SAN FRANCISCO -- Last year, Elon Musk was the Pied Piper of support for Donald Trump among Silicon Valley power brokers.

One by one, tech billionaires close to Musk who had either backed Democrats or avoided the political scrum put their money and their time behind the former president’s bid to reclaim the White House.

But the meltdown of the relationship between Trump and Musk on Thursday has thrown that coziness into question. In the coming days, the billionaires who followed Musk to Washington may be forced to decide whose side they are on in this suddenly personal fight.

For Silicon Valley, what appeared to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to team up with decision-makers in Washington is looking precarious. Musk was the keystone of the tech industry’s relationship with the Trump

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