Steve Davis is basically a ghost in the corporate world, yet he’s the one holding the shovel for some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in America. You’ve likely heard of Elon Musk’s dream to end "soul-crushing traffic" with a network of underground tunnels. But while Musk provides the vision and the tweets, it’s Steve Davis, the President of The Boring Company, who actually makes the dirt move.
He’s not your typical CEO.
In fact, inside the Musk inner circle, Davis has earned a nickname that is as terrifying as it is descriptive: "Chemotherapy." Musk himself coined the term, explaining that a little bit of Steve can save a dying company, though a lot of him might just kill it. It’s a reference to his reputation as a ruthless, scorched-earth cost-cutter who doesn't care about feelings, social norms, or, occasionally, paying the rent.
The Man Behind the Machine
Steve Davis didn't just stumble into the tunnel business. He was the 14th employee at SpaceX. That’s "OG" status. He started as an engineer working on guidance systems for the Falcon 1, the rocket that nearly bankrupted Musk before it finally reached orbit.
Davis has twin master’s degrees in particle physics and aerospace engineering. He’s brilliant. But he’s also quirky. For a decade, while helping launch rockets, he ran a side hustle in D.C. called Mr. Yogato—a frozen yogurt shop where you could get a discount if you recited the Braveheart speech or sang "I'm Too Sexy" with a Swedish accent.
This mix of high-level engineering and eccentric "hardcore" energy is why he was the perfect choice to lead Steve Davis' Boring Company efforts starting in 2018. When Musk decided to spin the tunnel venture out of SpaceX, he needed a lieutenant who wouldn't just manage a budget, but would slash it with a machete.
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What The Boring Company Actually Does (and Doesn’t) Do
There’s a lot of confusion about what’s happening underground right now. Some people think it’s a subway. It isn't. Some think it’s a vacuum-sealed Hyperloop. Not yet.
Basically, the Vegas Loop is the flagship project. As of 2026, it’s a series of tunnels under the Las Vegas Strip where Teslas—driven by humans for now, though autonomous testing is ramping up—shuttle people between hotels and the convention center.
- The Scale: Clark County has approved a massive 68-mile network with over 100 stations.
- The Speed: They recently bumped the speed limit in new sections to 60 mph.
- The Fleet: It’s currently a mix of Model Ys and Model Xs, but Davis recently confirmed that the "Robovan" is the next big step for high-density events like Raiders games at Allegiant Stadium.
Davis spends most of his time obsessed with "Prufrock." That’s the name of their custom-built tunnel boring machine. The goal is to make it "porpoise"—meaning it can dig into the ground and pop back out without needing a massive, expensive excavation pit. If they can make digging tunnels as fast as walking, the economics of city transit change forever.
The "Grim Reaper" of Twitter and DOGE
To understand why Steve Davis is so vital to Musk, you have to look at what happened when Musk bought Twitter (now X). Davis didn't just help with the transition; he moved into the office. Literally. He, his wife, and their newborn baby slept at the San Francisco headquarters during the height of the 2022 layoffs.
He was the "enforcer."
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Reports from that era describe Davis as the guy who would walk into a department and ask why they were spending money on literally anything. He reportedly told staff that X just wouldn't pay rent to landlords anymore. He pushed for a "hardcore" culture where if you weren't building, you were gone.
Fast forward to 2026, and Davis is applying those same "chemo" tactics to the U.S. government. As a leader within the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he’s the one interviewing federal employees and looking for billions in waste. For Davis, the mission is always the same: delete the part, delete the process, and ignore the complaints.
Why People Are Worried
It’s not all sleek tunnels and efficiency. The Boring Company has faced significant heat. In Nevada, regulators have flagged hundreds of environmental infractions, ranging from unauthorized digging to dumping wastewater.
Then there’s the safety aspect.
In late 2025 and early 2026, investigations into workplace safety in the Vegas tunnels made headlines. Critics argue that Davis’ obsession with speed and cost-cutting creates a "move fast and break things" environment that shouldn't apply when you're digging holes under a major city. Davis, for his part, remains focused on the permits. He’s complained that it takes six months to get a single permit from the county, and he wants a "blanket license" similar to what SpaceX has for launches.
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The Future: Reno and Beyond
If you listen to Davis talk now, he’s looking past the Las Vegas Strip. He’s floating the idea of a $2.5 billion tunnel connecting Las Vegas to Phoenix. He wants to build a 440-mile Hyperloop to Reno for a $100 ticket.
Honestly, it sounds like science fiction. But with Steve Davis, the line between "impossible" and "done" is usually just a matter of how many people he's willing to fire to get there. He’s the engineer who found a way to build a $120,000 rocket part for $3,900 just because Musk asked him to. That’s the guy currently redesigning how we move through cities.
Actionable Insights for the Future of Transit
If you’re watching the growth of The Boring Company, keep these factors in mind:
- Permit Velocity: The real bottleneck isn't the digging; it’s the 600+ permits required for the full Vegas Loop. Watch how Davis lobbies for regulatory changes.
- Robovan Deployment: The transition from 4-person Teslas to high-capacity vans will be the "make or break" moment for the system's capacity.
- Private vs. Public: Unlike traditional subways, this is almost entirely privately funded. This gives Davis more control but less public oversight.
- DOGE Influence: Expect the cost-cutting strategies used at The Boring Company to be the blueprint for federal agency restructuring throughout 2026.
Keep an eye on the Bastrop, Texas headquarters. That’s where the next generation of Prufrock machines are being birthed. If Davis can triple the digging speed this year, the "boring" future might arrive a lot faster than the critics think.