The U.S. Senate on the 17th (local time) confirmed Jared Isaacman, founder of the payments processor Shift4 and a billionaire, as the 15th Director General of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The new Director General Isaacman is a tycoon with assets of $1.2 billion (about 1.68 trillion won). He is not a career space engineering bureaucrat or scientist. Isaacman is the backer of the Polaris Dawn project, through which he flew on a SpaceX spacecraft and became the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk.
Isaacman's confirmation process was not smooth. He has a special relationship with SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive officer (CEO). President Donald Trump initially nominated Isaacman in May, then withdrew the nomination, and renominated him this time. The prevailing analysis was that discord between Trump and Musk was the cause at the time. This is further evidence that the NASA Director General post can be swayed depending on ties with SpaceX's Musk.
Isaacman has been deeply involved in the development and operation of SpaceX's crewed spacecraft. Going forward, as NASA's chief, he must award and oversee contracts worth billions of dollars to private space corporations including SpaceX. At his confirmation hearing that day, Isaacman said, "We must get to the moon before China," and stressed, "I will save taxpayer money through competition among private companies."
It may sound like an emphasis on efficiency on the surface, but the subtext is complicated. NASA currently relies on private corporations such as SpaceX for core Artemis program tasks, including developing a lunar lander. If the Director General has a special relationship with a particular private company, it is difficult to guarantee fairness in competitive bidding. Reuters said, "Some Democratic senators worry about the impact that the close relationship between Isaacman and Musk could have on policy decisions." It is also hard to rule out the possibility that fairness controversies will arise when NASA evaluates other corporate contracts belonging to SpaceX competitors such as Blue Origin.
NASA, which handles space policy, is not alone. In the current second Trump administration, the heads of major departments with key regulatory and budget authority—such as Commerce, trade, Education, and Interior—are so-called ultra-high-net-worth individuals who hold massive assets.
Commerce Minister Howard Lutnick is a former chairman of the Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald. His assets alone exceed $3 billion (about 4.2 trillion won). The Commerce Department holds life-or-death power over corporations through semiconductor subsidies, export controls targeting China, and tariff policy. With a financier by trade now overseeing industrial policy, concerns are rising that policy direction could serve particular capital interests. Bloomberg and other foreign media analyzed that "with a Wall Street heavyweight overseeing trade and industrial policy, a tension axis of 'policy goals vs. market interests' will take shape."
Education Minister Linda McMahon is also a co-founder of the professional wrestling organization WWE, with assets of more than $3 billion. President Trump pledged during the campaign to "abolish the Education Department," and Minister McMahon has been moving to carry that out since taking office. It is an attempt to dismantle the public education system and leave education to market logic through measures like vouchers. This aligns with criticism that "billionaires are trying to shrink public services to save on taxes." The Americans for Fair Taxation said, "The Trump Cabinet is a government by billionaires for billionaires," and criticized that "tax cuts for the wealthy ultimately lead to reduced public services for low-income people."
Interior Minister Doug Burgum is also a billionaire who amassed wealth through software. The Interior Department manages federal land and natural resources. Minister Burgum said he would ease oil and gas drilling regulations to increase energy production. It appears to prioritize industrial interests in resource development over the public value of environmental protection.
Musk also served as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the second Trump administration. Although he resigned at the end of May, Musk led deregulation and civil service downsizing, saying he could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. Corporations like SpaceX and Tesla are sensitive to government regulations and subsidies. This is why criticism has emerged that Musk, through DOGE, completed "regulatory capture" by easing regulations and raising barriers to entry for competitors. The political outlet Politico assessed, "Even though the relationship between Musk and Trump was strained, Musk intervened deeply in government policy and reaped enormous benefits."
President Trump and his supporters said the appointment of billionaires is based on meritocracy. The logic is to transplant the experience and execution that made corporations successful into government to eliminate inefficiency. Commerce Minister Lutnick expressed confidence that "top-tier business leaders will enter government, be loyal to President Trump, and direct policy." Director General Isaacman also emphasized speed, saying, "There is no time to waste."
But there are also strong concerns that public policy could degenerate into a means for certain capitalists to pursue private gain. The Guardian said, "Under Trump and Musk, billionaires are exerting unprecedented influence over U.S. national security," and pointed out that "even spy satellite operations once controlled by government officials and contractors have now fallen into the hands of Bezos and Musk."