"Musk's partisan playbook didn't begin the conversation around how CEOs should engage in politics, but his business prowess and deep ties with the Trump administration make Musk and his companies a compelling case study, according to Kenneth Gillingham, a professor of environmental and energy economics at Yale and the study's lead author. While many CEOs refuse to speak out against Trump for fear of retaliation-and others like Apple's Tim Cook pledge to accommodate the president's trade policies-there's bound to be impacts on these leaders' businesses, Gillingham told Fortune."
"By the end of 2020, Tesla surged into the S&P 500 as the rest of the auto industry stumbled during the pandemic, establishing itself as an industry leader. But in October 2022, Tesla was slashing prices as it struggled to meet delivery targets, ailments that coincided with Musk's decision to purchase Twitter, which later became X, for $44 billion, a move Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities analyst and longtime Musk supporter, called "one of the most overpaid tech acquisitions in history." Two years later, the value of the platform would be worth only 25% of what Musk paid for it."
Musk's polarizing and partisan actions over three years cost Tesla between 1 million and 1.26 million U.S. vehicle sales while boosting EV competitors' sales by 17%–22%. Investors urged Musk to step back from his additional role leading DOGE and refocus on the ailing EV company. Tesla entered the S&P 500 by the end of 2020 but later slashed prices in October 2022 amid struggles to meet delivery targets. Those troubles coincided with Musk's $44 billion purchase of Twitter (later X), a deal later worth about 25% of its purchase price. Musk then began pouring money into supporting Trump's election.
Read at Fortune
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