'I think Elon’s great, but he also has a company to run, or a number of companies to run': Trump

Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk said he'll start to pull back "significantly" his work with the US government starting in May. The company's shares rallied in late trading.

"I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly," Musk said during a call with analysts on Tuesday, referring to the federal cost-cutting effort dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency.

He predicted he'll continue to be involved to some extent for "the remainder of the president's term," but would soon be allocating more time to Tesla.

"I'll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters or as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful," he said, adding that he would continue to advocate for lower tariffs.

Tesla's shares extended gains as Musk spoke, rising as much as 7.8% after regular trading in New York.

Tesla's performance slid and Musk's personal wealth fell as the billionaire spent much of his time over the past three months leading DOGE.

Since President Donald Trump's inauguration in January, Musk and his acolytes have swiftly moved into federal agencies, where they have access to some of the government's most sensitive databases. DOGE has helped carry out the vast reduction in the federal workforce and slashed diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Musk, as a "special government employee," can only work 130 days in any calendar year, and Trump has begun to speculate that the billionaire entrepreneur could soon move on from his work at DOGE.

"I think Elon's great, but he also has a company to run, or a number of companies to run," Trump told reporters earlier this month. "We're in no rush, but there will be a point in which time Elon's going to have to leave."

Musk oversees five companies: Tesla, SpaceX, XAI, Neuralink and The Boring Co. Tesla is the only publicly traded company in Musk's empire, and it has borne the brunt of public protests as the backlash to his influence in Washington has grown.

DOGE is expected to continue its work seeking to find ways to slash the federal budget and cut agency workers even after Musk pulls back from the effort. The entity is set up to run through mid-2026, though it's not clear who will take over day-to-day operations and if the effort will lose momentum if its outspoken, famous leader is no longer at the helm.

Some Musk employees who had been tapped to join the administration have recently left their posts. Christopher Stanley, who leads cybersecurity at the social-media platform X and SpaceX, has returned to the private sector. Another Musk employee, Ryan Riedel, was named chief information officer at the Department of Energy but returned to his job at SpaceX just weeks after the appointment.