'Partisan effect' | The cost of controversial leadership: study links Musk's politics to steep Tesla sales drop

The danger of business leaders taking getting too involved in politics has been laid bare by new research into sales of Tesla vehicles, which says Elon Musk's activities within the Trump administration caused a significant sales slump.

Musk’s growing political interference has taken a measurable toll on Tesla’s sales performance, according to new research quantifying the impact of his actions since acquiring Twitter (now X) in 2022.

The study, published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research and authored by Yale University economists, found Tesla’s US sales would have been between 67% and 83% higher - an estimated 1 million to 1.26 million additional vehicles - had it not been for what the researchers call the “Musk partisan effect.”

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The report is the first to tie Tesla’s commercial decline directly to the billionaire’s political behavior, which includes his service in Trump’s administration and roughly $300 million in donations to Republican candidates.