What's next for Elon Musk?

Elon Musk is retreating from Washington D.C., with his sights now set as far away as Mars.

After announcing his departure from the Trump administration this week, the South African-born tycoon is "ready to get obsessed with his companies again", said The Wall Street Journal. And just in time: when it comes to his business ventures, Musk has "a lot to contend with".

What did the commentators say?

A return to politics seems unlikely; in Trump's "rapidly evolving" second presidency, Musk's "monopoly" on the political news cycle "seems to have broken", said Politico, particularly as polling suggests that's he's "increasingly unpopular" – in fact, "far more so" than Trump.

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Musk "met his political Waterloo" in Wisconsin's supreme court race, said David Smith in The Guardian, where despite his spending at least $3 million (£2.2 million) and making personal appearances on the campaign trail, the Republican candidate he backed lost by 10 percentage points. The writing was on the wall: Musk and his "chainsaw" task force have become a "political liability" for Republicans.

Politics has been "central to Musk's identity over much of the past year", said Trisha Thadani and Elizabeth Dwoskin in The Washington Post, but he's become "disillusioned" with the impact that his money can make in politics and would now prefer to "spend his time and fortune elsewhere".

That means a return to his businesses. At Tesla, the "backlash" over Musk's political activities has "sparked concerns" among investors, said Gregory Korte in Bloomberg. Vehicle sales fell to a nearly three-year low and the stock price "plummeted" as he became a key figure in Trump's regime. Tesla showrooms were picketed by protesters, while its vehicles and charging stations became targets for vandalism.

Musk sees autonomous technology as the future of Tesla, and the company is "counting on" that sector for a "new wave of growth", said The Wall Street Journal. It intends to launch an autonomous ride-hailing service next month, followed in the next few years by the rollout of Cybercab, a self-driving taxi that Musk describes as a $30,000 (£22,000) "lounge on wheels".

Musk "hasn't been shy" about how tough it will be to meet his "goals" at SpaceX, either, said The Wall Street Journal. The company is "racing" to develop Starship, the rocket that he wants to send on an un-crewed test mission to Mars next year, when Earth and the red planet will be closer to each other, but a series of technical "setbacks" is making this goal seem increasingly unlikely.

What next?

The future of his chainsaw department is less clear. He and Trump have declined to "lay out a succession plan" for Doge, said Korte, a project that was Musk's "brainchild". Doge is a "way of life, like Buddhism", he once quipped of its future continuation if he left. "Buddha isn't alive any more," he said. "You wouldn't ask the question: 'who would lead Buddhism?'"

The "aggressive cost-cutting efforts", led by a staff appointed by Musk, are expected to "continue" even after he formally leaves his role, said Politico. Musk wrote on X this week that the Doge "mission" will "only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government".