According to multiple media reports, Elon Musk’s long-term deputy Steve Davis is helping to recruit employees for the proposed “Department of Government Effectiveness” in the United States. Currently, Davis serves as president and CEO of The Boring Company, Musk’s tunneling company. The manager he worked for Musk, dating back 20 years, was a SpaceX engineer and played a key role in the acquisition of Twitter.
According to people familiar with the matter, Davis is known as a frugal person in the "Musk Group", and his procurement projects can be as low as a few hundred dollars - which is very unusual for a company that has raised a total of about $800 million.
People familiar with the matter said Davis would also bargain hard with suppliers of raw materials, sensors and even products such as hose connectors. His favorite thing to say to employees involved in negotiations is: "Go back and ask again."
After Musk took over Twitter, he commissioned Davis to conduct a financial review due to continued poor financial conditions. People familiar with the matter said Davis was so passionate about his work at Twitter that at one point he slept in the Twitter offices with his partner and newborn baby.
According to people familiar with the matter, Davis personally led the elimination of 80% of Twitter jobs. This is also the core ability that Musk values most in him - to quickly achieve corporate goals through ruthless decision-making.
Steve Davis
Media analysis said that Davis' joining the Department of Government Efficiency shows that this department may reappear some of the radical cost-cutting measures he once took, and may even plunge the federal government into short-term chaos.
Musk's autobiography "Iron Man of Silicon Valley: The Adventures of Elon Musk" mentioned that an assistant professor in the aerospace department at Stanford University recommended Davis to Musk. "Musk called Davis on Wednesday and sent him a job offer on Friday."
The mission Davis is most proud of dates back to 2004, when SpaceX needed an actuator that could trigger a balancing act, and the supplier quoted $120,000. Musk asked Davis to design one, but was only given a budget of $5,000.
In the end, the cost of the actuator designed by Davis was $3,900, and it later flew into space with the "Falcon 1". Musk's reward for all his hard work and anxiety was a curt response of "nice."
Since 2016, Davis has led The Boring Company. It was revealed that he often scheduled meetings at 7pm or later. One person who frequently spoke to him on the phone said Davis would do other things during meetings, such as eating on the phone.
"Multi-threading" has proven to be one of Davis' hallmarks, dating back to his school days. While studying for a doctorate in economics, he not only worked full-time at SpaceX, but also owned a frozen yogurt shop called "Mr. Yogato."
One of Davis's professors, Alex Tabarrok, had persuaded him to focus on his Ph.D., but Davis refused to give up his career and wrote an academic paper on business trends in frozen yogurt shops.
Tabarrok told the media that Davis is "energetic and very entrepreneurial" and can excel academically. "It's actually kind of exciting to see him become one of Elon's most trusted right-hand men."