Tesla shares fall as Trump and Musk trade insults – Daily Business

Investors dumped shares in electric car company Tesla as a rift between Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump erupted in an extraordinary exchange of insults.

Shares in the Musk-controlled company plunged 14%, wiping about $150bn off its market value and adding to the backlash from the public who have turned against the billionaire over his political views.

The two billionaires used social media to lob insults at each other in a row that began with Trump saying he was “disappointed” with Musk criticising his administration’s flagship tax and spending bill, suggesting that it may be the end of their “great relationship”.

The Tesla chief responded by accusing the president of “ingratitude”, adding: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election”. Separately, he called for the president to be impeached.

Trump threatened to cut off government support for Musk’s companies, including rocket firm SpaceX, which has contracts worth tens of billions of dollars.

Musk replied with a quote from the Dirty Harry movie.

“Go ahead, make my day,” he said.

Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, a longtime Tesla supporter, called it “jaw dropping and a shock to the market”,

He said the clash had sparked fear among investors about what it might mean for regulation of the company, which is seeking to expand self-driving and robotics and had hoped for a more relaxed regulatory approach under the Trump administration.

In a note he said: “This must start to be calmed down,” adding that it “put a fly in the ointment of the Trump regulatory framework going forward”.