The third-party struggle
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is lashing out at Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, telling the technology analyst to "Shut up."
On his social media platform X on Tuesday, the billionaire posted "Shut up, Dan," just hours after the analyst and Tesla fan recommended that the electric car maker's board of directors curb the CEO's political activity.
Ives' comments came in reaction to Musk's recent announcement of the formation of a new political party called the America Party. Musk had initially floated the idea of creating a new party last month in the midst of a resurrected feud with President Trump, sparked by the billionaire's public disapproval of the massive legislation whichhe described as an "insane spending bill." Mr. Trump signed the bill into law on July 4.
Tesla's stock fell nearly 7% on Monday following Musk's July 5 post on the formation of the America Party.
In addition to calling for the oversight on Musk's political endeavors by Tesla's board, Ives, a prominent voice in the tech world, also recommended that the board establish a new pay package for Musk that would limit his voting control to 25% and establish guardrails on how much time the tech mogul spends at Tesla.
Ives explained his rationale in a research note to investors Tuesday, in which he said Tesla cannot afford to have Musk focus his time on creating a political party.
"In a nutshell, we believe this is a tipping point in the Tesla story and ultimately the Tesla Board needs to act now and set the ground rules for Musk going forward around his political ambitions and actions," Ives wrote in his note Tuesday.
The struggling company, Ives said, needs Musk to stay on as CEO for the next five years given the role he would play in Tesla's "autonomous and robotics future." The company recently piloted its robotaxis in Austin, Texas, which Ives said at the time would be the start of the "golden era" for Tesla.
By going after seats in the Republican-Controlled Congress, Musk would become a "foe of Trump and the Republican party" which would not bode well for Tesla's shareholders, Ives said.
Musk has already received backlash for his involvement with the Trump administration. He served as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, for several months before announcing he would step back in May.
During that time, the Tesla brand took a major hit as vehicles and dealerships became a major target for vandalism.
Shares of the company are down 26% since the start of the year. Sales of the company's electric vehicles also fell more than 13% from April to June compared with the same time last year.
Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. Before joining the business and finance vertical, she worked at "60 Minutes," CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.
