Companies were already wary of 2024 politics. Trump's verdict could solidify that caution.

The billionaire weighed in with over 20 social media posts in the hours after Trump’s verdict, with the Tesla (TSLA) CEO by turns calling the decision politically motivated and accusing the prosecutors of ignoring more serious crime elsewhere in New York. [...] But a review of Musk's companies — from Tesla to SpaceX to tunneling startup Boring Company to X's own corporate account — found they all appear to have ignored the topic completely. [...] Political action committees, or PACs, are traditionally the main way for a corporation to engage financially in politics, and Tesla's political arm hasn't donated to anyone since 2018, according to the campaign finance trackers at OpenSecrets. [...] Freed, who is also the group's co-founder, added in an interview before Thursday's verdict that billionaires are less reticent about weighing in as they "may be looking at politics in the world differently." In the aftermath of Trump's conviction Thursday, a series of Trump- friendly billionaires weighed in with their support. [...] "The contributions to super PACs, 527s come out of the [company's] Treasury funds, and so there are no limits," Freed notes, adding that his group's research has found that this spending can nevertheless impact an array of high-profile issues and is "serious money that has serious impact." But overall, the waxing and waning influence of companies and billionaires will be one part of a heated elect.