Tesla shares tumbled yesterday as investors became nervous over Elon Musk’s latest foray into politics.
The car maker’s billionaire boss said he would start his own political party, in an escalation of his bitter feud with Donald Trump.
Tesla shares fell more than 7% as a consequence yesterday – wiping around £56billion off its value.
The stock is down more than 20% so far this year while Musk’s own fortune has tumbled by more than £50billion.
Dan Ives, an analyst at wealth manager Wedbush, told the Daily Mail that Musk’s decision to launch the America Party to challenge the Republicans and Democrats is "the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story".
He added: 'While the core Musk supporters will back him at every turn no matter what, there is a broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track."
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was up 8 points at 8,809 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were down 0.53% at $68.88 a barrel.