"Employees Influenced by Democratic Party's Stronghold in California Residence"
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, declared his support for former President Donald Trump in the upcoming November presidential election, but major foreign media reported on the 18th (local time) that most of the employees at his company support the opposing candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks U.S. election donations and lobbying data, Tesla employees have donated $42,824 to the Harris campaign this year, significantly surpassing the $24,840 donated to the Trump campaign.
The political preferences of Musk and his employees are divided not only at Tesla. Employees of Musk's space company SpaceX donated $34,526 to the Harris campaign, while donations to the Trump campaign amounted to only $7,652. Employees of X (formerly Twitter), the social networking service favored by Musk, also contributed $13,213 to the Harris campaign, but donations to the Trump campaign were less than $500.
Foreign media explained, "Although the total amount of donations is relatively small, it is clear that it conflicts with Musk's political stance," adding, "Previously, Musk declared support for Trump through X and criticized leftist ideology as a 'woke mind virus.'" 'Woke' means 'being awake' and is used to criticize excessive political correctness.
Ross Gerber, CEO of asset management firm Gerber Kawasaki, pointed out that many employees of Musk-led companies reside in California, a Democratic stronghold, analyzing the cause of the political divide between Musk and his employees. He added that Musk's move to relocate the headquarters of X and SpaceX from California to Texas means losing many potential talents.
Earlier, in July, Musk declared the relocation of X and SpaceX headquarters after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill preventing schools from informing parents about a student's gender identity without permission, calling it "the last straw." At that time, worsening public safety in San Francisco also contributed to the decision to move the headquarters. Tesla has already relocated its headquarters from California to Austin, Texas. Musk has also moved his residence from California, which has a high state income tax rate, to Texas, which has no income tax, enjoying significant tax savings.
Meanwhile, Tesla's stock price closed slightly down at $227.20 on the New York Stock Exchange that day.
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