The relationship between Mr. Trump and tech industry power brokers was built on money and the promise of deregulation, with Mr. Musk in the middle of it all.
Last year, Elon Musk was the Pied Piper of support for Donald J. Trump among Silicon Valley power brokers.
One by one, tech billionaires close to Mr. Musk who had either backed Democrats or avoided the political scrum put their money and their time behind the former president’s bid to reclaim the White House.
But the meltdown of the relationship between President Trump and Mr. Musk on Thursday has thrown that coziness into question. In the coming days, the billionaires who followed Mr. Musk to Washington may be forced to decide whose side they are on in this suddenly personal fight.
For Silicon Valley, what appeared to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to team up with decision makers in Washington is looking precarious. Mr. Musk was the keystone of the tech industry’s relationship with the Trump administration. Without him, it could be up to lesser-known figures, such as the venture capitalist David Sacks, a close friend of Mr. Musk who has become the Trump administration’s A.I. and crypto czar, to maintain those ties.
“This is a tale as old as time,” said Venky Ganesan, a partner at the venture capital firm Menlo Ventures. “Like Icarus, Elon is finding out that if you fly too close to the sun, your wax melts and you crash.”