Tesla Stock Plunges Over 15%, X Experiences Access Disruptions
"The More He Gets Involved in Politics, the Greater the Business Risks"
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has been criticized for transforming into a so-called 'politician,' becoming what is referred to as a 'Tesla risk.' There are complaints that he is neglecting his core business.
On the 11th, Yonhap News reported that resentment toward Musk is spreading. Earlier, Tesla's stock price recorded its largest drop in four and a half years on the 10th (local time).
On the 11th of last month, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and Donald Trump, President of the United States, held a press conference at the White House in Washington DC. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News.
On that day, Tesla's stock closed at $222.15 per share, down 15.43% from the previous day's closing price. The market capitalization gains driven by President Donald Trump's re-election effect completely evaporated. X (formerly Twitter) experienced access disruptions. These unprecedented phenomena all occurred as Musk took on the role of head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Trump's second administration, deeply involving himself in politics.
Tesla has been declining for seven consecutive weeks, marking its longest downward trend since its Nasdaq listing in 2020. Tesla's stock soared to $479.86 on December 17 last year amid expectations that Musk, a close Trump ally, would benefit from various regulatory relaxations, but it has since plummeted, falling about 53.7% from its peak.
Market capitalization shrank by $800 billion, down to $716.8 billion. Tesla once ranked as high as 8th in market capitalization but has now fallen back to 11th place.
The background factors include the Trump-led tariff war, recession concerns, and Tesla's deteriorating performance. In particular, new Tesla car registrations in Germany dropped sharply by 70% year-on-year in January and February, and shipments from Tesla's Shanghai factory in China decreased by 49%.
Supporting far-right parties in European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom and shaking the existing center-left governments has been cited as one reason for increasing Musk's 'unfavorability.'
Anti-Musk protests are spreading both online and offline. Anti-Musk protesters held Tesla boycott campaigns in front of Tesla stores across the U.S. There have also been cases of arson and shootings targeting Tesla vehicles and charging stations. Online protests using the hashtag #TeslaTakedown have emerged. U.S. media analyzed that "the deeper Musk gets involved in politics, the greater the business risks become."
Additionally, Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) experienced temporary outages in nearly all countries, including South Korea. Musk attributed this to external cyberattacks, claiming the origin was Ukraine, though he did not provide concrete evidence.
Furthermore, on the 6th, SpaceX's large spacecraft Starship, developed for lunar and Mars exploration, suffered another setback when it exploded and disintegrated during its 8th Earth orbit test flight.
Meanwhile, on the day Tesla's stock plummeted, Musk shared several posts supporting his activities as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on his X (formerly Twitter) account after the New York Stock Exchange closed. In an interview with Fox Business that day, when asked by the host, "Have you given up on everything else besides being DOGE head? How are you managing your other businesses?" Musk smiled wryly and said, "I'm going through tremendous difficulties." He then sighed and added, "That's really true."
Although concerns have arisen that Musk is neglecting his core business while focusing on Trump administration-related matters, he responded "Yes" when asked if he would continue working as DOGE head for another year.
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