Musk Loses $12B In A Day For Hissy Fit vs S&P Ratings, Biden 'Snub'

Elon Musk spent the latter part of the week on Twitter Inc., announcing his political switch from Democrat to Republican, trashing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards, and replying to users of the social media website he’s agreed to buy, Brian Chappatta reported for Bloomberg.

Photo Insert: Musk has been fuming over Tesla’s not being cited by US President Joe Biden as a foremost manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs) and he feels he is not indebted to the US government for providing Tesla with nearly $500 million in subsidies.

Tesla Inc., meanwhile, sank to the lowest level this year, wiping $12.3 billion from his wealth. All told, Musk has lost $49 billion since launching his bid for Twitter last month, partly as the wider market tumbled and as Tesla investors worried about the funding of the Twitter buyout.

Musk, 50, remains the world’s richest person, with a fortune of $209.9 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index says. He’s shaved $60.4 billion off his wealth this year, trailing only Binance’s Changpeng Zhao, who’s down $81 billion, and Jeff Bezos’s $62 billion drop.

Musk has grown weirdly vocal since launching his $44 billion offer for Twitter. Wednesday was no exception. He tweeted that ESG was “a scam” after Tesla lost its spot on an S&P Global index that tracks companies on their ESG standards.

He also predicted that “political attacks” on him would “escalate dramatically in coming months,” as The Guardian, Reuters, and the Associated Press (AP) reported, as if his ego matters to the US political establishment.

Musk howled: “Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn’t make the list! ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022.”

In a separate tweet, Musk said he’d supported Democrats in the past because “they were (mostly) the kindness party,” but has now changed his mind.

“They have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican,” he said.

Musk has been fuming over Tesla’s not being cited by US President Joe Biden as a foremost manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs) and he feels he is not indebted to the US government for providing Tesla with nearly $500 million in subsidies. He also pulled out Tesla from India since New Delhi slapped higher tariffs on his cars after Musk refused to build car parts in India.

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