- Tesla closed at $222.15, down about 55% compared to its all-time high of $479.86 on December 17.
- Since opening today, Tesla’s stock lost more than 15% of its value.
- The updated Tesla Model Y goes on sale this month.
It’s pretty undeniable now. CEO Elon Musk’s behavior is finally catching up to Tesla.
On Dec. 17, Tesla stock hit an all-time high of $479.86, rising significantly in the wake of the election of President Donald Trump—something very heavily financed by Musk himself. Wall Street became instantly bullish on Tesla’s ability to deliver on its long-promised autonomous car dreams with Trump’s help to presumably clear away any regulatory roadblocks in its way.
That was then. This is now. Today, the price closed at $222.15, about 45% of what it was worth just three months ago. This is $800 billion of market value, all wiped out, much of it happening within the last two weeks or so.
Since the markets closed on Friday, Tesla stock lost 15% of its value. If you’re a Tesla shareholder, this is pretty bad news. But to many Tesla skeptics and automotive industry pundits, this is pretty expected. As my colleague Tim Levin and I said on last week’s podcast, it’s time for Tesla to pay the piper.
Tesla’s sinking stock prices come at the end of a weekend of growing Tesla protests. Dubbed the Tesla Takeover, these weekend demonstrations have only continued to grow over the past few weeks. Arguably, they’ve reached a head in the past week. In France, arsonists are believed to be behind a burnt-out Tesla dealership in Toulouse. Days later, six protestors in New York City were arrested at a dealership. In Chicago, images of city police decked out in riot gear blocking a Tesla store have gone viral.
Afterward, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to X (née Twitter) to say that the protestors were paid by billionaire George Soros.
The stock price has become exceptionally clear that Musk’s antics, whether it’s veiled or not-so-veiled anti-semitism, cozying up to far right-wing politics or the public’s distaste for his meddling in the U.S. government, have crossed the metaphorical blood-brain barrier.
Now, Tesla’s sales and perception are no longer insulated from Musk’s actions. Even Tesla’s executives and board members seem to understand that the brand, in its present state, might just be a sinking ship. Tesla’s CFO, Vaibhav Taneja, sold $1.7 million worth of stock, while its board chair, Robyn Denholm, sold off $33 million worth of stock, an SEC filing revealed on March 3. Even Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk, has been offloading stock since at least February.
Meanwhile, Tesla sales continue to crash in Europe. And it’s not clear if China can pick up the slack. The new Model Y was originally reported to have more than 200,000 refundable preorders in China, but Tesla’s Chinese website says there’s only a 2-4 week wait for the new model. Also, if it follows suit of the Model 3 facelift, then the updated Model Y may not keep its momentum in China after the initial shock of a new model wears off.
Photo by: Tesla
All of this seems so damn unnecessary. Sure, Tesla deserves credit for kickstarting the modern EV revolution, yet it seems to have squandered that lead. Instead of investing in new products and improving, Musk has chosen to hitch the brand to promises of full self-driving, but the software has yet to deliver full true autonomy.
Everything else touched by Musk, and in turn, Tesla, has been tainted by the culture wars, and it all feels self-inflicted. People who once had a positive opinion of Tesla are now disgusted with the brand. Tesla is the best-selling full EV manufacturer in the world, but as the stock sinks and sales start to sputter, it’s not clear if it will hold onto that title.
As this company enters the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2025 and commences the sale of its most important car—and indeed, one of the world’s most important vehicles ever—there’s more of an apocalyptic feel around it than ever.
And it’s all Elon Musk’s fault.
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