A version of this story appeared in the Nightcap Newsletter of CNN Business. To get it in your reception box, register for free here.
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All it took was to lose $ 100 billion in three months to change your air on government work.
Icymi: The last 24 hours have provided a humiliation parade for the richest Edgelord in the world, starting with its $ 20 million Betting on the pro-Trump candidate for the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. A few hours after defeat in Wisconsin, Tesla declared its greatest drop in sales, never, It takes 13% in the first quarter, while its rival n ° 1 increased revenues by 60% during the same period. Then came a politico report citing Maga initiates who say that Musk exceeded his welcome in Washington.
On Wednesday, the White House described the “waste” politico report, and Musk rejected it as “false news” in social media. But the administration has confirmed that Musk should conclude its passage as Hat of Trump at the end of May or in June, when its 130 days as “employee of the special government” end. This was enough to reverse a 6% drop in Tesla shares-a sign that investors are optimistic that Musk will abandon the shenanigans of cheese and focus on the quickly shrinking market share of his business (and perhaps, perhaps, to provide its delayed promises to revolutionize autonomous driving.)
In short: voters, customers, investors and the elite Maga say that the Elon Musk show has lost the plot.
Musk has lost more than a quarter of its total value since January, because Tesla’s actions have sang. He remains the richest person in the world by a campaign mile with $ 323 billion – Jeff Bezos, second placeur, has even more than $ 100 billion.
Because Musk is both Tesla’s public face and its largest individual shareholder, when one suffers, the other in kind. Musk’s alliance with the far right burned down Tesla’s brand in the eyes of what was the base of the automaker: left-wing and eco-consciousness of the coast.
We never knew how Musk planned to replace these customers with people from the red states who have long resisted the adoption of the EV. Until now, various attempts to stem bleeding have only won things.
A live sale of Tesla with Trump on the Southern lawn despairs of despair. The request of the Secretary of Commerce of ordinary Americans to buy Tesla actions, similarly, fell flat. And the FBI threatening to continue Tesla Vandals as domestic terrorists – a wild reinvention of the meaning of “terrorism”, according to legal experts – only strengthened the feeling of despair around the brand.
But the ultimate reprimand came from voters. Musk tried to use his practically infinite money to influence the Wisconsin breed, and even presented himself in a giant cheese hat during a gathering in Green Bay, during which he distributed two $ 1 million checks to voters in a cascade which was confronted with an immediate legal challenge.
Her The effort turned against him, and the State Court has retained his liberal majority 4-3.
Conclusion: money can buy a lot, but not all things. And with the reduction in continuous sales of Tesla, Musk gets a severe reminder that he is not the only one who can handle a portfolio to send a message.