SpaceX's Elon Musk Joins Donald Trump's Economic Advisory Board

HAWTHORNE, CA -- Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has joined president-elect Donald Trump's board of economic advisors, the transition team announced Wednesday.

Musk are among some of business's top leaders to have join Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum in the last month. The aim of the group is to give inputs on the private sector to the new administration.

“America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this Forum today are at the top of their fields,” Trump said. “My administration is going to work together with the private sector to improve the business climate and make it attractive for firms to create new jobs across the United States from Silicon Valley to the heartland.”

The news is a surprise to many as Musk has criticized Trump before and after the election. Musk has said that Trump was not "the right man for the job."

Musk told CNBC the election was not "the finest moment in our democracy in general.”

"I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy," Musk told CNBC three days before the election. "He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States."

Following the election, a right-wing group headed by Trump supporter Laura Ingraham, launched an attack campaign against Musk, Tesla and SpaceX. The group claims that Musk, through his companies, has defrauded millions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers. None of the group's claims were substantiated.

Musk has not publicly commented on Wednesday's announcement. Also joining Trump's advisory board Wednesday was San Francisco-based Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick and Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo

The president-elect's forum will be led by Blackstone's co-founder and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman.

With Wednesday's announcement, the individuals on the Forum now include:

• Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone;
• Paul Atkins, CEO, Patomak Global Partners, LLC, former Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
• Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO, General Motors;
• Toby Cosgrove, CEO, Cleveland Clinic;
• Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co;
• Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock;
• Travis Kalanick, CEO and Co-founder, Uber Technologies;
• Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company;
• Rich Lesser, President and CEO, Boston Consulting Group;
• Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.;
• Jim McNerney, Former Chairman, President, and CEO, Boeing;
• Elon Musk, Chairman and CEO, SpaceX and Tesla
• Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo;
• Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi, Chairman and Managing Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners;
• Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President, and CEO, IBM;
• Kevin Warsh, Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics, Hoover Institute, Former Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;
• Mark Weinberger, Global Chairman and CEO, EY;
• Jack Welch, Former Chairman and CEO, General Electric;
• Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize-winner, Vice Chairman of IHS Markit;

-- Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson/Flickr