Tesla stocks close way down amid Musk and Trump's bitter battle
President Donald Trump threatened to pull federal contracts from tech billionaire Elon Musk — and the stock market immediately reflected spooked investors.
Trump's threat on Truth Social came amid a vicious afternoon in which Musk complained of the president's "ingratitude" and even claimed he was listed in the Jeffrey Epstein papers, suggesting he was involved in that man's crimes.
Tesla stock began falling immediately, reaching -17.5% before a small rally at about 3:30 p.m. EST. Tesla ultimately closed down from the start of Thursday, having lost 14.26%.
Musk's internet company, Starlink, fell around the same time, between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. EST, ending the day at -4.62%.
Musk's SpaceX is not a publicly traded company. However, on Tuesday, Musk announced that the company would reach $15.5 billion in revenue by 2025, according to Reuters.
"The company's commercial revenue from space will exceed NASA's budget of roughly $1.1 billion next year," Reuters said, citing an X post from the CEO.