Elon Musk’s net worth dropped by roughly $113 billion across Wednesday and Thursday as Tesla and SpaceX shares tumbled while the broader market rallied then reversed. The two-day decline, tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, coincided with a Democratic sweep of the midterm elections and a historic 3% surge in the Dow on Wednesday, its best post-midterm performance in 44 years, followed by a 2.9% drop on Thursday as AI-related names such as AMD and Micron were sold heavily.
The numbers behind the slide
Tesla fell 3.3% and SpaceX dropped 3.8% at Wednesday’s close, underperforming the S&P 500’s 1.6% gain and large-cap peers including Amazon and Apple, which rose 6.1% and 5.3% respectively, according to Fortune’s analysis. Musk lost $33.5 billion of paper wealth on Wednesday and a further $79.7 billion on Thursday. The combined market capitalization of the two companies contracted from about $3.5 trillion on Tuesday night to roughly $3.04 trillion by Thursday night, wiping out approximately $456 billion in total. As of Thursday, SpaceX’s market cap stood at $1.68 trillion, about 87% of its midterms-night level, while Tesla’s was $1.36 trillion, or 86% of its prior value.
Political scrutiny comes into focus
Investors are pricing in the prospect of heightened congressional oversight. Democrats have signaled plans to examine Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency and potential conflicts stemming from SpaceX’s billions in federal contracts. Incoming House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Robert Garcia has vowed to investigate “corporate corruption,” and his spokesperson told Politico on Oct. 20 that Musk’s DOGE involvement “is something we plan to investigate.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal has also asked Musk about SpaceX’s Defense Department contracts and Starlink access restrictions following reports that Ukraine’s military lost connectivity without notice.
Analysts split on the durability of the hit
CFRA Research senior equity analyst Keith Snyder characterized the selloff as a “knee-jerk reaction” that overestimates Democratic leverage. He noted that President Donald Trump retains veto power over major legislation and remains friendly toward Musk, while a Republican majority at the Federal Communications Commission limits the scope of regulatory interference, though Democrats could “dramatically slow things down.” Snyder also said the merger math does not add up for SpaceX shareholders. Dan Ives took a more bearish view, writing Thursday that a Tesla-SpaceX combination “faces a much tougher regulatory roadmap” partly because of political shifts in Texas, a dynamic that intersects with longer-running investor concerns about the sustainability of the AI infrastructure buildout.