Musk and his gang slip Trump a $6 billion coup.

Silicon Valley and the US federal government are more connected than it seems, creating a network where influence and power intertwine. Figures like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Palmer Luckey have placed former employees in key positions regulating their own companies. Thus, companies like SpaceX and Palantir receive multi-million-dollar contracts while former employees make decisions about them. As business school professor and science communicator Pablo Foncillas points out, "This doesn't look much like a free market; it's more like a VIP subscription to the state budget."

This situation poses a serious challenge for capitalism and innovation. Economic power is merging with institutional power, making it difficult for emerging startups to compete on a level playing field. Rather than rewarding disruption, proximity to power seems to be favored. Therefore, the key for companies that want to make a difference is to embrace ethics, transparency, and efficiency, because, in the professor's words, "sometimes the most disruptive thing is simply having nothing to hide."