Tesla investors don’t want Elon Musk involved in politics
The Tesla CEO is spending big on the GOP in midterm elections.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has renewed his foray into politics, once again opening his sizable purse for the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections. A new survey suggests investors won’t be pleased.
The Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report surveyed 8,000 people this month regarding their feelings about Tesla. Of those, 40%, or 3,200, have exposure to the S&P 500 through stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs, and some 8%, or 640, directly invest in Tesla, the survey firm found.
And most of those think Musk should spend more of his time at Tesla rather than on political activities, according to data shared exclusively with Sherwood News.
They’re also more likely to say Tesla has lost value because of Musk’s political maneuvers:
On the one hand, Musk is often considered integral to the success of Tesla, so it makes sense that investors would want him spending most of his time at the company. However, one could argue that Musk’s political activities could help the company in a number of ways, including easing regulation around self-driving cars.
However, a look at Tesla’s stock price alongside Musk’s political activity over the last year might cause people to question the efficacy of the latter opinion:
When President Trump was first elected, Musk’s political relationship with him caused Tesla’s stock to skyrocket. However, the ensuing blowback around Musk’s work with DOGE, as well as his very public falling-out with the president, ultimately hurt the stock.
Tesla only fully recovered yesterday — months after Musk abandoned his competing third party project and amid its push into autonomous driving — when it hit an all-time high for the first time since last December.
