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In a joint press event with President Trump in the Oval Office, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk formally announced his departure from the administration. He has publicly recommitted himself to lead his electric vehicle company as he stepped back from his lead role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in recent weeks.
Yahoo Finance senior autos reporter Pras Subramanian joins a panel discussion covering Musk's latest controversies, his work with the Trump administration, and how Tesla investors should be viewing his return to the helm of the auto innovator and his handful of other companies.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here.
Well Elon Musk's time in the US government is coming to an end, but he might not be completely out for good.
Well, I expect to continue to provide advice whenever the president would like advice from me. I mean, I expect to remain a friend and an advisor, and certainly if there's anything the president wants me to do, I'm at President's service.
Well for more on Musk's next chapter, let's get to Yahoo Finances Pras Subramanian. Pras, you were listening. What did you make of that presser?
No we got we got to rewind. I mean, the big bombshell today was the the report of alleged drug use by the New York Times, more than what had been originally thought. Ketamine, mushrooms, so much ketamine that he potentially had a bladder injury. These were all reports that that came out today, this morning New York Times. Uh, Musk was asked about it, and he said, quote, "That New York Times, the front of New York Times that had put out a report on the Russian hoax stuff," all that stuff. He said, "I'm going to move on. Let's move on." He didn't address it. Didn't deny, didn't address it. And Jen brought up the fact that he also had a peculiar eye injury. That was the story.
Didn't want to. Yeah, that's why I thought you were going to lead with the shiner. Well, Jen stole your thunder. That's where, yeah. Thunder was stolen, so I'm bringing that back.
And pinned that on X, I think. His kid. That his son is a lefty, uh, a right shiner. But yeah, all very interesting stuff here. Uh, Musk, yes, he did say that he's coming back to Tesla and SpaceX and X full-time. Uh, but of course, today's report on that alleged drug use, the the shiner on on on his on his face in the Oval Office plus the sort of non-answer, non-denial of it all really kind of is concerning. I mean, if you're a if you're a Tesla investor, Tesla analyst, a fan of the company, et cetera, you're kind of wondering what's going on here with with Elon. Is he really sort of having some issues here potentially, given the fact that he looked like he had an injury.
Do you think, Pras, that now that he's going back to work full-time, right, and this is sort of the exit, do you think when he was with Trump, it was a very outspoken, hard-hitting Elon Musk, very political, no prisoners. And I don't know how many analysts we have talked to on the show saying, "Well," in their opinion, "Could that have done some brand damage? Maybe it won over some Republicans, but maybe it turned off some Democrats." I just wonder, do you think now that he is rotating out of government, right, goes back to work, does he, would you expect him to dial all that back down?
I think he's already doing that. The last few weeks that when he sort of hinted at his return to his businesses, he did say that, or he did sort of tweet less about the political stuff, the social stuff. Talking more about SpaceX, x.com, more about Tesla's sort of technology. Tweeted about the Model X yesterday. So we're seeing more about his return to his businesses. I think everyone would like to see that, who is an investor in his companies, and I think that's already happening. But with Musk, you never know. He loves the drama, apparently, and he can always kind of come back into that world.
Pras, I just, if you read through that New York Times article and you look at everything that's happening, and the theory, the rally in the stock realistically over the last month has been Musk is coming back, right? That's the key catalyst we've been talking about, key catalyst we've been talking about. And I'm just sitting here wondering, I get Elon the visionary. I totally get it. Doesn't it still feel like he has his mind in seven different places? And we're still having the conversation like when he bought Twitter, where it's like, "Which one is he working at?" He he runs so many businesses that it's like, what is he literally doing at Tesla on a daily basis that is going to help the company tomorrow? And for me, I just feel like it's hard to picture at this point.
You know, he's always been a kind of guy that's had a lot of sort of hats to wear, right? He makes a joke about that, but he's been able to sort of, you know, partition his time with SpaceX and with Boring Company and Tesla and still been highly functional. I think that, um, there was concerns about him buying X, right, back in the back then, Twitter. Uh, now you're seeing to the point that if he just peels back from the political stuff, we'll accept the his hats in different arenas with his companies. I think that's that's okay. I think the second big factor is the fact that the stock is up because of the fact that Austin cyber robo taxi testing begins next month, potentially as early as June 12th. He said they're actually already doing these limited tests. That's the big thing everyone wants to hear about, want to hear more about that in probably next quarter earnings. That's the big holy grail for the company, unlocking potentially trillions in value, as some analysts have said, like Dan Ives, for instance.
Why are Tesla investors so forgiving of Elon Musk?
I mean, I would have to say it has to do with the fact that he's a visionary. They they buy into his into his sort of, uh, uh, reason of being. He he he took a private company and went into space. No other company's done that privately. Uh, look at EVs. Before we had EVs that were bulbous and ugly and slow, he made them cool and fast and exciting. So I think that's all part of his, you know, this is sort of the the vision of who he is and why he's so compelling as a character. And he is a little awkward, but he's also kind of charismatic, too, in his own way. So I think that's why we're seeing the stock, the retail investors, still staying with the company. And there are some big professional money investors that are actually in the company, too. They haven't left yet, so.
And it you can't, it's hard to think of another company, Pras, that is so connected to that CEO. I mean, Musk is Tesla. Tesla is Musk.
Yeah, we've talked about this before, and I think there's also, there is a deep bench at that company. So it is a large company. There's a lot of people there that still work that are very talented, but I think Musk drives the overall, "What is Tesla?" It's him. And that's that's what I think a lot of people want to see is him back at the wheel essentially, and back in Austin.
Pras, thank you, man. Appreciate it.
