Elon Musk loses $52 billion in one day as Trump feud boils over
Minute by minute, post by post, Elon Musk's very public, extremely online feud with US President Donald Trump sliced into his vaunted status as the world's richest person.
The final damage at day's end: $US34 billion ($52 billion) erased from his personal net worth, the second-largest loss ever in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the 500 wealthiest people on the planet. The only bigger one: his own wipeout in November 2021.
The tit-for-tat was surreal, and also, in some ways, potentially inevitable for a US president who has used the Oval Office to dress down world leaders and a chief executive who has a history of launching himself from one crusade to another. The trigger was Musk's sudden push, just days after he departed from Washington, to muster enough support to 'kill' Trump's signature 'Big, Beautiful Bill'.
Musk, who is still the world's richest person with a vast $US334.5 billion fortune, has endured any number of routs before. But the stakes are higher than ever in contending with Trump, as the president laid bare when he proposed ending Musk's government contracts, in a potential blow to Tesla and SpaceX revenue.
Loading
In true Musk fashion, the billionaire responded on X with five words uttered by Clint Eastwood's character in Sudden Impact: 'Go ahead, make my day.' He followed up by alleging, without evidence, that Trump's name appears in the files related to the late New York financier Jeffrey Epstein, and then said SpaceX would begin to decommission its Dragon spacecraft — a critical link to space for the US, which depends on Musk's company to ferry cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.
The war of words is a sharp departure from the months following Trump's election win, when Musk's net worth reached an all-time high approaching $US500 billion. His companies' valuations surged, buoyed by expectations that they would benefit from the billionaire's relationship with Trump and his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk officially left Washington last week.
The escalating spat raises questions about the path forward for Tesla, which once appealed to climate-conscious drivers but has since become synonymous with Trump's MAGA priorities, alienating traditional, left-leaning consumers. The electric carmaker's shares fell 14 per cent on Thursday to $US284.70.
Musk, for his part, polled his X followers on Thursday about whether it is 'time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80 per cent in the middle'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
26 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Trump considers selling his Tesla amid dispute with Elon Musk
United States President Donald Trump and Elon Musk were up until recently best of friends but have since parted ways following Trump's proposed 'Big, Beautiful Bill'. It seems Mr Trump and Mr Musk's friendship has collapsed in spectacular fashion, leading to an online dispute between the two. The US President is even thought to be considering selling his Tesla as the pair's public spat deepens.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Donald Trump says he is 'not even thinking' about Elon Musk and claims 'the poor guy's got a problem' after public spat over bill
United States President has take another swipe at his once ally Elon Musk and is reportedly considering selling or giving away his Tesla after the billionaires' public spat. Musk, who finished his tenure with the administration overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, lashed the President's signature "big beautiful bill" which would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending but also add to the USD$36 trillion debt. The disagreement over the bill led to the pair to trade barbs with one another through social media and at the leader of the free world's press conferences. President Trump on Thursday said he was "disappointed" in Musk who had earlier described the bill as a "disgusting abomination", before the Tesla founder accused the commander-in-chief of being in files relating to dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Asked about the feud on a phone call with CNN, the President kept his response short. 'I'm not even thinking about Elon," he said on Friday (local time). "He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem." The former The Apprentice boss turned his attention to the jobs report which found 139,000 positions had been added in May, as the labour market continues to slow. It was a drop on the previous month of 147,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.2 per cent, near historic lows, US media reported. CNN host Dana Bash then asked the President if he had spoken to Musk. 'No. I won't be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well," he said. The bitter has also led to the President to consider selling or even giving away the red Tesla Model S he purchased earlier this year, a senior White House official said. In a rare and huge favour, the leader of the free world showcased a fleet of Musk's electric vehicles on the White House lawn in March after his dealerships were vandalised across the US by protesters who were against his political views and actions. Musk has continued to call out the tax and spending bill, saying pushing ahead with it will hurt the Republicans politically and strain the nation's wallet further. People who have spoken to the Tesla founder said his anger has begun to recede and they think he will want to repair his relationship with President Trump, according to one person who has spoken to Musk's entourage, Reuters reported. Tesla's stock had plunged 14.3 per cent on Thursday, which was the 11th worst one-day drop for the company since it went public in June 2010. It rose by 5.6 per cent to $299 as traders sought for bargains, but it is not exactly known how much that played a role in its slow bounce back. Self-directed individual investors scooped up a net $201.3 million of Tesla stock on Thursday after buying and selling $2.6 billion, Vanda Research estimated, making Tesla the day's second most-actively purchased stock by such investors. "Tesla has been a favorite holding for this group for a while, so when they see a drop of 14% or more, they jump in and buy," said senior Vice President of research at Vanda, Marco Iachini, noting retail investors' renewed appetite for risk-taking. Tesla shares, which surged as much as 90 per cent in the six weeks following President Trump's election win, have slipped about 37 per cent since they peaked mid-December. -with Reuters
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Donald Trump shuns call with Elon Musk and considers selling Tesla
Donald Trump has no plans to speak to tech billionaire Elon Musk, amid the pair's ongoing feud, and may even ditch his red Tesla car, according to the White House. The US president's camp insisted he wanted to move on from the row with his former adviser, with officials saying Mr Musk had requested a call but Mr Trump was not interested. It said the Republican instead intended to focus on getting the US Congress to pass his "big, beautiful" spending bill, Mr Musk's harsh criticisms of which triggered their public split. Fallout from the blow-up between the world's richest person and its most powerful could be significant, with Mr Trump risking political damage and Mr Musk facing the loss of huge US government contracts. Mr Trump phoned reporters at several US broadcast networks to insist he was looking past the row. He called Mr Musk "the man who has lost his mind" in a call to America's ABC and told CBS he was "totally" focused on the presidency. The White House, meanwhile, squashed earlier reports that they would talk. "The president does not intend to speak to Musk today," a senior White House official told the AFP news agency, on condition of anonymity. A second official said it was "true" that Mr Musk had requested a call. Tesla stocks tanked more than 14 per cent on Thursday, losing some $100 billion of the company's market value, but recovering partly Friday. A senior White House official said Mr Trump was considering either selling or giving away the cherry-red Tesla S he bought from Mr Musk's firm at the height of their relationship. The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on Friday, local time. "He's thinking about it, yes," the official said when asked if Mr Trump would sell or give away the vehicle. Mr Trump and Mr Musk had posed inside the car at a event in March, when the president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after viral protests against Mr Musk's role as head of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Mr Musk appears to be trying take the heat out of the pair's conflict. On Thursday, the SpaceX boss briefly threatened to scrap his company's Dragon spacecraft — vital for ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station — after Mr Trump suggested he could end Mr Musk's giant government contracts. But later in the day, Mr Musk sought to de-escalate, writing on his X social media platform: "OK, we won't decommission Dragon." The tech magnate also kept a low profile early on Friday. But there is no clarity about how the two men will repair the relationship, which had already been fraying badly, causing tensions in the White House. US trade adviser Peter Navarro, who Mr Musk once called "dumber than a sack of bricks" in an argument over Mr Trump's tariffs, refused to gloat but said the tycoon had an "expiration date". "No, I'm not glad or whatever," he told reporters. "People come and go from the White House." US Vice-President JD Vance also stuck by Mr Trump amid the blazing row, blasting what he called "lies" that his boss was "impulsive or short-tempered", but notably avoiding criticising Mr Musk. The tensions burst into the open this week when Mr Musk called Mr Trump's flagship spending bill an "abomination" because it would raise the US deficit. Then in a televised Oval Office diatribe on Thursday, Mr Trump said he was "very disappointed" with Mr Musk. The pair traded insults for hours on social media, with Mr Musk at one point suggesting Mr Trump be impeached and signalling his interest in forming a new political party. AFP
