Elon Musk Declare Last month, the federal government became involved in a “completely crazy” activity, claiming without evidence that it had distributed $ 100 billion to people who had no social security numbers.
Two days after Mr. Musk’s comments, a main lieutenant, Steve Davis, began pressing the Social Security Department for information. Mr. Davis summoned the agency’s leaders to insist that they give a young engineer from the so -called Ministry of Governmental efficiency to Mr. Musk to reach the databases that contain sensitive information about the Americans.
“Unprecedented”. One of the right -wing men of the oathT this month to obtain a lawsuit filed by Federal employees who are trying to prevent data access. She added that she could feel that Mr. Davis is growing impatience in the hours that a engineer was previously allowed to investigate the “general legend of fraud on the supposed social security on a large scale.”
The publication of employees in federal agencies is just one task that Mr. Davis recently made to Mr. Musk, as the world’s richest man continues a comprehensive effort to reshape the US government. At each turning point, Mr. Davis supported his boss, laying the basis for reducing costs during the presidential transition, reducing diversity initiatives, meeting legislators and helping to send an e -mail message to “a thorn on the road” at the government level that urged workers to resign.
These measures show how Mr. Davis, 45, has become the Dagh Daily Commander. Two people offering from the effort said that he has more power than Amy Gleston, two people close to the effort, adding that Mrs. Glegon was sometimes in the darkness of Mr. Davis’s decisions.
How Mr. Davis reached this position hardly a secret. For more than 20 years, the engineer devoted himself to fulfilling the desires of Mr. Musk, in the wake of billionaire for various companies, including the SpaceX missile maker and the social media platform X. Mr. Davis believed in sincerely that Mr. Musk will achieve the progress of humanity, according to interviews with 22 friends, former employees and government officials.
For Mr. Musk, Mr. Davis is the ideal employee – an engineer who will throw himself on any task, even if he does not have experience in the region, two former colleagues said. Mr. Musk especially praised Mr. Davis’s ability to absorb waste, once resembled his lieutenant to treat cancer killing.
“Steve is like chemotherapy,” Mr. Musk said in a transitional meeting before President Trump took office. “A little chemotherapy can save your life; it can kill you a lot of chemotherapy.”
Mr. Musk and Mr. Davis may worship deeply due to cost discounts. In Spacex, Mr. Davis devised ways to build missiles at a cheap price. He also supervised the layoffs of the workers on Twitter, whose name was changed to X. In DOGE, he coordinates engineers and lawyers to find $ 2 trillion and Mr. Musk promised to get rid of the federal budget.
Mr. Davis is so loyal to Mr. Musk that he and his partner, Nicole Holland, 42, who joined the Public Services Department to reduce federal real estate costs, created a base of operations on the agency’s sixth floor in Washington. Three agency employees said he was guarding him with full security details.
Adam Green, the progressive organizer who became a friend of Mr. Davis about a decade when they lived in Washington, said that Mr. Davis was one day a “thinker abroad”, who turned into a “blind servant” of Mr. Musk.
Mr. Davis, Mr. Musk, Mrs. Holland and the White House did not respond to suspension requests.
Mr. Davis began working for Mr. Musk in 2003, when it was directed by the technological businessman from the graduate program at Stanford Aeronautics. Mr. Davis became Fourteenth employee In Spacex. Soon he loved himself to Mr. Musk by finding less expensive ways to develop missile parts, including making a shuttle device for him hundred From the price.
His economy led to errors. In 2007, Mr. Davis removed the ingredients from the Falcon 1 from Spacex, which prevented fuel from slipping inside the car, three former colleagues said. This caused the missile to balance during a test trip, and closed the atmosphere before reaching the orbit.
By 2008, Mr. Davis moved to Washington and was later called the Director of Advanced Projects at Spacex. He had a wide range of responsibilities in the company, including finding lands around Boca Chika, Texas, when the curtain would become a base, the missile firing attached to SpaceX.
On the side, Mr. Davis obtained a doctorate in the economy and conquered Mr. Yojato, a frozen yogurt store that provided discounts for customers who answered the trivial questions. Join a board of directors Atlas AssociationA non -profit institution devoted to the teachings of the author, Ain Rand.
In 2018, Mr. Musk appointed Mr. Davis to lead Poring Company, an emerging company aimed at building tunnels under the main urban areas to alleviate crowding.
“In general, there are nearly zero research and development in the tunnels in America,” Mr. Davis He said In the company’s presentation of that year. “So the experience of new things is actually beneficial to us.”
The boring company opened a tunnel in Las Vegas in 2021, but it faced organizational road barriers elsewhere. This foiled Mr. Musk, who risen to Mr. Davis and threatened to shoot him, three people who worked with Mr. Davis said. Five people close to him said in stress, and sometimes he took out his hair.
After Mr. Musk Twitter bought in 2022, Mr. Davis helped reduce the company’s costs, and told people that he hoped to eliminate more than $ 500 million. It was so devoted to some nights, he stayed with Mrs. Hollande and her new baby in the San Francisco Twitter office.
Mr. Davis also supervised the installation of a personal bathroom for Mr. Musk there, and tells one of the employees that he is not hassle of obtaining a construction permit.
“We do not have to follow the rules,” said Mr. Davis. 2023 lawsuit One of the former Twitter workers who accused the company and Mr. Musk of violating the terms of employment agreements.
Two people, with their knowledge of discussions, said that some workers complained of reducing the cost of Mr. Davis to Linda Yakino, who became the CEO of X in 2023, and asked her to curb it. He left X shortly.
When Mr. Musk stumbled for Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania during the presidential campaign last year, Mr. Davis moved to the hotels in Philadelphia and Peteberg to supervise the PAC Superback, which was supported by Mr. Musk, three people said. Mr. Davis helped imagine a $ 47 petition, and he promoted Mr. Musk to launch Trump’s voters, and cited the cost of Twitter as a way to do things at a cheap price in Super Pac.
After Mr. Trump won the elections, Mr. Davis joined a transitional “landing team” and conducted an interview with the candidates of the Efficiency Committee, Mr. Musk. Three government officials said he also met with agencies that employ engineers to assess the technical talents that Dog might use. Mr. Musk included Mr. Davis in employing stadiums to employ the potential government, according to an internal email message seen the New York Times.
After the inauguration of Mr. Trump, Mr. Davis prompted the administration officials to allow him to e -mail all government employees at the same time, two people said that he was aware of his efforts. This led to an e -mail explosion in January known as “the fork on the road”, which included a resignation at the government level.
When leaks were distributed about the resignation show in the media, Mr. Davis reprimanded officials for not controlling their employees and accusing them of embarrassment.
Two people are familiar with the talks that Mr. Davis is paying the priorities of Mr. Musk daily with Mr. Trump’s advisers. He alerted administration officials to diversity, shares and inclusion programs that target discounts and individuals to remove them from government councils.
Mr. Davis, who could be frank and non -club, especially in the texts late at night, also clashed with some of Mr. Trump’s employees. Three people said that he and his colleagues disturbed some of the White House advisers in the way that Doug tried to put some of them in the Pentagon.
All the time, Mr. Davis avoided attention. Mr. Musk and the White House did not mention him. In Washington, Mr. Davis often avoided taking his picture until this month, when he spoke in the Duji collection, a group of actors working with the business band to reduce costs.
“A wonderful meeting with Elonmusk Steve Davis on their goals Doge“Actor Aaron Ben, Florida Republic, to publish On X. The message included a picture of Mr. Davis carrying the microphone and smiling next to Mr. Musk.
Reports previously contributed Kirsten grindingand Eric Schmidtand Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman. Suzan C Beach The research contributed.