How the tech CEO and ‘Dogefather’ made a mess of the year – from an apparent Nazi salute during his White House tenure to Tesla sales slumps and Starship explosions
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he year of 2025 was dizzying for Elon Musk. The tech titan began the year holding court with Donald Trump in Washington DC. As the months ticked by, one public appearance after another baffled the US and the world. Musk appeared to give a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, staunchly championed a 19-year-old staffer nicknamed “Big Balls,” denied reports of being a drug addict while advising the president, and showed up at a White House press conference with a black eye – all in the first half of the year alone.
“Elon’s attitude is you have to get it done fast. If you’re an incrementalist, you just won’t get your rocket to the moon,” Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in an expansive interview earlier this month. “And so with that attitude, you’re going to break some china.”
Musk saw huge, multibillion-dollar wins and equally large losses in business this year. In his dealings with federal agencies, he was able to secure new enormous government contracts and expand SpaceX’s operations. With Tesla, he was approved for a pay package that could make him the world’s first trillionaire even as the company’s global sales plunged. At the same time, Musk and his businesses were the target of protests, lawsuits and an exodus of high-level executives. He ended the year with a fortune worth some $600bn.
