Elon Musk is finding out why Warren Buffett steers clear of politics

Theron Mohamed

Sun, Mar 30, 2025, 4:47 AM 4 min read

• Elon Musk's central role in the Trump administration has sparked a fierce backlash against Tesla.

• Warren Buffett stays out of politics as he knows his employees and shareholders could pay the price.

• Musk had good reasons to get political but he's damaging his companies, commentators tell BI.

Elon Musk's foray into politics has put a target on Tesla, showing Warren Buffett was right to worry that speaking out could hurt his employees and shareholders.

Musk threw his money and clout behind President Donald Trump's reelection campaign last year, stumping for the Republican candidate at rallies, whipping up support for him on X, and pouring more than $290 million into returning him to power.

The world's richest man is now a prominent advisor to the US leader and the driving force behind DOGE's ostensible mission to reduce government fraud, waste, and abuse.

Musk's central role in the Trump administration has rankled some Americans, sparking boycotts and sales of Tesla vehicles, protests outside showrooms — and even vandalism and destruction of the company's products and property.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has said he's shocked by the violence, calling it "insane and deeply wrong" in an X post earlier this month. "Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks."

In another post, Musk wrote: "Has there ever been such a level of coordinated violence against a peaceful company? I understand not wanting to buy a product, but this is extreme arson and destruction!"

Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, openly supported Democrats until a few years ago. He hosted fundraisers for Barack Obama in 2011, and took the stage at a Hillary Clinton rally in 2016 to call out Trump's multiple failed businesses, refusal to release his tax returns, and cruel treatment of others. He did not endorse Kamala Harris or any other politicians last year.

The billionaire investor explained why at Berkshire's annual shareholders' meeting in 2022. His previous stance was that he doesn't put his "citizenship in a blind trust as a CEO," but recognized that voicing his political views could anger people and prompt them to "take it out on our companies."

"I've decidedly backed off. I don't want to say anything that'll get attributed, basically to Berkshire, and have somebody else bear the consequences of what I talk about," Buffett said, underscoring that he doesn't want his workers and stockholders to "pay the price" for his political commentary.