You've got Musk's self interest massively misjudged. He cares about power first and money second because power can get you more money when you need it, but in a

You've got Musk's self interest massively misjudged. He cares about power first and money second because power can get you more money when you need it, but in a functioning democracy money still comes with a cap on the power that you can buy. The $200 million was money well spent, it resulted into Musk staying out of jail and pulling up the ladder behind him now that's he the incumbent. The success or failure of Tesla in the marketplace at some point could have killed Musk's empire but I think we are now past that point: Tesla will survive and more friction for contenders serves him well. Finally, there is a timing issue here as well: when Musk spent that money he was set to become a favored player at the court of Trump if Trump won, which happened. But that didn't really play out long term in the way he expected. So in a sense you are confusing the position that Musk took prior to Trump's election with the consequences almost a year later, which Musk could not have known with certainty at the time, even if it is a mixed blessing for Tesla, and probably a bigger loss to the challengers rather than to the incumbent.