies, cleared the vehicle for another flight. Starship Flight 9 is scheduled to launch on May 27.
Musk makes unexpected 24/7 promise after X crashed for thousands of users
Adding to recent operational setbacks, Musk’s social media platform X (previously Twitter) experienced a brief outage on May 24, when 25,000 users reported issues, according to Downdetector, and as reported by CNBC.
This was the second outage in less than a week. On May 22, users experienced slow performance, timeline issues, and problems with direct messages.
Following the second outage, Musk acknowledged that important operations improvements are much needed. He announced:
“Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms.
I must be super focused on
