Tesla, SpaceX shares plunge after Republicans’ midterm defeat

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX fell in premarket trading on Wednesday after Democrats won both houses of Congress in the midterm elections, The New York Times reports.

Tesla’s stock dropped over 6 per cent, while SpaceX slid 5.6 per cent to below $135, its June IPO price.

Musk spent at least $474 million backing Republican candidates. That is the most any donor has spent in a U.S. election cycle, apart from candidates funding their own campaigns.

About $224 million went to Texas races, including Ken Paxton’s losing Senate bid against James Talarico.

Some Democrats have signalled plans to investigate the world’s richest man, which could complicate a possible merger between the two companies.

“They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we’ll be printing,” Senator Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, posted on X.

Musk later joked on X: “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.