Even a centibillionaire's pockets only run so deep. 

With moths fluttering from his wallet, Elon Musk says he's going to do "a lot less" political spending from now on, as he steps back from his active involvement in the Trump administration.

"I think I've done enough," Musk said Tuesday during an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, as quoted by the Washington Post.

Musk didn't completely shut the door, though, giving a non-answer when asked if his decision was due to the insane amount of "blowback" his businesses have faced from his role in politics.

"Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it," Musk said. "I don't currently see a reason."

It's a very convenient time for him to be backing out. Musk's already gotten what he wanted (more or less), claiming to have slashed billions of dollars in federal expenditures and cutting off critical government services in the process. To do that, though, he had to spend an absolute fortune to help Trump and other Republicans win office. The latest filings indicate Musk furnished them with more than $290 million in the 2024 election — and the real figure may be even higher.

On top of that, Musk has privately pledged to donate another $100 million to Trump-backed groups before the 2026 midterm elections, the New York Times noted, but whether he'll make good on that remains to be seen.

All that money's nothing to sneeze at, in any case, even for the world's richest man. And these days, his fortune is looking more fragile, too, with a lot of it tied up in Tesla shares, his automaker whose stock performance — not to mention actual business performance, with plunging sales, profits, and the surge of its Chinese competitors  — is anything but stable. Even more of his wealth is derived from his ownership of SpaceX, which is struggling to develop its Starship mega-rocket.

Out of his myriad enterprises, Tesla has suffered the most from the public backlash to Musk's heavy-handed role in the Trump government, with its cavalcade of mortifications including those aforementioned plunging sales and profits, the latter of which fell by a staggering 71 percent in the first quarter. 

That backlash — which includes boycotts, demonstrations, and widespread vandalism — largely catalyzed around Musk's taking a chainsaw to the federal government through his so-called Department of Government Efficiency and his embrace of far-right ideals. 

With fierce anti-Tesla sentiment showing no signs of letting up, Musk simply can't afford to divide attention away from the automaker any longer. The Cybertruck continues to be an embarrassing flop, and its recent stab at exciting buyers with a refresh of its best-selling Model Y has landed with a thud.

Reading the writing on the wall, Musk said last month that he intends to step back from his role in DOGE. Around that time, he also admitted that his stint as an informal adviser to Trump was sinking Tesla.

He doesn't plan to totally leave the limelight, however. During the Qatar conference, Musk reaffirmed his commitment to staying on with Tesla for at least another five years as CEO. He wants to cement "sufficient voting control," Musk said per CNBC, so he can't be kicked out by activist investors.

"It's not a money thing," Musk added. "It's a reasonable control thing over the future of the company."

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