July 7–8, 2025: The first trading day since Musk’s weekend announcement, Tesla shares tumbled, and Musk’s personal fortune dropped by as much as $15 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As of July 9, it stands at $349 billion with Tesla shares broadly unchanged.
Musk’s move has attracted interest from other political outsiders, including Andrew Yang’s Forward Party and the Libertarian Party, who see an opportunity to challenge the “duopoly” of Democrats and Republicans. Yet, the practical challenges are formidable: ballot access laws, signature requirements, and the entrenched power of the two major parties have stymied previous third-party efforts.
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