Tesla Reaches for the Sky, By Chris Knight (Florida)
For the record, while Trump's political comeback is rightly seen as epic, we should not forget the gamble made by Elon Musk in backing Trump. The Democrats already had him in their sights for allowing X to have some degree of free speech. Backing Trump with finance was beyond the pale. Yet Elon pulled it off, focussing upon winning Pennsylvania for Trump. He even was giving away $ 1 million dollars per day for registered voters. The Democrats tried to stop this as electoral interference, but failed.
And as fate would have it, the world's richest man just for Tesla's market value alone, is now $ 1 trillion. As well, under Trump there will no doubt be numerous government contracts that he will secure. That is just how it goes. But let us hope with this increased wealth Musk champions the fight for free speech, including dealing with the disastrous situation with the misinformation laws coming in Australia.
Musk did vow to destroy woke, having one of his children fallen to the gender agenda. The $ 300 billion dollar man has to do something in his ample leisure time, and ample money!
"Tesla's market value eclipsed $1 trillion Friday for the first time since early 2022, as the electric vehicle maker led by the world's richest man Elon Musk enjoys a massive rally after the Musk-backed Donald Trump secured a second presidential term.
Shares of Tesla jumped more than 10% to nearly $330 in afternoon trading before closing with a still-robust 8% gain at $321, extending its three-day rally to 28%, captaining the broader stock market gains following Trump's election.
That pushed Tesla's market value to over $1 trillion for the first time since April 2022, according to YCharts data, with the automaker's valuation nearly doubling over the last six months.
Musk's net worth topped $300 billion Friday for the first time in more than two years. The 53-year-old got about $13 billion richer Friday during the Tesla stock rally, and he's $70 billion wealthier than the next closest competitor, Larry Ellison, Oracle chairman and Musk's "very close friend."
Key BackgroundMusk is Tesla's largest shareholder with a 13% stake worth about $130 billion, with a further 9% stake in the company pending an appeal in Delaware court over the 9% bonus in stock options (Forbes discounts the 9% bonus by 50% in its valuation of Musk). Shares of Tesla remain about 25% below their split-adjusted peak of $415 set in late 2021, when Musk's net worth peaked at roughly $320 billion. Musk endorsed Trump in July, donated about $130 million toward his election efforts and became a frequent figure on the campaign trail, appearing in a photo at Trump's victory celebration alongside the former president's family. Musk and Trump have publicly discussed a role for the Tesla chief in the Trump administration, which the president-elect has described as the "secretary of cost-cutting."
Stocks are up across the board this week, with the S&P 500 on track for easily its best week this year and fellow American car companies Ford and General Motors up 7% and 8%, respectively. As for Tesla specifically, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives outlined several ways in which a Trump presidency could benefit the company in a recent note to clients. Those include the potential elimination of electric vehicle federal tax credits, which would give Tesla a "clear competitive advantage" as smaller competitors struggle to gain footing, Trump-backed tariffs on Chinese imports which "would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players" and the potential for Trump to "fast track" regulatory approval of Tesla's self-driving vehicle initiatives, according to Ives."
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