Tesla boss Elon Musk has always polarized, but has been increasingly protesting in particular since his support from US President Donald Trump. Now the early Tesla investor Ross Gerber is also critical.

• Tesla share suffers from Elon Musk’s political engagement
• formerly Tesla investor calls after the resignation of Musk
• Call from the Tesla brand will be “destroyed”

The Tesla brand and the name Elon Musk are firmly linked. In the recent past, however, this has not only been positive about the Tesla share. At the latest since Musk strongly expanded his political engagement in the US presidential election campaign in favor of Donald Trumps, criticism of the Tesla Contract Leaders has been increasing. As part of the newly created US Ministry of Government (Doge), Musk has contributed to the deletion of numerous editions and jobs. Since then, protests have stood in the USA and beyond. Quite a few Tesla owners are therefore striving to separate from their Stromer or have already done so. Industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer commented on the German press agency: “Elon Musk has become an unpersons. Then the Tesla brand also suffers.”

Tesla share in 2025 under pressure

In fact, the criticism of Elon Musk does not pass the Tesla share without a trace. While she was able to benefit vigorously from the prospect of a Trump election victory in 2024, the wind turned in 2025. The proportion of NASDAQ is 49.92 percent in plus for 12 months, but since the beginning of the year there have been 34.74 percent down (as of the final course of March 28, 2025). On the other hand, Shortsellers have already made a full profit this year: As data from S3 partners show, empty sellers have made profits of $ 16.2 billion in the past three months, writes Business Insider.

Tesla insiders throw Tesla shares out of the depot

The course debacle also has long-established Tesla investors. Numerous Musk supporters recently sold Tesla shares on a large scale. This is shown by publicly visible SEC documents that have to be submitted for insider sales. These reveal that Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk, the chairwoman of the Tesla Board of Directors Robyn Denholm and the long-time allied James Murdoch separated from Tesla shares. Even if insider sales do not necessarily have to be interpreted negatively, Jay Ritter, emeritus professor at the University of Florida, told ABC News: “Whenever insider, including directors, shares, this is not a positive signal”.

Ross Gerber Will Musk’s resignation

But that’s not all. One of the earliest Tesla investors, Ross Gerber, recently demanded the Tesla boss’s resignation, as he said in an interview with Sky Business Live. Gerber Musk asked to name a new group of corporations because Tesla’s reputation was “just destroyed by Elon Musk”. At the same time, the shareholder was still convinced by the electric car maker. So he recently wrote in an X contribution: “Apart from politics, Tesla does the best EV cars.”

Nevertheless, Gerber criticized Sky Business Live that “the company had been neglected for too long” and now needed someone who actually leads Tesla, because Musk “completely neglects Tesla”. “There are too many important things that Tesla does. Therefore, Elon should either return to Tesla and be Tesla’s CEO, or he should hand in his other jobs, or he should concentrate on the government and continue, but find a suitable CEO for Tesla.” At the end of 2024, Gerber’s asset manager continued 262,352 Tesla shares worth $ 105 million, as can be seen from second submissions. The position was shortened by 12,579 shares compared to the previous quarter.

Tesla sales figures decrease

But not only the Tesla share suffers from the course of Musk. The latest Tesla sales figures also show that the electric car maker is in the crisis. This was also shown by a survey by the market observer Deutsche Automobil Treuhand (dat), which says that 35 percent of the fleet manager surveyed would basically rethink the procurement of Tesla vehicles. “The activities of Elon Musk have led to the fact that the Tesla brand experienced a different perception in the market. In addition: other providers have caught up with the technology. Tesla was pioneer in many areas, which is no longer the case,” commented Martin Weiss, head of the DAT vehicle assessment, the results of the survey. In the first two months of this year, the Tesla new approvals in Germany also went down by a whopping 71 percent.

Gerber also sees Tesla “absolutely” in the crisis: “The sales break in, so yes, it is a crisis. You can literally not sell the best product on the market because the CEO is so controversial.” As Irish Star writes, the Tesla investor would have warned in the past that he would be left Tesla if the company’s performance does not improve. He also made it understand to Sky Business Live that he had separated from some of his stocks. “The way people see their brand is really crucial for part of the purchase process that people use,” he said. “We really identify with the cars we drive, especially in the United States, and when your brand is damaged in this way, that’s really bad,” said Gerber.

With his wish that Musk may return to Tesla to his tasks, Gerber is not alone. Tesla major shareholder Christopher Tsai also expressed this desire in mid-March in an interview with The Guardian: “I hope that his commitment [DOGE] It is only of short duration so that he can spend even more time for his business. “However, Tsai hurried to emphasize that his expressed hope is not a loss of trust in musk or the earnings potential of his company. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the market is unfavorable to Elon Musk’s latest commitment in politics.

Editor finance.net

By the way: Tesla and other US shares are even tradable at Finance.net Zero until 11 p.m. (without order fees, plus spreads). Open Depot now for free And receive a free stock as a gift.

Selected leverage products on Tesla

With knock-outs, speculative investors can participate disproportionately in price movements. Simply choose the desired lever and we will show you suitable open-end products on Tesla

Advertising

ttn-28