Amid a dramatic falling out between Donald Trump and his “first buddy,” Elon Musk, some of the business world’s most influential voices are weighing in.
The relationship between the president and his once-close ally imploded on Thursday as they clashed publicly over Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Musk, who stepped down from his role at DOGE in May, took to X to criticize the bill, calling it the “Debt Slavery Bill” and the “Big Ugly Spending Bill.”
In response, Trump fired back at Musk during a White House event. He also defended the bill on Truth Social, while threatening to cancel Musk’s government contracts.
Musk saw his net worth fall by $34 billion on Thursday, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Tesla shares were also down by more than 14%.
Here’s what several business leaders have to say about the row.
Mark Cuban
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Amid his feud with Trump, Musk proposed creating a new political party for “the middle” in a poll on X.
Mark Cuban appeared to endorse the idea, quoting Musk’s post and replying with three check marks.
The former “Shark Tank” star previously said he’s “not a fan of either party,” but would run as a Republican if he wanted to join politics.
Bill Ackman
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman voiced his support for both Trump and Musk on X, calling on the two to put aside their differences and “make peace for the benefit of our country.”
Ackman, who had endorsed Trump for his 2024 presidential bid, wrote: “We are much stronger together than apart.”
“You’re not wrong,” Musk responded.
Paul Graham
Joe Corrigan/Getty Images for AOL
Paul Graham, cofounder of the startup accelerator Y Combinator, also weighed in on the public feud between the president and the Tesla CEO.
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“A lot of people seem to be treating this as if it were just a beef. But the underlying allegation is a very serious one. If it’s true, Trump is surely going to have to resign,” he wrote in a post on X.
Graham did not specify what allegation he was referring to.
Hours before Graham made his post, Musk went on X and accused Trump of withholding information about Jeffrey Epstein.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk wrote on X.
Graham told Musk in February that he should work with the government “carefully” because it’s not “just a company.”
A representative for Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
