By Bernard Condon, Associated Press business writer
NEW YORK (AP) – Elon Musk leaves Washington after a brief but disrupted mission in the government, each returning to his numerous businesses, each with its own issues for the billionaires to deal with.
Starting with his electric car company Tesla. It is debatable how many masks achieved in his role as President Donald Trump’s main cost cutter, but it is clear that his relationship with right-wing politics has destroyed Tesla’s brand and tank sales.
Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) needs to rebuild its ad-based base. His aerospace company SpaceX looks financially promising, but we’ve seen some recent set-ups. And it is unclear whether his satellite business Starlink will be able to continue his impressive deal if Trump wasn’t nearby.
Let’s take a look at some of the major musk businesses.
Tesla trouble
Profits plummeted 71% at Tesla in the first three months of the year after Chinese competitors claimed the mantle as the world’s largest electric car dealer.
Big Question Now: Does leaving Washington help lure buyers?
Many others are uncertain, so the answer is important to revive profits. Tesla’s car lineup in aging and its foreign rivals are much more competitive. They will take market share from Tesla, even in the best circumstances.
Tesla’s decision to close the factory was instrumental in the first quarter struggle, as it remodeled its bestseller Model Y, among other temporary issues. But the blow from the Musk era in Washington has created doubt among some analysts.
In a note to clients, JP Morgan warned of “unprecedented brand damage.” And at one point, Wedbush Securities said, “This is a completely blown away crisis.”
The news from Europe earlier this week is not going well. Sales in April slumped in half.
Taxi without a driver
Another big test of Musk: Does Tesla’s first driver Res Taxi launch prove to be a success?
Musk has been talking about Robotaxis for over a decade, and next month they may finally be on the road. He tested the 10 OR20 Robotaxis in Austin, Texas, and has pledged to make it up to hundreds of thousands by the end of next year.
“Can you sleep in our car and wake up at your destination?” the billionaire asked investors during a conference call last month, before replied, “I’m sure it will be available in many U.S. cities by the end of this year.”
Investors are confident that Musk will provide, judging from a 50% jump in Tesla stocks since Musk issued that statement. However, he faces many challenges. Especially technically whether taxis work without hitting things or people work.
Last month, federal safety regulators requested data from Telsa about how Robotaxis works in low visibility conditions. That request came after an investigation last year with 2.4 million Teslas equipped with fully automated driving software, including several accidents, including those in which pedestrians were killed.
Even as Austin’s tests disappear intermittently, Musk faces another challenge: Waymo.
The unmanned taxi company Google Parent Alphabet rents has just recorded 10 million trips and is now open in San Francisco, Los Angeles and several other cities.
Advertising rebound on X?
After Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and opened it to all sorts of conspiracy theories, longtime advertisers began to flee. Musk then made the situation worse when he threatened them with “name and embarrassment” and sued them.
Advertisers are back now, but it may not be for a good reason.
“Some major brands have resumed spending on X to avoid a curry favor with the Trump administration or the possibility of retaliation by musk,” said e-meter analyst Jasmine Enberg. “But fear wasn’t sustainable motivation, most spent more than before.”
She hopes X’s advertising business will rebound this year, but it’s smaller than before Musk acquired the company.
Rockets Red Glare
It’s not clear how well masked rocket company SpaceX is working, as private companies have not disclosed their finances. That said, news headlines show both trouble and victory.
First, this week there was an explosion that explosion that rotated one of the company’s megarockets spacecraft on the Indian Ocean. It followed the explosion of two other spacecraft that sprayed fire fragments into the Caribbean sea earlier this year.
Like crazy, Musk immediately swears to do some more tests, but the interests are high and the clock is ticking. NASA wants to use the spacecraft for future missions to the moon. This involves attempting to orbit the moon and sending four astronauts home.
The good news is that investors who have been peeking into SpaceX’s finances are clearly excited.
It is reportedly a recent private sale of stock following the company’s private funding round a few months ago, but SpaceX is valued at $350 billion, a major jump from its $210 billion estimate just a year ago.
It’s business, not politics – or is it?
The SpaceX Satellite Internet subsidiary, called Starlink, is also doing impressive deals for setting up abroad. However, it is not clear that the amounts, which are caused by cold business calculations and politics, could disappear as masks leave Washington.
Following Trump on a trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, Musk announced that the country has approved Starlink Services for aviation and maritime use. It follows a decision by Bangladeshi regulators to grant approval for the services. Bangladeshi’s clothing industry has been devastated with Trump’s threatened 37% tariffs and a series of other deals in India, Pakistan and Lesotho in recent months.
Next up: South Africa, maybe.
Earlier this month, after dressing down the country’s president’s oval office, the country’s regulators loosened the rules in a way that would help Starlink gain the country’s foothold. Musk called rules calling for black partial ownership of a new foreign venture “openly racist.”
The country denies that politics had an impact on the decision.
Associated writer Barbara Ortutay contributed to this San Francisco story.
Original issue: May 30, 2025 8:54am EDT
