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Elon Musk is making some big promises during his campaign for former President Donald Trump. But his business record raises doubts about whether he can deliver.

Musk and Trump have publicly discussed some sort of government role for the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX if Trump wins the presidency. Although Musk and Trump haven't offered any details, Musk has jokingly talked about his potential job as head of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the name of Musk's favorite meme and cryptocurrency. Last week on Fox News, Trump said Musk could serve as “secretary of cost reduction,” a government agency that also doesn't currently exist.

In the event that he were to lead some kind of task force, Musk was on the cutting edge during the election campaign and in an interview with Trump. He has also said he would propose a massive rollback of government regulations, something he has long advocated for. And Musk has promised a soft gesture, offering laid-off government workers generous severance packages while proposing a rating system that threatens wasteful employees with layoffs.

These are all tactics that Musk has used or promised to use in his companies. His track record is mixed. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Steep cuts: Trump, in his interview with Musk in August and in subsequent public discussions about a possible government role for Musk, praised the CEO for his ruthlessness regarding layoffs. The UAW auto workers union filed a labor lawsuit against the couple in August after Trump called Musk a “cutter” and suggested he would fire striking auto workers. And when Trump announced his plans for Musk's possible role in September, he said Musk would make recommendations for “drastic reforms.”

Discussing what he could do for the government, Musk said at a town hall in Pittsburgh on Sunday that significant cuts in government spending would be necessary: ​​”Step No. 1 is to spend a lot less of it,” Musk said. “Let’s start from scratch.”

But the cuts haven't always worked so well for Musk's company.

At X, Musk made significant layoffs, cutting about 80% of the company's workforce. That has resulted in a janky, unstable product, as demonstrated by its catastrophic technology failures during interviews with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 and Trump a few months ago. Musk also has the trust and security teams of

According to Fidelity, X is worth 80% less than what Musk bought it for in October 2022.

Read Goldman's full analysis here.