Print Elon Musk’s deputy Steve Davis has spent more than 20 years helping the billionaire cut costs at businesses such as SpaceX, Boring Co. and Twitter — making the engineer by training a natural choice for his new role at Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE for short. Davis is helping recruit staff for DOGE, Musk’s effort to reduce government waste, in addition to his day job as president of Musk’s tunneling startup, Boring. At Boring, Davis has a reputation for frugality, signing off on costs as low as a few hundred dollars, according to people familiar with the conversations — unusual for a company that has raised about $800 million in capital. He also drives hard bargains with suppliers of products such as raw steel, sensors or even items as small as hose fittings, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Advertisement His favorite directive for staff doing the negotiations: “Go back and ask again.” Davis has emerged as a key figure in Musk’s stable of company executives. An aerospace engineer, he’s spent time at SpaceX and Boring, and was brought in to help with the takeover of Twitter (now called X), where Musk and his team dramatically cut costs and head count. Davis embraced the work with such fervor that for a while, he slept at the Twitter offices with his partner and their newborn baby. What to know about Elon Musk’s contracts with the federal government Elon Musk’s ties to the Trump administration pose potential conflicts of interest for his various businesses that have extensive contracts with the federal government. Nov. 14, 2024 When Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, he deputized Davis to help cut costs, trim staff and rein in what Musk viewed as an overly liberal environment. Davis and his family slept in a makeshift bedroom at the company’s headquarters during crunch time, as Musk told staff to be “extremely hardcore.” At the time, some people speculated that Davis would become chief executive of Twitter. Instead, Davis returned to Boring, which has its main facilities in Las Vegas and in Bastrop, Texas, near Austin. There, he has burnished his reputation as a cost-cutter and hard-driving boss. Davis has tended to spend more time in Las Vegas than in Bastrop, where he stays in a mobile home while in town, alongside the mobile homes of other workers. During those times, he would appear silhouetted through the window, often talking urgently into his phone until late at night while pacing around the kitchen table, according to people familiar with the company. Former employees recount tales of being sent on flights between Austin and Las Vegas to collect or drop off a needed part, such as sensors for the tunnel boring machines. The company maintained such strict deadlines that Davis sometimes preferred to get the parts the same day rather than wait for next-day-air commercial shipping. Advertisement Former employees recall the consternation that erupted when a key part got waylaid en route to Las Vegas in a “hotshot” truck, a vehicle used to transport small freight from point to point. The truck, which Boring was monitoring remotely, made an unexplained stop for several hours in Arizona. Pressure to meet one of Davis’ deadlines was so intense that Boring paid for a relative of an employee who lived in the area to track down the truck and urge the driver to get back on the road. Davis often scheduled meetings at 7 p.m. or later for engineers, some of the people said. He would typically participate remotely. One person who spoke with him frequently by phone said he would aim to multitask during meetings, eating while on a call. Multitasking has proved a Davis signature, dating back to his student days. While he was working on his doctorate in economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., Davis was working full time at SpaceX and owned a frozen-yogurt shop called Mr. Yogato in Washington’s Dupont Circle. Alex Tabarrok, one of Davis’ professors, remembers him juggling the multiple roles. “I told him, ‘Look, you’re getting a PhD, you can’t be having a job and running a business at the same time,” Tabarrok recalls. “Focus on getting your PhD.” But Davis declined to give up any of his pursuits, at one time incorporating business trends at Mr. Yogato into an academic paper and bringing some yogurt into class for sampling. Tabarrok can’t recall Davis’ grades, but says he stood out. He “had so much energy, and was so entrepreneurial,” Tabarrok says. “It’s been kind of exciting to see him become one of Elon’s most trusted right-hand men.” McBride writes for Bloomberg.