Who is Joe Gebbia? Elon Musk’s Billionaire Pal, Named America’s First Chief Design Officer by Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump has appointed Joe Gebbia, the billionaire co-founder of Airbnb and close friend of Elon Musk, as the nation’s first Chief Design Officer. The announcement came after Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to launch a new National Design Studio.

The National Design Studio is a fresh initiative aimed at improving how federal digital services look and work. Officials say the studio will help government agencies create simpler, more user-friendly systems for the public.

Joe Gebbia has already been involved in modernizing parts of the federal system. He previously worked on revamping the retirement process at the federal human resources agency. Now, his biggest task will be to bring change at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which has faced long-standing criticism for its outdated systems.

The new body is seen as a leaner replacement for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE was once headed by billionaire Elon Musk, who worked closely with Trump until a public fallout in May led to Musk’s exit from the government. After that, the agency became largely inactive.

According to the order signed by Trump, the National Design Studio will focus on making federal digital services more attractive, efficient, and cost-effective. It will help reduce extra design costs by using shared tools and standard layouts across different government websites.

The studio will operate for three years and report directly to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. An administrator will run the new office, though the name of that person has not yet been revealed.

Neither Joe Gebbia nor the White House commented on the appointment. However, insiders believe the move is a sign of Trump’s continued push to bring private-sector design ideas into government systems.