--- title: "Donald Trump Dispatching Elon Musk’s Old Buddy to Go Buy Greenland" description: "Seeing Green Rest assured that as president-elect Donald Trump tries to buy Greenland from Denmark, he'll be selecting some of the most qualified people out there to negotiate this tricky diplomatic endeavor — like one of Elon Musk's old pals. That pal is Ken Howery, a powerful tech investor that worked with Elon on PayPal some 25 years ago, with the two remaining closely connected ever since, The New York Times reports — a sign of Silicon Valley leaders' eager participation in Trump's administration. Howery is Trump's current pick for US ambassador to Denmark. If he gets the job, it […]" date: "2025-01-18" modified: "2025-01-18" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-dispatching-elon-buddy-greenland" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "the digest" --- # Donald Trump Dispatching Elon Musk’s Old Buddy to Go Buy Greenland ![Billionaire tech investor Ken Howery, who happens to be a longtime friend of Elon Musk, is Trump's guy to serve as US ambassador to Denmark.]() *\Image: Nathan Posner / Anadolu / Sean Zanni / Patrick McMullan via Getty / Futurism\* ## Seeing Green Rest assured that as president-elect [Donald Trump]() tries to buy Greenland from Denmark, he'll be selecting some of the most qualified people out there to negotiate this tricky diplomatic endeavor — like one of Elon Musk's old pals. That pal is Ken Howery, a powerful tech investor who worked with Elon on PayPal some 25 years ago. The two have remained closely connected ever since, [*The New York Times* ]()[reports](), a sign of Silicon Valley figures' [eager kowtowing]() to, if not participation in, Trump's administration — or perhaps [Musk's influence]() [over the man about to be sitting in the Oval Office](). Howery is Trump's current pick for US ambassador to Denmark. If he gets the job, it'll mark his second diplomatic stint under the Republican president, having served as ambassador to Sweden between 2019 and 2021. After his nomination in late December, Howery [thanked Trump on X](), formerly Twitter, to which Musk [responded]() with a crying-laughing emoji, writing this masterful bit of sloganeering: "Help America gain Greenland." ## Friends4Ever Unlike his billionaire brother-in-arms, Howery typically avoids the spotlight. But he's known for being an adventurous globe-trotter with a bit of a "daredevil streak" in him, per the *NYT* — and also for throwing elaborate parties. According to the *NYT's* sources, he's said to be an old-school conservative and not a "Trump die-hard." He's largely motivated by the prospect of working overseas rather than ideology, sources close to him said. When attending Stanford University in the 90s, Howery linked up with [Peter Thiel](), another towering tech investor figure who espouses (and bankrolls) right-wing politics. Years later, the pair would collaborate with Musk on PayPal, and the three of them would go on to become key members of the so-called PayPal Mafia, a group of former heavies at the payment platform whose money and influence goes far in Silicon Valley today. ## His Majesty's Retinue As for Howery's ties to Musk, he reportedly plays an important but subtle role in helping Musk's businesses. He advised him on his purchase of Twitter, for example, and invested in his ventures including Neuralink and xAI. Howery also handles some of Musk's day to day affairs, often taking notes, packages, and resumes intended for Musk. Howery has been right alongside Musk for his political turn, too. At Musk's request, he helped obfuscate Musk's involvement in his [America PAC]() by being one of its first donors: four contributions totaling $1,000,000. For what it's worth, Howery has remained fairly reticent about the whole Greenland-annexing saga; he made no mention of it in this thank-you post to Trump for his ambassadorial post, despite Musk's comments. Tactful as he may be, some are doubtful that he's the right guy for the Greenland job — if indeed anyone is. "If you're entering into the political firestorm that would be Donald Trump’s stated desire to purchase Greenland, I don’t believe there’s very much on your resume that can help you navigate that," Rufus Gifford, former ambassador to Denmark under President Obama, told the *NYT*. **More on Trump:** *[Trump Pledges Information About Mystery Drones on “Day One” of Presidency]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()