Musk-Trump spat wipes out $150B from Tesla's market cap
What's the story
Tesla's stock price took a major hit on Thursday, falling over 14% to close at $284.7 per share.
The decline was triggered by a public feud between CEO Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump.
The plunge wiped out roughly $152 billion in market capitalization in a single day, marking one of the steepest losses in the company's history.
With this drop, Tesla's valuation fell below the $1 trillion threshold, settling at around $916 billion.
Policy dispute
Musk criticizes Trump's tax and spending bill
The conflict began when Musk openly criticized Trump's proposed $2.4 trillion budget bill, labeling it a "disgusting abomination."
Trump retaliated by threatening to revoke federal contracts and subsidies for Musk's companies, including Tesla and SpaceX.
This triggered a crash in Tesla's stock price and a significant drop in Musk's net worth by around $27 billion to $388 billion.
The spat later intensified, with Musk calling for Trump's impeachment and accusing him of suppressing files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Retaliation
Musk defends himself, says he helped Trump win election
In response to Trump's claims, Musk said the president would have lost the election without him.
The feud has also affected Tesla's sales in major markets such as Europe, China, and California, despite an overall increase in EV demand.
Despite the recent turmoil, Tesla remains the world's most valuable automaker, far ahead of Toyota Motor's $290 billion.