Tesla and SpaceX shares slide after Democrats sweep midterm elections

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX fell sharply Wednesday after Democrats won sweeping victories in the midterm elections, gaining control of both houses of Congress. Tesla’s stock dropped over 5% at market open, while SpaceX fell more than 7% before recovering some losses. Musk spent nearly $500 million supporting Republican candidates, including $224 million in Texas, where both companies are headquartered. Democrats have signaled plans to investigate the world’s richest person, with Sen. Ed Markey posting about potential subpoenas for technology executives. The political shift could complicate SpaceX and Tesla’s planned merger and a joint $100 billion chip plant in Texas, which will now have a Democratic governor. Musk, worth $898 billion, joked on X about moving data centers to space and deleted his earlier “vote red today” post.