A distinguished investor at Tesla, Christopher Tsai has expressed concerns about Elon Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and hopes it does not last long.
Musk has played a significant role in cutting federal spending as part of the DOGE initiative under President Donald Trump’s administration. Tsai’s wishes are to see Musk return to manage his businesses, with the role in DOGE “short-lived.”
Stocks have reacted to the Tesla boss’ actions
A financial investor and founder of Tsai Capital, which has tens of millions tied up in Tesla thinks the stock market has shown signs of displeasure with Musk’s activities under the DOGE initiatives.
Tsai’s sentiments in an interview with The Guardian are however not reflective of his loss of faith in Musk or Tesla’s earnings potential. This is despite opinion polls establishing Musk’s unpopularity with the US public and his net worth tumbling about $23 billion in recent days.
“I hope his involvement with [Doge] is short-lived so he can spend even more time on his businesses.”
Tsai.
The chief investment officer and president of Tsai Capital, which reportedly manages a portfolio of about $137 million revealed that stock markets had also reacted negatively to the Tesla boss’ actions when he bought Twitter, now X in 2022 for $44 billion.
Yet, according to Tsai, his firm which holds about 75,000 Tesla shares made more than six times its money since first investing in Tesla in February 2020, even with the downturn in performance of late.
According to The Guardian, Tsai recently told investors in a letter that Tsai Capital considers Tesla to be more of a developer of advanced electronics and software that it attaches to cars as opposed to a traditional automotive manufacturer. He also insisted that Tesla remained “on path to become one of the most valuable companies on the planet.”
He said that the market’s unfavorably reacting to Musk’s recent involvement in politics was however real. But he also expressed a hope that Musk’s role in DOGE would be like other temporary commitments he previously undertook.
Americans disapprove of Musk
Tsai’s comments come on the backdrop of Musk’s advice for widespread sacking of government employees across services by the Trump administration. The services include humanitarian aid and development work. Some experts have however expressed concerns and warned that removing them might have serious life-threatening consequences.
Research firm, SSRS carried out a poll for CNN and the results showed public disgruntlement at the actions. According to the survey, 53% of Americans disapproved of Musk, while 35% approved leaving him about 18 points underwater, according to The Guardian.
According to The Guardian, the results of the poll came out two days after Tesla stock went down by more than 15% amid public protests against the company as well as vandalism which was reported at some of the company’s dealerships.
ABC News recently reported that vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations have been vandalized and faced arson since Musk started his White House role leading to mass layoffs of government workers.
According to the report, the latest incident occurred in Tigard, Oregon where “more than a dozen” shots were fired at a Tesla dealership, according to a public information officer at Tigard Police Department, Kelsey Anderson.
These incidents rank among many others that have triggered several stakeholders’ comments including Tsai’s.
Tsai is a close childhood friend of Trump’s eldest son and namesake. His descent is from a lineage of legendary investors and sets his voice apart from others who have also carefully weighed on Elon Musk, DOGE, and Tesla at the two-month mark of the second Trump presidency.
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