LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman on Elon Musk:. “If a company… blows up… it’s a tragedy but it’s easily recoverable. If a government blows up, that’s a terror for all of society,”

Legal AF

498K subscribers

"A billionaire venture capitalist who has known Elon Musk for decades says there’s one crucial thing that Americans should understand about how the adviser to President Donald Trump operates.

Musk doesn’t value the opinions of other people, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who worked with Musk in the early days of PayPal.

The approach of the Tesla chief executive to cutting government waste, Hoffman said, mirrors how he would operate one of his own companies (Musk is also the CEO of SpaceX and owns the social-media platform X).

Hoffman added that, while some inefficiency exists within government, “it’s actually the nature of the beast, and you’re better off for it,” because it provides stability.

'If a company goes boom and blows up and suddenly, you know, is just a smoking crater, it’s a tragedy … but it’s easily recoverable. If a government blows up, that’s a terror for all of society,' Hoffman said.”

FROM:

Market Watch

LinkedIn co-founder has known Elon Musk for years. Here’s what he says Americans don’t understand about the Tesla CEO.

Musk doesn’t really value other people’s advice, says Reid Hoffman

By

Barbara Kollmeyer

Published: March 10, 2025 at 11:02 a.m. ET