Elon Musk needs no introduction. But unless you’ve been keeping up with all the bizarre AI scandals, Tesla disasters, and public crash outs, you may need a refresher.
Following Musk’s extremely high-profile feud with his former best buddy, president Donald Trump, the Tesla CEO has been struggling to find his way forward in the world.
For months, Tesla investors and insiders alike have been begging the world’s richest man to take a step back from politics and focus on his company, which has been spiraling financially thanks to major brand damage caused by Musk’s toxic political meddling.
Though he’s spoiled for choice on which company to focus his energy on — Tesla, SpaceX, X, Neuralink, Boring — Musk instead charged right back onto the political scene, announcing the creation of a “new political party” outside of the US political binary.
Musk first proposed his new political machine, called the “America Party,” in June, after Trump used his media appearance with German chancellor Friedrich Merz to complain about the tech mogul. Since then, Musk’s been airing all kinds of dirty laundry on X-formerly-Twitter, biting back against Trump as he doubles down on the America Party.
After taking a poll about whether to move forward with the project, Musk announced the party on July 5th.
“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it,” the billionaire posted on social media. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Though Musk’s been short on details — sharing only brief missives like “the America Party is the solution” — Tesla bulls like Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives are warning the CEO that any further political moves could force the board of directors to step in.
“Very simply, Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story,” Ives told his clients. “There is a broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track.”
Since Musk announced his party, Tesla shares have careened into the red. Over the past month, its share price is down five percent; since the start of the year, it’s down a gutwrenching 23 percent.
And that’s all happening in the face of ominous political headwinds, with Trump warning that he’ll “take a look” at whether he could deport his freshly-minted political enemy.
It remains to be seen what, if anything, Musk does with his party after announcing its formation. Per ABC news, it’s currently unknown whether or not the Tesla CEO has filed any actual paperwork to establish the America Party, or whether he has a game plan for navigating the tricky legal structures governing political organizations. And all that bureaucracy comes before the really hard part: getting actual voters to support the whole mess.
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