Trending 
Tesla shares took a sharp dive on Monday, dropping nearly 7%—a loss of about $21 per share—by the time markets closed at 4 p.m. ET.
This decline came in the wake of CEO Elon Musk’s latest headline-making move: the launch of his own political party, a move widely interpreted as an escalation in his ongoing clash with former President Donald Trump. Musk, notably, donated at least $277 million to support Trump during the 2024 presidential race.
The fallout was swift and steep. Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index shows Musk’s net worth fell by $15 billion since Sunday. Even with that massive hit, he remains the world’s richest individual.
The broader market wasn’t exactly thriving either—investors were jittery over possible new tariffs—but Tesla’s tumble stood out. The EV giant’s stock has plummeted 31% since Trump returned to the White House in January. In contrast, the S&P 500 has posted a modest 4% gain during that same stretch.
There are deeper cracks showing, too. Tesla has now logged two consecutive quarters of declining vehicle deliveries in 2025, its worst showing since 2022.
Tesla and Musk declined to comment on the recent market moves or political activity.
Meanwhile, Wall Street is sounding alarms. Investor sentiment is souring, and analysts aren’t mincing words about Musk’s increasingly political focus.
“Elon Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take,” wrote Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla supporter, in a note Sunday.
Analysts Jed Dorsheimer and Mark Shooter from William Blair echoed the concern. In a Monday note, they warned, “investors are growing tired of the distraction,” adding that shareholders would “prefer this effort to be channeled towards the robotaxi rollout.”
In response to shifting political tides, William Blair also downgraded Tesla from “buy” to “hold.” Their note cited looming regulatory risks, including Trump’s proposed “Big Beautiful Bill,” which would strip away tax credits for electric vehicles.
Public sentiment toward Musk is also souring. According to Silver Bulletin’s composite of national polls, 55% of Americans now hold an unfavourable view of him, up from 45% at the end of 2024. The shift spans across party lines.
Still, some industry voices see a silver lining if Musk were to step away from Tesla altogether.
“I think it could be beneficial to Tesla because you’ll have that belief of founder risk finally go away,” said Philip Bell, CEO of Tower K Group and a Tesla investor, in a statement to Business Insider on Monday. “And number two, the DNA that he has infused in Tesla will allow it to succeed for quite some time — there are a lot of people there who are able to innovate and obviously able to do the nuts and bolts of putting cars together.”
