Some Tesla investors have queried whether Musk’s association with the Trump administration, including spending more than $200m on the presidential election campaign, will dent its sales – particularly in liberal areas of the US.
Protesters gathered outside Tesla dealerships across the US on Saturday in response to Elon Musk’s efforts to shred government spending under the president, Donald Trump.
However, its surging valuation – thanks to previously fast-growing sales – has played a key role in building Musk’s wealth used to fund Trump’s election campaign.
His ownership of private rocket company SpaceX accounts for another third, while the rest is linked to stakes in xAI, the X social network, the Boring Company, a tunnelling business, and brain-computer interface company Neuralink.
It is not yet clear whether Musk’s rightwing politics contributed to that decline, and the company could conceivably make up for lost leftwing customers with new enthusiasts on the right.
