Topline
The world’s richest man got much less rich Thursday as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump traded strongly worded barbs, precipitating a drop in the share price of Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla.
Key Facts
Musk’s net worth fell below $400 billion Thursday afternoon, sliding by $26.7 billion to $388 billion, according to Forbes’ estimates.
The plunge came as shares of Tesla cratered as Musk and Trump’s beef escalated.
Tesla stock declined 14%, or $47 per share, to $285 in an otherwise flat day for the market.
A majority of the losses came after Musk and Trump hurled insults at one another, including Musk claiming Trump would not have secured a second term without his backing and Trump accusing Musk of having “Trump derangement syndrome.”
Tesla stock fell to its lowest level in four weeks, trading more than 40% below its all-time high set in December as investors flooded into the stock on bets Musk’s support for Trump may boost the highly regulated company in its autonomous driving initiatives.
Crucial Quote
“Investors fear that this Musk/Trump battle will…change the regulatory environment for Tesla on the autonomous front over the coming years under the Trump Administration,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives explained in a note to clients.
Tesla Stock Suffers One Of Worst Losses Ever
Thursday was Tesla’s worst day on Wall Street since March, placing it among the company’s 11 largest single-day losses since it went public in 2010.
Tangent
Musk lost the equivalent of five times Trump’s $5.5 billion net worth Thursday.
Surprising Fact
The more than $150 billion in market capitalization Tesla lost Thursday is more than the total valuations of Ford, General Motors and Rivian, the next three most valuable publicly traded American automakers, combined.
Big Number
33%. That’s how much Tesla’s share price is down since Trump’s January inauguration, where Musk made a controversial appearance. The S&P 500 benchmark is down less than 1% during the period.
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