A reignited Trump-Musk feud burns Tesla investors, shares of EV company tumble 7%
By MATT OTT Shares of Tesla tumbled Monday as the feud between CEO Elon Musk and Trump reignited over the weekend Musk once a top donor and ally of Trump released that he was forming a third political party in protest over the Republican spending bill that passed late last week Musk has been highly critical of the bill which he declared would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries In a social media post on Sunday Trump explained that the billionaire owner of SpaceX Tesla and X had gone off the rails in contemporary weeks Investors fear that Musk s companies which receive major subsidies from the federal establishment could suffer further if his feud with Trump continues to fester With the autonomous future ahead and the AI Revolution in full force Musk Tesla do not need to keep poking the bear as Trump can create more hurdles for Musk Tesla SpaceX over the coming years if this political battle gets nastier heading into mid-terms in Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients late Sunday Tesla shares have been extremely volatile since Musk went all-in for Trump in the run-up to last year s voting with the company facing a growing backlash as a outcome of Musk s embrace of right-wing politics and his role in the Trump administration Tesla sales plunged in the first quarter and then repeated that performance in the second quarter even though EV sales continue to rise for competitors including big Detroit automakers Industry analysts believe a large part of that tail off is being driven by Musk s affiliation with Trump and far-right parties like Germany AfD Tesla is also facing rising competition globally particularly from Chinese automakers such as BYD and Great Wall which are speedily expanding globally offering relatively affordable electric vehicles with ultra-fast battery charging systems Since hitting an all-time high of on Dec Tesla shares have lost about of their value Tesla shares are down about each since Thursday s close to
