David Sacks, the White House crypto czar and a close associate of Elon Musk, recently shared insights on the All-In podcast regarding Musk’s management style. He noted that Musk’s reduced involvement at the White House DOGE office reflects his typical approach across his businesses.
In the latest episode, Sacks recalled his experience during Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, highlighting that Musk initially immersed himself in the company, spending significant time learning its ins and outs. “For the first three months, he was basically full-time at Twitter HQ, learning the business down to the database level,” Sacks explained. Once Musk felt confident in his understanding and had assembled a trusted team, he shifted to a more supervisory role.
On a recent Tesla earnings call, Musk mentioned plans to dedicate less time to DOGE, opting instead to focus on his electric vehicle company. He intends to allocate a day or two weekly to his government responsibilities, depending on their usefulness. This decision comes amid pressure from investors and analysts urging him to prioritize Tesla as the company has faced slow sales and some dissatisfaction from its core customer base.
Sacks observed that Musk’s unique management style allows him to juggle multiple companies. He explained that Musk engages intensely with a project, establishes the right team, gains a comprehensive understanding, and then delegates responsibilities. Although Musk will not entirely step away from his government role, he is managing his time more effectively, limiting himself to 130 days a year as a designated special government employee.
Sacks expressed confidence that while Musk may reduce his presence at DOGE, the initiative will continue, allowing him to manage it more flexibly. The two have a long-standing professional relationship stemming from their time at PayPal and are recognized as part of the “PayPal Mafia,” which also includes prominent figures like Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman.