[News Figures] Steve Davis, Who Dominated DOGE with a Musk 'Doppelganger' Style

'Over 20 Years of Partnership' Steve Davis, CEO of Boring Company
"Assisted in Preparing Government Efficiency Department"... Cost Reduction Expert

By Elon Musk, CEO leading six companies including Tesla, there are close aides who embed his values directly into the companies. Among them, Steve Davis, CEO of the tunnel excavation company The Boring Company, is one of Musk’s closest confidants, having worked with him for over 20 years.

Bloomberg recently reported that Musk sent Davis to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the second Trump administration, which Musk CEO is heading, to help recruit staff and assist with related preparations. Although the authority and mission of DOGE remain unclear ahead of the administration’s launch in January next year, the goal is to be ready to start activities at any time.

Steve Davis, CEO of Boring Company (third from the left in the photo) (Photo by Dave Kaval, President of Oakland Athletics, SNS)

An aerospace engineer by training, Davis has led cost-cutting efforts at Musk’s core companies such as SpaceX, The Boring Company, and X (formerly Twitter). After earning a master’s degree in aerospace engineering and particle physics from Stanford University and working at startups, he joined SpaceX in 2003, beginning his association with Musk.

Davis is thoroughly a “Musk-style” figure. He diligently carries out Musk’s orders to achieve radical cost reductions that seem impossible and does not hesitate to work long hours. When costs need to be cut, he tries to lower prices even for small parts. Like Musk, he enjoys multitasking and often handles work calls while eating.

Several anecdotes illustrating these traits have been featured in various media.

In the 2015 biography of Musk titled Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance, it is noted that Musk instructed Davis to find a way to produce a $120,000 part with a $5,000 budget. While those around them thought it was impossible, after months of effort, Davis found a way to replace it with a $3,900 part. Davis reported the result via email, and Musk replied simply, “Ok.”

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It is also reported that Davis worked 16-hour days early in his tenure at SpaceX. A colleague who worked with him testified that Davis accomplished more work than 11 people combined. In 2022, at Musk’s request after acquiring Twitter, Davis stayed for two months with his wife and newborn child in a temporary bedroom set up in Twitter’s San Francisco office to manage operations. This led to speculation that Davis might become Twitter’s next CEO.

Davis has been running The Boring Company, founded by Musk in 2016, ever since. Since the company provides transportation infrastructure by digging underground tunnels in places like Hawthorne, California, Austin, and Las Vegas to solve traffic congestion, it had to communicate frequently with federal and state regulatory authorities, often clashing in the process. Davis set tight business deadlines as urgently as Musk and strongly pressured employees to meet them.

His characteristic of insisting on achieving what he wants is also similar to Musk. When it became difficult to get California-made frozen yogurt he enjoyed in Washington D.C., Davis opened his own yogurt shop. Later, he also opened a bar in Washington D.C. where patrons can pay with Bitcoin.

Bloomberg forecasted that “the very presence of Davis suggests that the ‘aggressive, frugal, and sometimes chaotic efforts to create change’ characteristic of Musk’s leadership in the private sector could be replicated in the Department of Government Efficiency.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.