He once worshipped Elon Musk. Now the owner of Musk Construction is making a big change. [View all]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/04/27/musk-construction-renaming-company-elon-musk-politics/83137374007/

When Steve Riabov started his Silicon Valley construction company six years ago, his hero was another business entrepreneur: Elon Musk.

Riabov thought if he modeled his home kitchen and bathroom remodeling business after the "bold, adventurous, and daring" tech leader, it would help his company blossom into a multi-million-dollar home-building enterprise. So he named his firm Musk Construction.

But in recent months, Riabov, 35, has become disillusioned with his idol, who has metaphorically and literally taken a chainsaw to the federal government as head of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. Riabov, a native of Ukraine, was also deeply upset by Musk's recent comments about his home country.

So, he's now committed to purging Musk from Musk Construction ‒ even though it will cost him between $15,000 and $20,000 to get a new company trademark and permits. And he's already removed the Musk Construction logo from the company's red Tesla vehicles, along with the vanity plates, "MUSK UP" and "MUSK INC."

Much more at link, including business owner quotes in response to fleaon's comments disparaging President Zelenskyy.