I admit I didn't, but 20/20 hindsight.

Trump has been known to wax lyric about "smart guys" and how he listens to them (even though he hasn't really paid attention to the majority of 7bn people). Tesla, by Musk's own admission[1], was doomed to fail - yet he made it work. Uber faces still opposition no matter where it goes and yet still ekes it out. Pepsi took on a Goliath and succeeded. As capitalists, they align very strongly with his vision for America. Trump has shown concern about how complex the office is[2]. He knows that he needs these people.

Musk is an interesting one, specifically. Trump: your harshest critic can sometimes be your greatest ally. Musk: keep your enemies close, change the status quo from the inside. After Gate's little chat with Trump, he might be warming up to climate change (especially because Gates is connected to Trump). There might be a little more to that specific position than merely a businessman who succeeded against all odds, at least I hope there is.

[1]: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-thought-tesla-would... [2]: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/14/trump-reportedly-surprised-by...

Considering that Trump thinks higher of business-men than career-politicians, this is actually not that far-fetched.

Yup. I was expecting tech elites to move to Europe or other liberal place and stick to principles.

Did any of the people in the article, specifically, claim they would move to Europe?

Most of those people only have one principle.

Why not? We're all facing the choice of moving to Europe, or, given the troubles there, a remote cabin in Canada. Musk has apparently, and admirably, considered and rejected those options. Once he's made that call, the only thing left to do is to try your hardest to keep the ship from going too far off course. And if that's your agenda, better get as close to the ship's bridge as possible.