How Tesla shareholders saw $34 Billions vanish overnight?
Unless you are living under a rock, you must have read this!!
A few days ago, we witnessed something rare in the intersection of tech, capital, and politics: Elon Musk and Donald Trump, once mutual backers, publicly clashed.
This wasn’t just a Twitter spat, at Musk's own battleground.
Rather, It was:
A $34 billion wealth wipeout,
A 14% Tesla stock crash,
A real risk to NASA’s space operations,
A warning shot to every founder, VC, and policymaker watching.
If you are a founder, with exposure to these sectors in any shape or form, you need to read this.
So Let's unpack, how it all snowballed:
Trump’s camp pushed a $2.4 trillion tax & spending bill, what he called his own "The Big Beautiful Bill".
Musk slammed it as “a disgusting abomination” that risks national bankruptcy.
Trumpthreatened to pull federal contracts from Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink.
Musk fired back, called Trump dishonest, even hinted Epstein files could implicate him.
Trump retaliated, labeled Musk unstable, doubled down on contract threats.
The Cost :Suffering retail Investors
Tesla (TSLA) ↓ 14% (approx. $153 billion market cap erased) Musk Net Worth ↓ $34 billion (in 24 hours) Trump Media Stock ↓ $500 million
I believe that Tesla investors, saw this as a threat to 4 years worth of SpaceX contract wins!!
Then Musk, pulled the big guns !!
The "Dragon" Threat
This wasn’t just verbal, Musk directly threatened to pull Dragon, SpaceX’s critical capsule used by NASA to send astronauts to the ISS.
Dragon is currently America’s only reliable ride to space.
Boeing's Starliner still faces grounding issues.
NASA would have to crawl back to Russia’s Soyuz program (more expensive, politically sensitive).
Musk’s signal: “You pull contracts, I pull your space program.”
Why does it matter for Founders and Investors?:
Dynamics of Gov-Tech relations: When 10% of your revenue relies on federal contracts, your politics better stay neutral or smart.
Markets Punish Uncertainty: The market didn’t crash because someone was right or wrong. It crashed because nobody knows where this ends.
