How Musk's Political Shift Reshaped His Empire's Valuations

Since pivoting toward Trump’s camp in 2022, Elon Musk’s companies have experienced wildly divergent fates — some soaring, others bleeding value. Here’s the real story behind the numbers.

The X Collapse

Musk’s Twitter acquisition in 2022 for $44B now looks like a cautionary tale. According to Fidelity’s latest filings, the investment firm’s X shares have cratered from $19.66M to just $5.6M, eventually dropping further to $4.2M. Bottom line: X is trading at roughly 80% below its 2022 valuation. That’s not a dip — that’s a freefall. Going private didn’t shield it from market gravity.

Tesla’s Rough 2025

Tesla got hammered in Q1 2025, shedding over a third of its value before a modest rebound. The culprits? A perfect storm: Musk’s political baggage scaring off buyers, China sales down 50%, EU headwinds, plus tariff uncertainty from Trump’s policies. The irony isn’t lost — the very political alignment that energized Musk’s base may be costing him sales where it matters most.

The Winners: SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI

Not all the news is grim. SpaceX just pulled off a 67% valuation jump ($210B → $350B) via secondary share sales, suggesting serious investor confidence. Neuralink’s brain-chip bet paid off too — valued at $5B in mid-2023, it’s now worth $8B after first human trials.

Biggest shock? xAI. Musk bought X back for $33B (a $11B discount from his original price), then immediately claimed xAI’s valuation doubled from $50B to $80B in the same breath. Whether that holds up or is pure founder optimism remains to be seen.

The Pattern

Musk’s hardware/space bets are thriving. His social media gamble is in free fall. The political capital? Seems to cut both ways — energizing some investors while repelling others.