Elon Musk’s Fortune Plunges by $34 Billion in 24 Hours After Trump Dispute
The tech mogul is paying a steep price after his fallout with the president.
Billionaires tend to ride out public controversies better than most, but sometimes the consequences hit fast and hard. That’s exactly what happened to Elon Musk, who saw his net worth shrink by tens of billions of dollars in just one day after publicly falling out with former president Donald Trump.
Trump responded shortly after, saying he was “very disappointed in [Musk],” drawing a clear line between them. For investors, that was enough to start rethinking things, especially when it came to Tesla.
By the end of the day on June 5, Tesla stock had taken a nosedive. The result? Musk lost a staggering $34 billion in a single trading session. That’s not just a bad day, it’s one of the worst financial hits ever recorded by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, second only to a historic plunge by another tech titan.
Tesla’s stock had already been on a rough ride. Since Inauguration Day, shares have dropped by around 33%, according to The Independent. And Musk’s frequent involvement in political issues hasn’t helped. While some investors appreciate his boldness, others see it as a distraction and potentially bad for business.
Elon Musk didn’t hold back on his opinion about Trump’s controversial bill.
It’s not just shareholders who are questioning Musk’s leadership. Back in March, Tesla investor Ross Gerber, one of the earliest backers of the company, called on Musk to step down as CEO.
“The company’s reputation has just been destroyed by Elon Musk,” Gerber said. “It’s time for somebody to run Tesla. The business has been neglected for too long.”
He didn’t stop there:
“There are too many important things Tesla is doing, so either Elon should come back to Tesla and be the CEO of Tesla and give up his other jobs or he should focus on the government and keep doing what he is doing but find a suitable CEO of Tesla.”
Those comments added fuel to a wave of speculation in April that the Tesla board was quietly looking for a new CEO. Musk and Tesla chair Robyn Denholm denied that any such search was happening, but the rumors haven’t gone away completely.
Whether or not Musk stays in charge of Tesla long-term, his brief but explosive clash with Trump has shown just how quickly things can shift, for better or worse. When you’re one of the most high-profile business figures in the world, even a single post online can cost you billions.
With his ties to the Trump administration seemingly severed, Musk may now turn more of his attention back to Tesla and SpaceX. But if the past few years are any indication, staying focused isn’t exactly his strong suit.
For now, investors and the public will be watching closely to see what he says or does next. Because when Elon Musk makes noise, the markets tend to listen. Whether they like what they hear is another story.
