Shares of Elon Musk-led Tesla and SpaceX came under pressure on Wednesday after Democrats swept the US midterm elections. The sell-off reflects investor concerns over the political and regulatory challenges Musk’s businesses could face following the Democrats’ victory.
Tesla’s stock fell over 5 percent when markets opened, and SpaceX was also down about 5 percent, dropping below $135. The declines stood out among tech stocks, as Meta, Google and the wider stock market rallied at the start of trading.
Elon Musk spent nearly $500 million supporting Republican candidates in the midterm elections. After Democrats claimed sweeping victories, claiming both houses of Congress and other important state races, shares of SpaceX and Tesla, which are both run by Mr. Musk, fell sharply on Wednesday morning, as reported by New York Times.
“They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we’ll be printing,” Senator Edward J. Markey, a Democrat in Massachusetts, posted on X.
As per the report, Musk spent at least $474 million on the midterm election, the most money of any donor in a U.S. election cycle, apart from candidates who have funded their own runs for office.
About $224 million was spent on races in Texas, particularly in support of the losing campaign of Ken Paxton for a Senate seat against James Talarico.
Both SpaceX and Tesla are headquartered in Texas, and are developing extensive infrastructure in Texas, including a joint effort to build a more than $100 billion chip manufacturing plant in the state, though those efforts could now face greater scrutiny.
Texas is set to have a Democratic governor after the election of Gina Hinojosa, as well as a Democratic Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor.
Musk has worth $898 billion, according to Bloomberg, meaning that his political contributions amounted to a tiny sliver of his net worth.
Tesla, SpaceX Shares Tumble After Democrats Sweep US Midterm Elections
