Tesla Shares Plunge Amid Backlash Over Musk's Political Stance
Tesla's stock fell over 15% amid increasing backlash against CEO Elon Musk's political activities and declining sales in key markets.
Musk's team initially focused its cuts on a few government offices, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, but it has since expanded widely.
Musk says DOGE is in almost every federal agency and plans to double staff
NBC News·13d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.
Tesla's fall has been especially steep.
Tesla plunges, X suffers outages, on Elon Musk's bad day
Axios·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.
Tesla's slide comes as CEO Elon Musk has taken on a significant advisory role with the Trump administration as the de facto leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, which critics have argued is a distraction from his role at the helm of Tesla.
Tesla shares slide amid market sell-off on recession worries, tariff uncertainty
Fox Business·14d·Mostly ReliableThis source is generally reliable but sometimes includes opinion, propaganda, or minor inaccuracies.Leans RightThis outlet slightly leans right.
Relations between the U.S. and Ukraine have taken a nosedive since Trump began his second term in January.
Elon Musk slams senator as "traitor" after visit to Ukraine
Newsweek·14d·Mostly ReliableThis source is generally reliable but sometimes includes opinion, propaganda, or minor inaccuracies.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.
Tesla's stock has fallen every week since Musk joined the Trump administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, which is engaged in a broad, controversial effort to reduce federal government spending and employee headcount.
DOGE chief Musk says he's running his businesses 'with great difficulty,' as Tesla shares tank
CNBC·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.
The real wakeup call for me was looking at that, seeing that the interest payments to the national debt, exceeded the Defense Department budget.
MEDIAite·14d·Mostly ReliableThis source is generally reliable but sometimes includes opinion, propaganda, or minor inaccuracies.Leans LeftThis outlet slightly leans left.Tesla's stock declined 15% on Monday, with some investors concerned.
Elon Musk said he's running his businesses with 'great difficulty' as Tesla stock falls 15%
Business Insider·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.
Musk’s increased advertising might be thanks to Tesla’s wobbly performance on Wall Street.
Musk Melts Down as Tesla Stock Price Plunges
Rolling Stone·14d·Mixed ReliableThis source has a mixed track record—sometimes accurate but also prone to bias, sensationalism, or incomplete reporting.LeftThis outlet favors left-wing views.
The Trump adviser has been a lightning rod for controversy in the early weeks of the new administration.
Musk outlines DOGE work in rare TV interview
The Hill·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.
Monday was a rough day for the world’s richest man, not just due to the cyberattack against his prized social media site, but also because of a major sell-off of his car company’s stock.
New York Sun·14d·Mixed ReliableThis source has a mixed track record—sometimes accurate but also prone to bias, sensationalism, or incomplete reporting.RightThis outlet favors right-wing views.
It’s not possible do definitively verify Musk’s claims without seeing technical data from X, and the likelihood of them releasing that is “pretty low.”
Elon Musk claims X being targeted in 'massive cyberattack' as service goes down
Boston Globe·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.Leans LeftThis outlet slightly leans left.
Left-wing critics have assailed Musk for heading up the Department of Government Efficiency for President Donald Trump and shutting down several programs and policies in his mission to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.
Pro-Hamas group claims responsibility for 'massive cyberattack' causing outages on X platform
The Blaze·14d·Mostly ReliableThis source is generally reliable but sometimes includes opinion, propaganda, or minor inaccuracies.RightThis outlet favors right-wing views.
What’s more, Russian cyber actors likely have more time on their hands to carry out such an attack after the US last week halted offensive cyber operations on Moscow.
Elon Musk says X was knocked offline by ‘massive cyberattack’ that originated in ‘Ukraine area’
New York Post·14d·Mostly ReliableThis source is generally reliable but sometimes includes opinion, propaganda, or minor inaccuracies.Leans RightThis outlet slightly leans right.
The outages on X add to a variety of issues facing Musk’s businesses and initiatives in recent days.
Elon Musk claims ‘massive cyber-attack’ caused X outages
The Guardian·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.Leans LeftThis outlet slightly leans left.
Tesla is experiencing a backlash by some consumers who object to his government role and close ties to Mr. Trump.
X is down for some users, with Musk claiming a cyberattack is hitting the social media service
CBS News·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.
This is amongst the longest X/Twitter outages we've tracked in terms of duration, and the pattern is consistent with a denial of service attack targeting X's infrastructure at scale.
Elon Musk says X hit by 'cyber-attack' as thousands report outage
BBC News·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.Analysts have said Musk’s shift to right-wing politics doesn’t appear to sit well with potential Tesla buyers, generally perceived to be wealthy, environmentally-conscious liberals who have turned to electric vehicles in an attempt to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Tesla tumbles again as investors bail on Elon Musk's suddenly struggling electric vehicle company
Associated Press·14d·ReliableThis source consistently reports facts with minimal bias, demonstrating high-quality journalism and accuracy.CenterThis outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.Since Tesla CEO Elon Musk began overseeing the Department of Government Security, protests against Tesla have sprung up throughout Seattle.
4 Tesla Cybertrucks Burn in Seattle
Newsmax·14d·Mixed ReliableThis source has a mixed track record—sometimes accurate but also prone to bias, sensationalism, or incomplete reporting.RightThis outlet favors right-wing views.
Summary
Tesla faces mounting backlash as CEO Elon Musk's political affiliations intensify investor concerns, leading to a 15.4% stock drop, marking the steepest decline since 2020. Musk's $270 million in support for Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his leadership role in the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, has worried potential buyers, particularly in California where sales are plummeting. Analysts predict a 5% drop in deliveries for 2024 and report protests against the company. Despite this turmoil, Musk remains optimistic about long-term prospects, claiming the company will recover from the loss of over 50% in market value.
Perspectives
Tesla's growing political controversy surrounding Elon Musk could negatively impact sales and brand perception, with vandalism and protests reported against the company. Reports show that Tesla stock has recently taken its largest single-day decline since 2020, reflecting investors' dwindling confidence amid political distractions.
Analysts express concern that high profit estimates for Tesla may be unrealistic given recent production shifts and the potential impact of Musk's political affiliations on consumer demand. Notably, UBS has cut its forecasts for Tesla deliveries as market dynamics shift and consumer sentiment becomes more negative.
There is an observable trend of former Tesla owners opting to sell or trade their vehicles in protest of Musk's actions, reflecting a broader sentiment among consumers toward the brand, which has seen significant declines in sales across major markets like California and Europe.
FAQs
History
- 14d