Car company’s shares dropped by 14.2% and its billionaire CEO’s net worth reduced by $8.73bn
Tesla’s shares dropped by about 14.2% on Thursday at market close, wiping roughly $152bn off the value of the company as a feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump erupted into public view. The former political allies traded threats and insults through posts on their respective social media platforms throughout the afternoon as the company’s price fell.
The decline in Tesla’s share price on Thursday knocked about $8.73bn off Musk’s total net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The reported $152bn drop also decreased the value of the company to roughly $900bn.
Tesla has struggled throughout the year amid declining sales and buyers around the world rejecting the automaker due to Musk’s association with far-right politics. Stock traders who had shorted Tesla shares made billions amid the spat, per the Wall Street Journal.
The black eye was signal enough to short that only a moron couldn’t see this as the start of the breakdown. We’ve been waiting for this to come to a head since the campaign trail. No one is supposed it is happening. Most are surprised it took this long.