$34 billion. That's how much Elon Musk has lost in just 24 hours. An unprecedented blow to his personal fortune, shaking him even while boasting of being the richest man in the world. The plunge of Tesla on Wall Street, with a 14% drop, dragged down the founder and CEO's wealth, which remains strongly tied to the company's stock price.
After Musk criticized Donald Trump's new tax plan this week —which proposes to eliminate federal subsidies for electric vehicles— calling it a "disgusting abomination," the U.S. president threatened to withdraw government contracts that currently support several of the magnate's companies.
This is because the electric vehicle incentive, up to $7,500 per unit, is crucial to maintaining Tesla's sales volume in the United States. And this is something the market has not overlooked. In the outbreak of the war between Musk and Trump, the first casualty has been Tesla.
Investors' reaction was immediate. In just one day, this Thursday, the company lost over $153 billion —around 133 billion euros— in market capitalization. Thus, Tesla closed the day with its biggest daily drop.
Despite this decline, Musk remains the richest person in the world with a fortune of $334.5 billion. But this does not prevent Tesla from starting the day still in the red. A scenario that was impossible to foresee in the months following Trump's victory, when the magnate's wealth reached a historic high of nearly $500 billion.
Meanwhile, Musk's other companies and startups, such as xAI Holdings and Neuralink, could be the next victims if this war continues and the president decides to target agencies like the Food and Drug Administration.
The relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, before praising each other and collaborating closely, has crumbled into a "total and irreversible war", marked by an exchange of reproaches, insults, and threats that has affected the stock prices of Musk's companies. This conflict, which was foreseeable due to the enormous egos and ambition of both, has revealed compromising information, such as Musk's insinuation that Trump appears in Epstein's files. The rift intensified when Musk publicly criticized Trump's new budget law, labeling it a "repugnant abomination", to which Trump responded by threatening to terminate government contracts with Musk's companies, leading to a 14% drop in Tesla shares. The U.S. leader has called Musk"crazy", suggesting that his frustration stems from cuts in electric vehicle subsidies and the rejection of his proposal for NASA.