SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk participates in a town hall-style meeting to promote early and absentee voting at Ridley High School on October 17, 2024 in Folsom, Pennsylvania.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Shares of Tesla surged overnight as investors bet a potential Donald Trump election victory would benefit major backer and CEO of the carmaker, Elon Musk.
Tesla shares jumped 8% in overnight trading on Robinhood brokerage platform.
Last month, Musk donated almost $75 million to America PAC, which is the super political action committee that he established earlier in the year to support the Republican nominee.
Trump has promised to appoint Musk as the head of a government efficiency commission, if elected. During his speech at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in late October, the SpaceX owner said he could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget in that role.
“Your money is being wasted, and the department of government efficiency is gonna fix that,” he said at the rally. “We’re going to get the government off your back and out of your pocketbook.”
TSLA, year-to-date
As of Tuesday’s close, the stock has substantially underperformed the broader market this year, with shares rising about 1.2% compared with the 21.2% year-to-date gains seen by the S&P 500.
In Tuesday’s regular session, Tesla advanced 3.5%, breaking a six-day losing streak.
