“I don’t think him going back to Tesla is what makes a difference,” said Pinsley. “What makes a difference is if he keeps his face out of the news.”
“He literally threw away the Twitter brand and now he’s basically doing the same thing to Tesla,” Pinsley said. “He doesn’t seem to care that when he’s out there with a chainsaw it impacts people. They know his political bent and they don’t want to buy from him—and he represents Tesla.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a four-to-two vote, the pension board directed no new investments until its next meeting, and ordered a report from its investment consultant detailing Tesla’s financial, governance, and reputational risks and the fund’s exposure. The resolution cited Tesla’s recent 71% plunge in net income to $409 million in the first quarter, 9% drop in total revenues to $19.3 billion, and the 20% drop in automotive revenue to $13.9 billion.
“Probably starting next month, in May, my time allocation at DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said. “I’ll have to continue doing it. I think we have the remainder of the President’s term just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it’ll do if it has the chance.”
Musk said he would spend “a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to do so, as long as it is useful.”
The group attributed the declines to “an aging product lineup and backlash against Elon Musk’s political initiatives.”
