Tesla and SpaceX shares tumble after Democrats sweep US midterms

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX fell sharply Wednesday after Democrats won sweeping victories in the US midterm elections, with Tesla dropping over 5% and SpaceX more than 7% at the market open. Musk spent nearly $500 million supporting Republican candidates, including about $224 million in Texas, where both companies are headquartered, backing losing campaigns such as Ken Paxton’s Senate bid. The political shift could bring greater scrutiny to the firms’ extensive Texas infrastructure projects, including a planned $100 billion chip plant. Despite the losses, Musk’s contributions were a tiny fraction of his $898 billion net worth, equivalent to about $217 for a median-wealth American. He joked on X about moving data centers to space and deleted his earlier “vote red today” post.