Minus 100 billion in assets - consumers punish Musk

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• Elon Musk has lost 100 billion dollars since December: Because significantly fewer Teslas are being sold in Europe, the share price is falling.
• Stickers, graffiti or exodus: Elon Musk is now playing politics, and his Tesla and X brands are feeling the effects.
• Musk gets a lot of money from the state: his company SpaceX has contracts worth 20.7 billion dollars with the government.
• The problem is that Musk is taking action against the authorities that control his companies or are investigating them.

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Elon Musk is polarizing - and this is currently reflected in his bank account: since December, the richest man in the world has lost a whopping 100 billion dollars, "NBC News" notes with astonishment. Nevertheless, the South African remains by far the wealthiest man on the planet.

The fact that Musk has lost around a quarter of his fortune is linked to the plummeting share price of his car manufacturer Tesla, which fell by a further 8 percent on February 25. The reason: sales figures are collapsing in Europe. In January, 45 percent fewer Teslas were sold there compared to the previous year. This is despite the fact that demand for electric cars has risen , according to Bloomberg.

"NBC News" explains that investors may now simply be cashing in after Tesla's recent boom: Despite the current losses, the shares have gained 52 percent in the last trading year. At the same time, "Bloomberg" agrees that the falling sales figures at Tesla also have to do with the controversial appearance of the company boss in Washington.

Musk plays politics - Tesla and X are feeling the effects

Tesla owners in London are experiencing first-hand that the mood is tense when it comes to Musk: Groups calling themselves Everyone Hates Elon are hijacking advertising space for anti-Tesla ads. Others are sticking stickers on Teslas or smearing the cars.

Stars such as US singer Sheryl Crow are selling their Teslas in public, people are protesting outside branches in the USA - and in countries as diverse as Poland and Malaysia there are calls for a boycott of the brand.

This development can be read on X, which is also being negatively affected by Musk's new political appointment. Users have been running away from the service since the end of last year. Others are benefiting. When asked why competitor Bluesky is growing so quickly, Twitter founder and Bluesky co-founder Jack Dorsey answers honestly: "I think people just want to get away from X."

How Musk makes money from Uncle Sam

There are many reasons for the resentment towards Musk. They range from his Gaza policy and his statement that Germany should leave the Holocaust behind to his electoral support for the AfD and his work in Donald Trump's new efficiency department DOGE. In this role, the 53-year-old wants to be the "chainsaw" that tears apart the bureaucracy.

While the richest man in the world is slashing the USAID development aid budget, his own contracts with the US government are apparently excluded from cost-cutting measures. And the South African is making good money from Uncle Sam.

Since 2008, he has raked in almost 21 billion dollars, according to the British Independent. The aerospace company SpaceX has signed contracts worth a total of 20.7 billion dollars, of which 8.7 billion has been paid to date.

Musk takes action against institutions that scrutinize his companies

Nasa accounts for the majority of the contract volume with 14.6 billion, but if the agency were to have SpaceX carry out further operations, this sum could rise to 56.4 billion dollars. 5.6 billion dollars of the SpaceX contract volume comes from the Department of Defense for Starlink services and satellite launches.

Although Tesla has received few government contracts to date, it has benefited massively from tax breaks in recent years, according to the Independent. Most recently, there were rumors that Tesla could receive an order worth 400 million dollars for armored electric cars.

Data, chaos, revenge

Trump and Musk's dangerous rebuilding plan

It is impossible to quantify the advantages that Musk gains by steaming or slowing down authorities investigating his companies. This applies to the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation(Tesla), the Food and Drug Administration(Neuralink) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(payment services at X).

It is questionable whether Musk's position also gives him access to data relating to competitors' offerings.