Will Musk ‘explosive row with Trump help or harm his businesses?

When Elon Musk recently announced that he was coming back from politics, investors hoped that it would mean that he would intensify his involvement in the many technological companies he directed.

His explosive row with President Donald Trump – and the very public broadcast of his dirty white house laundry – suggest that changing Musk priorities may not be the balm they hoped for.

Instead of withdrawing somewhat from Musk from the public eye and focusing on strengthening the fortune of Tesla and its other companies, he now finds himself threatened by a boycott of one of his main customers – the Federal Government of Trump.

Tesla’s shares were sent in free fall on Thursday – down 14% – while he rang on President Donald Trump on social networks.

They rebounded a little Friday after a few indications that Tempers was cooling.

Even so, for investors and analysts who, for months, had clearly indicated that they wanted musk out of his phone and back to work, the situation is far from ideal.

Some maintain that the problems for Musk companies are much deeper than this ship – and the controversial role in the Trump administration to which it brought a spectacular end.

For the veteran journalist for Kara Swisher technology, this is particularly true for Tesla.

“Tesla finished,” she told the BBC on the sidelines of the San Francisco media summit at the start of this week.

“It was a large automotive company. They could participate in the autonomous taxi space, but they are far away.”

Tesla has long tried to play the catch -up against her rival Waymo, held by Google -Parent Alphabet, whose driverless taxis have crossed the streets of San Francisco for years – and now operate in several other cities.

This month, Musk is supposed to supervise the launch by Tesla from a batch of autonomous Robo-Taxis in Austin, Texas.

He told X last week that the manufacturer of electric vehicles had tested the Y model without driver on board.

“I believe that 90% of Tesla’s future value will be autonomous and robotic,” said Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities analyst at the BBC this week, adding that the launch of Austin would be “a moment of the watershed”.

“The first task to be accomplished is to ensure that the autonomous vision is at a phenomenal beginning,” added Ives.

But with the attention of divided Musk, the chances of success of the project seem to have been lying.

And there is also something else to take into account: Musk’s own motivation.

Speech in Silicon Valley recently focuses less on the question of whether Musk can run things and more if he even cares.

“He is a really powerful person when he focuses on something,” said Ross Gerber, president and chief executive officer of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management.

“Before, it was a question of proving to the world that he would make electric vehicles – the technology that no one could do. It was a question of proving that he could do rockets. He had a lot to prove.”

Tesla’s long -standing investor, Gerber has embittered on the stock and has twinned his assets since Musk’s foray into right politics. He called on Thursday an “extremely painful day”.

“This is the most stupid thing you can do to think that you have more power than the President of the United States,” said Gerber, referring to Musk’s social media tirade against Trump.

The BBC contacted X, Tesla and SpaceX to ask for comments from Mr. Musk but did not receive an answer.

A particular problem for Musk is that, before creating an enemy to Donald Trump, he already had one in the basic social media campaign against his car manufacturer.

The demonstrations, nicknamed #Teslatakedown, took place across the country every weekend since Trump took office.

In April, Tesla said a 20% drop in car sales For the first three months of the year. The profits plunged more than 70% and the course of the action fell with it.

“He should not decide the fate of our democracy by dismantling our government of government. It is not true,” said demonstrator Linda Kistinen during a demonstration outside a dealer in Berkeley, California Tesla in February.

Kistinen said she wanted to make a “visible position” against Musk personally.

“In the end, it is not a question of technology or the Tesla Corporation,” said Joan Donovan, an eminent disinformation researcher who co-organized #TESLATAKEDOWN demonstrations on social networks.

“This is the way in which Tesla’s stock could be armed against the people and he put Musk in such a position to have an incredible quantity of power without transparency,” added Donovan.

Another aspect of the Musk Empire which has raised the anger of its detractors is X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“He bought Twitter to influence and could – down a hat – reaching hundreds of millions of people,” said Donovan.

However, there is another possibility here.

Did the high level of Musk fall with Trump to rehabilitate him in the eyes of people who turned against him because of his previous proximity to the president?

Patrick Moorhead, chief analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy, thinks that it could do.

“We are a very forgiving country,” said Moorhead during a telephone interview.

“These things take time,” he admits, but “it’s not unprecedented”.

Swisher compared Musk’s personal brand to that of the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, more than two decades ago.

She said that Gates was once considered “the Dark Vader of Silicon Valley” because of her arrogant and coarse personality “.

Today, despite its faults, Gates has largely rehabilitated its image.

“He learned. He grew up. People can change,” said Swisher, even if Musk is “clearly troubled”.

The problem for Musk is the future for him and his businesses not only concerns what he does – but what Trump also decides.

And although Trump needs musk in the past, especially to help finance his presidential race, it is not so clear that he does it now.

Noah Smith, writer of Noahpinion Subseque, said Trump’s very lucrative foray into cryptocurrencies – as improper as – may have freed him from depending on musk to realize his will.

“I guess it was so that he could get out of Sous Elon,” said Smith.

In Trump’s most threatening comments of the day, he suggested reducing Musk’s government contracts, which have an estimated value at $ 38 billion.

An important part of this goes to the Société de rockets by Musk Spacex – apparently threatening its future.

However, despite the fanfaron, Trump’s warning can be a little more hollow than it seems.

Indeed, Dragon Spacex Ferries and cargo spaties at the International Space Station where three NASA astronauts are currently displayed.

He demonstrates that SpaceX was so rooted in American security and national security devices, that Trump’s threat could be difficult to achieve.

You could make a similar argument on Musk’s Internet satellite company, Starlink. Finding an alternative could be easier to say than to do.

But, if there are limits to what Trump can do, the same goes for musk.

In the middle of his row with Trump, he threatened to publish the dragon – but it was not long in rowing.

Responding to the suggestion of an X user, he “cooled” that he wrote, “Good advice. OK, we don’t demonstrate Dragon.”

It is clear that Musk’s friendship and Trump is over. It is less certain than their dependence on each other is.

Whatever the future of musk companies, it seems that Trump – and the actions of his administration – will continue to have a big note to say in them.