The View’s audience broke out in applause as ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis described Elon Musk losing most of his wealth if Tesla’s current market struggles ultimately lead to failure.
Musk’s Tesla has been facing a hit in its stock as Musk’s role with President Donald Trump’s administration and DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) have taken up much of his attention. Trump made a public showing of support this week by buying a Tesla vehicle and having it delivered to the White House.
On Wednesday’s The View, Jarvis, chief business, technology, and economics correspondent for ABC, joined the table and touched on the current state of Tesla and painted a scenario where Musk loses much of his wealth if Tesla “goes away,” as well as one where investors tell him he must end his time with DOGE and return attention to his private businesses.
“While all of this is happening with the economy and it’s hurting everyday people, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is taking a financial hit, which is why President Trump decided to buy a Tesla as a show of support. So I want to ask you, how much have boycotts roiled the company and how quickly can the brand recover from this kind of public souring?” Sara Haines asked Jarvis.
“Certainly investors are asking that question, how quickly can it recover. That’s why you see this gigantic hit. The stock is down, it’s wiped out $800 billion in value. You have to also think about the fact that this is the majority of Elon Musk’s wealth. It is tied up in this company. So if this company goes away, so does his wealth,” Jarvis said.
“That is so sad! Not!” Joy Behar said as the audience was applauding Tesla’s hypothetical failure.
“I think one of the big questions is what is his role at Tesla going forward?” Jarvis said. “Because that’s what his wealth is tied to, and you look at public filings, they said in the recent public filing the biggest risk to Tesla is how important Elon Musk is to Tesla. And investors, if they’ve lost enough money, they might say, come on back, you can’t spend your time at DOGE.”
On top of taking stock hits, Tesla has also been targeted in recent weeks by protests, some violent, leading to arrests in multiple states, including New York where demonstrators took over a Manhattan showroom in protest of Musk’s work.
Watch above via ABC.