Elon Musk has thrown his weight behind Donald Trump and his support has paid off as the Republican was elected the 47th President of the United States on Wednesday.

The owner of Months later, when Trump returned to the scene, Musk accompanied him and spoke on stage alongside him.

Since then, the world's richest man (according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index) has supported the Trump campaign with $132 million of his own money through a PAC he set up specifically to elect the former president.

Musk has made it clear what he likes about the new Trump administration. He hopes there will be significant deregulation and greater investment in space exploration, but also that Trump's second administration will reject so-called culture war issues like transgender rights.

However, Musk is also likely to benefit greatly financially from the next Trump term.

Trump has already started singing Musk's praises. At Trump's election night party in Florida, Musk was the guest of honor, spoke privately with Trump during the event and received praise in the president-elect's speech to his supporters.

Trump said: “We have a new star: Elon. He's a great guy. We sat together this evening – do you know he spent two weeks in Philadelphia and various parts of Pennsylvania campaigning? He's a character, he's a special guy. He is a…” Super geniuses, and we have to protect our geniuses, we don’t have that many of them. We must protect our super geniuses.

With Trump's gratitude clearly visible and his foot in the door with the new administration, Musk is poised to be a major player and beneficiary of Trump's second term. Here's how.

Tesla

Musk's best-known company could benefit greatly from the policies that Trump has already brought into the election campaign. In October, Trump said during a rally in Michigan that he was considering banning self-driving cars from the Chinese market – something that could potentially take away much competition from electric vehicle giant Tesla.

That same week, Musk unveiled the Tesla Cybercab, a self-driving taxi. If Asian companies are shut out of the U.S. autonomous vehicle market, Musk could solidify Tesla's dominance in the space and pave the way for future sales.

In premarket trading on Wednesday, Tesla shares rose more than 15 percent to reach $289.58 per share as of 5:20 a.m. ET, extending a rally that began on Election Day. Much of Musk's wealth comes from his shares in Tesla, which currently has a market capitalization of $807 billion.

SpaceX

SpaceX is already benefiting massively from government policy, receiving large government contracts and grants to supplement NASA travel.

Musk has repeatedly said that Trump's administration will be “pro-space” and that any expansion of exploration will likely involve SpaceX, giving Musk a chance to secure more money.

Additionally, Trump's first administration outlined plans for a long-term Mars expedition. If his administration decides to pick up where it left off, perhaps with a push from Musk in government, then SpaceX would be one of the biggest beneficiaries.

deregulation

The most concrete way Musk could benefit from Trump's new administration is through deregulation. In September, Trump outlined plans for Musk to lead a “Government Efficiency Commission” that would cut government spending and roll back regulations.

Trump said at the time: “I need an Elon Musk – I need someone who has a lot of strength, courage and intelligence.”

With a direct influence on politics, Musk could influence the industries in which he has the most ownership, such as technology and social media. At one of Trump's recent rallies in New York, he claimed he could cut the federal budget by $2 trillion.

Steven Wang, CEO and founder of online investment platform Dub, said Newsweek Before the election, he said that Trump's deregulation would be a boon for the tech sector and that it would also help other areas where Musk has a strong presence, such as cryptocurrency.

“As president, Trump was a big supporter of tax cuts and deregulation,” Wang said. “Whether it’s crypto or other areas, a Trump victory could mean the stock market is likely to rise.”

taxation

During the campaign, Musk was highly critical of the Democrats' tax approach, saying, “At some point they run out of other people's money and then they come to get you.”

Musk also said that he pays around $10 billion in taxes annually, making him the largest taxpayer in the world. According to Bloomberg, he is worth $262 billion.

Trump's first term saw a series of tax cuts that benefited higher earners, with the top 20 percent of Americans receiving about 65 percent of the savings from his 2017 tax cuts. His plans for 2025 include making those tax cuts permanent, and he has proposed further reducing the corporate tax rate, possibly to 15 percent for domestic producers. This reduction would reduce the tax burden on Musk's companies like Tesla and SpaceX and potentially increase their profitability.

Analyzes suggest that these measures would disproportionately benefit the top percent of workers and provide them with significant tax cuts.

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