Trump

Musk's turbulent relationship with Trump has cost him and his investors this staggering amount of money

Trump calls Elon Musk’s new political party ‘ridiculous’ and ‘confusing’
REuters

It was a budding bromance... until it wasn't, with Elon Musk and his investors paying the price for the billionaire's turbulent relationship with Donald Trump.

Since the former DOGE lead's very public falling out with the US president last month, Musk is estimated to have lost a whopping $20 billion and his investors an eye-watering $100 billion, Axios analysis has revealed.

During the 2024 presidential election campaign, Musk donated over $250 million to Trump's campaign and even joined him on stage at some of his campaign rallies.

When elected, Trump selected Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to decrease government spending. Methods to enact this included cutting contracts, grants, and the federal workforce, which sparked controversy.

Things would later turn sour between the two figures, though, and the source of the beef came from Musk's vocal opposition to the Trump administration's so-called "Big Beautiful Bill".

This legislation promised to extend tax cuts that Trump signed in 2017, raise spending on the US-Mexico border and oil drilling and also make sweeping reductions in the social safety net for many Americans, including within healthcare and other social programmes.

There was a back-and-forth between the two on their respective platforms, Musk's X and Trump's Truth Social.

  Getty

Most recently, Trump threatened to have his former government efficiency department, DOGE slash the subsidies that Musk’s companies, like electric vehicle company Tesla, receive, and the president has also said he would “take a look” at deporting Musk – who was born in South Africa – from the US.

Musk's response? Following the "Big Beautiful Bill" being passed in Congress, the world's richest man has announced he's forming a new political party called the "America Party".

But all this messy political involvement appears to have impacted Musk's businesses, with Tesla shares down 14 per cent since early June, plus with Trump's threat to cancel government contracts linked to Musk's companies, investors appear to be spooked.

Ivana Delevska, founder of Spear Invest, recently sold off Tesla shares due to concerns surrounding risks associated with Musk's political endeavours.

"While the opportunity is outsized the risks are very significant as well," she told Axois earlier this week. "While the reward potential is clearly here the risks are significant as well."

Elsewhere, MAGA supporter regrets asking who 'gives a f***' about Epstein files, and Elon Musk appears to address Grok controversy.

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