Is Musk really all that much worse than Zuk or Bezos or Pichai, who have all expressed support for Trump and have stood silently by while the current administration peddles fear and pockets the proceeds? Search was awesome, but “do no evil?” Ha! Ask Paul McCartney about Bezos. And Zuk (Meta) has arguably caused far and away more damage than Musk ever did with DOGE
Fair question. I think the other CEOs are mostly just playing Trump to keep him off their backs. You could argue that’s in the interest of their shareholders if it keeps Trump from attacking their companies publicly leading to embargos or whatnot. To me, Musk is different because he’s very ideological, which you see most clearly on his Twitter posts. His support for German extremists and the like is whacked.
Musk's shareholders love him. This seems hard to believe but Tesla's share price is up 31,000% since it went public in 2010. Apple is only up 3,100% since then. The S&P 500 is up just 586% since then. Musk has made a lot of people rich other than himself.
That love, despite some pull back in 2026, has led to a Tesla stock price that is overvalued by 92% (the company’s intrinsic value is estimated at about $32 a share). They don’t pay a dividend. The stock is highly speculative (less investment and more gambling), especially considering that the Chinese lurk at our borders. I think that Musk’s believers (a.k.a. shareholders) are on the verge of getting crushed. Yes, he’s made a lot of people rich on paper, but if I were them, I’d be cashing in… and fast. Love chatting with you Rick
I expected a pullback in Tesla long ago. The valuation is based on some premise of gargantuan future profits from .... ? something magical ? How long can it go on? Longer than anybody can short the stock, apparently!
It's not "personal." Musk has become the product. The amount of capital (without sane valaution) flowing into his businesses will cause great economic harm to the nation. It is a Ponzi scheme on steroids. The funding of Space X by way of the ETF's that will be buying the stock today (all except SPY) will create the giant misallocation of capital to drag the rest of the economy down. Wall St is the enablers. But Musk has been a carnival barker and influences the Fed agenices unduly.
Appreciate the viewpoint. I thought markets would apply this sort of discipline to Tesla long ago. They haven't. I do think $SPCX valuation will drift down once the ETF forced buying is over. $SPCX could combine with $TSLA putting Musk's whole carnival show in one basket. I don't worry about Musk tanking the market, even Musk isn't big enough to do that. Plus his innovations are real. No denying how he changed the car business....
I agree with your direct causation conclusion. Nevertheless, we are headed to the perfect storm with current stagflation and the potential for bond market "agita." Why is it ( indexes) that the "widows and orphans" always suffer the brunt of this stuff?
Begrudgingly respect his innovation.
His DOGE cuts to USAID have caused suffering to millions
$>people. Go unchecked capitalism!
Honestly Musk gives capitalism a bad name. Capitalism should serve people, not abuse them.
There’s a lot of terrible folks crammed together in that boat, including all the elected officials that did nothing to stop him
Is Musk really all that much worse than Zuk or Bezos or Pichai, who have all expressed support for Trump and have stood silently by while the current administration peddles fear and pockets the proceeds? Search was awesome, but “do no evil?” Ha! Ask Paul McCartney about Bezos. And Zuk (Meta) has arguably caused far and away more damage than Musk ever did with DOGE
Fair question. I think the other CEOs are mostly just playing Trump to keep him off their backs. You could argue that’s in the interest of their shareholders if it keeps Trump from attacking their companies publicly leading to embargos or whatnot. To me, Musk is different because he’s very ideological, which you see most clearly on his Twitter posts. His support for German extremists and the like is whacked.
Ah! I understand. Shareholder interest is the key. And Musk has often acted in a way that hurts his shareholder’s interests. Thanks, Rick!
Musk's shareholders love him. This seems hard to believe but Tesla's share price is up 31,000% since it went public in 2010. Apple is only up 3,100% since then. The S&P 500 is up just 586% since then. Musk has made a lot of people rich other than himself.
That love, despite some pull back in 2026, has led to a Tesla stock price that is overvalued by 92% (the company’s intrinsic value is estimated at about $32 a share). They don’t pay a dividend. The stock is highly speculative (less investment and more gambling), especially considering that the Chinese lurk at our borders. I think that Musk’s believers (a.k.a. shareholders) are on the verge of getting crushed. Yes, he’s made a lot of people rich on paper, but if I were them, I’d be cashing in… and fast. Love chatting with you Rick
I expected a pullback in Tesla long ago. The valuation is based on some premise of gargantuan future profits from .... ? something magical ? How long can it go on? Longer than anybody can short the stock, apparently!
It's not "personal." Musk has become the product. The amount of capital (without sane valaution) flowing into his businesses will cause great economic harm to the nation. It is a Ponzi scheme on steroids. The funding of Space X by way of the ETF's that will be buying the stock today (all except SPY) will create the giant misallocation of capital to drag the rest of the economy down. Wall St is the enablers. But Musk has been a carnival barker and influences the Fed agenices unduly.
Appreciate the viewpoint. I thought markets would apply this sort of discipline to Tesla long ago. They haven't. I do think $SPCX valuation will drift down once the ETF forced buying is over. $SPCX could combine with $TSLA putting Musk's whole carnival show in one basket. I don't worry about Musk tanking the market, even Musk isn't big enough to do that. Plus his innovations are real. No denying how he changed the car business....
I agree with your direct causation conclusion. Nevertheless, we are headed to the perfect storm with current stagflation and the potential for bond market "agita." Why is it ( indexes) that the "widows and orphans" always suffer the brunt of this stuff?