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.
Musk was also dealt a political blow in recent weeks after the candidate that he backed to join the Wisconsin Supreme Court was defeated, despite receiving more than $20m from Musk and groups he supports.
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’s 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 bubbled up as he moved to work in the White House about conflicts of interest, given that some of his companies have contracts with the federal government while some have been investigated by the government.
Then, there were protests and boycotts of Tesla around the world against his steps to get rid of thousands of federal workers and to give his Doge team access to government information about individual Americans.
Tesla’s board and investors also began to worry publicly that he was not focused enough on the company that had helped make him a billionaire.
Musk said at the conference that he had taken the backlash, which included violent attacks on Tesla cars, personally.
But asked if he had any regrets about his political activities, Musk said: “I did what needed to be done.”
He brushed off worries about the impact on Tesla, saying the company was doing well outside of Europe.
“It’s already turned around,” he said, noting that Tesla’s share price has risen in recent weeks. “We see no problem with demand.”
Bloomberg journalist Mishal Hussain, who conducted the on-stage interview at the conference, pressed Musk about whether his commitment to Tesla was contingent on pay.
The world’s richest person has been pushing to receive a record-breaking compensation package that has been twice rejected by a federal judge.
“It’s not a money thing,” Musk said. “It’s a reasonable control thing.”
