Elon Musk’s net worth fell $26.6 billion in a matter of hours Thursday amid his bitter feud with Donald Trump.
The spat, which was initially over the Republican tax bill and its effects on Tesla, escalated as the afternoon wore on, with Musk at one point accusing the president of being “in the Epstein files.”
By the end of the trading day, Musk had lost $26.6 billion in value, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list, which incorporates individuals’ public holdings.
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The stock price for Tesla, Musk’s only publicly traded company, fell more than 14 percent Thursday. Since Trump’s inauguration, it is down 33 percent as the company has dealt with poor first quarter sales, protests at dealerships, vandalism, and the threat of Trump’s tariffs.
Also a factor is the GOP’s tax bill, which would end electric vehicle tax credits and cost Tesla $1.2 billion this year, according to JPMorgan analysts.
Musk’s opposition to the bill, which he called a “disgusting abomination,” caused Trump to fire back Thursday.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said.
“I’m very disappointed with Elon. I’ve helped him a lot. He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut the EV [Electric Vehicle] mandate.”
The president added in another post: “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.”
Their war of words came just six days after Trump praised Musk as an “incredible patriot” during an Oval Office send-off.
Musk, no longer the de-facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, is still safely in the top spot on the list of the world’s richest people, with $380.3 billion. Thursday’s dent in his net worth still left him about $150 billion clear of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Trump, according to Forbes, has a net worth of $5.4 billion.
