Billionaire Elon Musk has said he expects to dial back his political donations, a major shift from the figure who shook up the 2024 election as a top donor to President Donald Trump.
Musk, who ultimately spent more than $250m (£187m) in support of Trump’s campaign, told an economic conference in Qatar that he planned to do “a lot less” spending in the future.
He also said he was committed to leading electric car company Tesla for another five years.
The comments come just a few weeks after he said he would step back from leading the controversial White House effort to slash federal spending, commonly called Doge.
Asked whether he expected to continue his political spending at scale, Musk told the conference he felt he had “done enough”.
“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,” he said.
“I do not currently see a reason,” he added.
Musk had largely stayed out of the political arena until last year, and his high-dollar entry raised scrutiny of his companies, which also include rocket firm Starlink and social media company X.
Concerns about conflicts of interest bubbled up as he became an influential figure in Trump’s White House, given some of his companies have contracts with the federal government while some have been investigated by the government.
There were also protests and boycotts of Tesla against his steps to get rid of thousands of federal workers and to give his Doge team access to government information.
As sales sank, Tesla’s board and investors began to worry publicly that he was not focused enough on the company that helped make him a billionaire.
Credit: BBC