Musk losing feud to Trump, at least in terms of the value of his companies

Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk has lost billions of dollars across his major companies in the past week because of his public feud with President Donald Trump.

The former allies began feuding last week after Musk's time in government service as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency came to a seemingly agreeable ending.

The fight escalated this week over Musk's criticism of Trump's "big, beautiful bill," and hit a new low Thursday when Musk accused Trump of intervening in the release of the late-financier Jeffrey Epstein's file, because, he said, of the president's presence in the files.

Now the public spat is spreading beyond social media to directly hitting Musk's businesses, with Tesla being hit hardest.

Tesla:

Stocks in Tesla nosedived on Thursday, with shares dropping 14% by the close of business. Shares in the company have dropped 18% since Musk's criticism began last week, according to CNBC. 

The company's stocks are down 33% since Inauguration Day in January, which is partly due to consumer protests against Musk's role in the administration, which included reducing wasteful spending. 

The drop on Thursday marks the company’s worst day since March and its second worst since 2020. It wiped out approximately $150 billion of Tesla’s market valuation, the New York Times reported. 

SpaceX

Billions of dollars are also at risk for Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, which currently has approximately $22 billion wrapped up in government contracts that Trump has threatened to cancel amid the feud. 

Trump on Thursday floated trying to balance the federal budget by canceling the contracts, claiming his former ally went "crazy" because his bill threatened an electric vehicle mandate that benefited the billionaire.

"The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!" he posted on Truth Social. 

Musk responded to the threat by directing SpaceX to immediately decommission its Dragon capsule, which NASA uses to service the International Space Station. The move threatens SpaceX's $5 billion contract with NASA over the spacecraft.

The aerospace company also has another $10 billion in contracts with NASA, according to Reuters, for the use of its Falcon 9 rocket and the development of SpaceX's Starship. 

SpaceX and its subsidiary company, Starlink, are privately held companies. 

Musk's personal wealth

The billionaire, who is considered the wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, has also seen his own net worth drop recently over blowback from the feud. Before the fight, Musk's net worth was more than $400 billion. 

The CEO's net worth dropped by approximately $26.7 billion on Thursday, per Forbes, and he is now worth an estimated $386.9 billion. 

The loss comes after Musk slammed Trump for not appreciating the work and money he contributed to the president's campaign last year. Musk was by far Trump's biggest donor, having invested $295 million in Republican candidates during the 2024 presidential election, which primarily went to Trump.

"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," he posted to X. "Such ingratitude."

Musk has also stated that he will be drastically reducing his political contributions in the future. 

The billionaire also owns several other companies, including Neuralink, and the social media platform X. But X is considered a private company, so its value has not been impacted by the feud.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.