Just four days into his presidency, Donald Trump has done damage to a market that both Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos sunk major investments in.
As two of the world’s richest men, they’re used to some healthy competition – like the space race, for example, with Musk’s SpaceX attempting to rival Bezos’ Blue Origin.
But it seems neither will be benefiting as the president rolled back Joe Biden’s electric vehicle policies after being sworn into office on Monday (January 20).
Trump wasted no time in signing off a raft of executive orders, including one against transgender people, that technically makes everyone in the US female.
On the automotive front, he revoked a 2021 Biden order that demanded EVs make up 50 percent of new cars by 2030.
The president had previously agreed to end federal tax credit for EV purchases, too, which cost up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles and also $4,000 for used ones.
For Tesla CEO Musk, of course, this isn’t great news.
On Tuesday, Tesla shares fell as much as three percent, with investor confidence, understandably, knocked. But confident Musk agreed that EV subsidies should end, reckoning it would only have a ‘slight’ impact on his business.
He told analysts back in July, as per Yahoo! Finance: “I guess that there would be, like, some impact, but I think it would be devastating for our competitors and for Tesla slightly.
“But long term probably actually helps Tesla, would be my guess, yes … the value of Tesla overwhelmingly is autonomy.”
Interestingly, Musk is also part of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with advising the White House to slash ‘federal spending.’
Tesla’s stock wasn’t the only one feeling the pinch on Tuesday, as EV charging company EVgo and Tesla rival Rividian also saw a drop in share prices.
And this too spells trouble for Amazon founder Bezos.
The billionaire is a major investor in Rivian, a company that began trading in 2009, some six years after Tesla began its journey as Tesla Motors in 2003.
According to some reports, Amazon owns a stake of up to 15 percent stake in Rivian after apparently investing $700 million into its car making plans.
The company reportedly received a $6.6 billion loan from Biden’s government only a mere two months ago and recently partnered with Volkswagen to produce an electric Ford backed by Biden.
But a flurry of obstacles – including supply chain issues and high interest rates – saw its production rate slow down.
However, analysts last year predicted Rivian’s growth could ‘accelerate over the next three years,’ with plans to launch a ‘cheaper’ R2 SUV in 2026 and two higher-end RVs by 2027.
