"On a mission to protect brand Elon" - Shark Tank's Mark Cuban voices his concern over Elon Musk's growing power

Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban has voiced concerns about Elon Musk's growing power and influence under Donald Trump's administration.

Cuban has been closely monitoring and has been vocal about Musk's actions since the Tesla CEO was appointed to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which focuses on reducing government spending and regulations.

On February 6, Cuban posted on X his concerns regarding Musk's growing power and speculated that the Tesla CEO might be prioritizing and working for his own goal rather than thinking about the betterment of the country.

"Anyone consider that maybe Elon’s mission, is for Elon to get what he wants, rather than for the country to get what you voted for? It’s not a shock for Elon, or anyone, to put their personal goals first. Elon seems to be on a mission to protect the brand Elon at all costs. No?" Cuban wrote.

The Shark Tank star further emphasized that Musk's actions appear to contradict his own advocacy for free speech. Cuban noted that while Musk champions the principle, it seems to waver when applied to criticism directed at him.

Cuban also highlighted that Musk holds complete control over X, the platform many rely on to exercise their freedom of speech. In his view, Musk is positioning himself as one of the most powerful individuals in the world—perhaps even surpassing the President of the United States.

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Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban shares his thoughts on Elon Musk's "quest for power"

Even before Donald Trump was re-elected as the President of America in November of 2024 and Elon Musk was appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban had his concerns set for Musk and his quest for power.

In a September 16, 2024 episode of No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen podcast, Cuban was asked to share his thoughts on the reasoning behind Musk aligning himself with Trump and his election campaign.

Cuban speculated that Musk aligning himself with Trump's campaign granted him the possible power to manipulate the most powerful man in the world which was more valuable to him than making any amount of EV sales from Tesla.

The Shark Tank star further shared that he himself had a conversation with Kamala Hariss' team where they discussed what they could do to increase efficiency to make it easier for businesses.

So Cuban noted that he didn't have any problems with Musk aligning himself with Trump, he was just concerned about the Tesla CEO's goal to have control over the President of America.

"If you're the wealthiest person in the world and you have effective control and you're the puppet master of the president, the most powerful person in the world.... Oh my God, that's about as intoxicating. That is the definition of 'Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely,'" he said.

The Shark Tank star admitted that Musk was one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the current generation, even the next five generations. Howevre, he noted that Musk's "quest for power" was concerning and was different from being an entrepreneur.

Further in the podcast, Cuban took time to shed some light on Musk's influence over the X platform. He claimed that X's recent algorithm was published in such a way that Musk could reach a maximum number of people with his agendas.

"When you look at Twitter specifically, right? But the way Twitter's algorithm, that he's published so far effectively work, is whoever has the most reach allows you to reach the most people who in turn reach more people. It's like a tree, right? The tree algorithm," Cuban said.

The Shark Tank star continued:

"[Musk] knows that whatever he says and does reaches the maximum amount of people and the people that he responds to that amplifies what they do."

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes air every Friday on ABC.