At Tesla, some are celebrating stock gains — others worry Elon will lose focus

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Tesla employees are contending with a CEO whose list of commitments grows by the day. Many are also looking at a potential windfall as the company’s stock price soars.

That has been the dilemma for workers at the automaker ever since Elon Musk became part of the president-elect’s close circle.

“It feels like a lot of political theater,” one worker said. “We sell cars. Anywhere else you’d expect the CEO to be focused on that.”

Business Insider spoke with nine current employees in states across the country, including California and Texas. Though they represent a sliver of the automaker’s global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the conversations offer a glimpse into the internal response to the election.

Some workers said they wished Musk would focus more on Tesla. Others saw promise in Trump’s economic plans. Still others worried Trump’s policies could undermine Tesla’s clean energy mission. Most celebrated the company’s surging stock price — it’s up nearly 33% year to date — as Tesla stock makes up a significant share of most workers’ compensation.

“Since being hired, the stock has primarily trended sideways, and it was difficult for a lot of employees to see value in the company as many of us are given stock to compensate for lower hourly pay,” one employee said. “Now that the stock is moving in a positive direction, there is a sense of renewed hope for the company with employees generally.”

Musk’s growing list of commitments

In the runup to the election, Tesla CEO Elon Musk threw his money and influence behind Donald Trump.

He gave speeches, hosted rallies in swing states, posted frequently on X, and funneled at least $119 million into a pro-Trump super PAC called America PAC.

On Tuesday, President-elect Trump announced that Musk would take on an advisory role and co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

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Six workers said they felt Musk had taken his focus off Tesla. The DOGE advisory role will be another time commitment for Musk, who already leads six other companies. Musk’s private jet has flown to and from Palm Beach, Florida, near Trump’s estate in Mar-a-Lago, five times since November 5, according to data from the jet-tracking company JetSpy. On Wednesday, Musk’s jet flew from Palm Beach to an airport near Washington, DC, where he attended Trump’s first postelection meeting with House Republicans, and then back to Palm Beach.

Tesla and Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Some Tesla factory workers in Texas and California were given time off to vote on Election Day in compliance with state laws, multiple factory workers in both states said. Separately, Tesla managers were sent a guide on how to address political discussions in the workplace, one worker said.

Postelection, three employees said the election hasn’t been discussed much at work. “No one is saying anything,” said one employee. “I think everyone is just waiting to see how this all plays out now.”

“There’s this feeling that no one fully knows where anyone else stands,” one manager told BI.

Hope, celebration, and conflict

Some Tesla-connected figures have been open about the election. Tesla’s director of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, posted about Trump’s victory on X.

Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk’s brother and a Tesla board member, also appeared to celebrate the win.

One engineer said that while they hadn’t voted for Trump, they felt Musk could “supercharge” the US government. Another employee who did vote for Trump said they were “excited for what this could mean for Tesla and for our country.”

For others who spoke to Business Insider, the rising share price led to conflicted emotions.

One employee said that Trump’s climate-crisis denial could be a roadblock to Tesla’s mission of transitioning to sustainable energy.

Trump has said he plans to increase US oil production and may roll back vehicle-emissions standards and incentives designed to promote the production and adoption of electric cars. At an October rally in Detroit, Trump said he planned to “frack, frack, frack, and drill, baby, drill.” Musk has said in the past that he doesn’t agree with tax incentives for electric cars.

“On one hand, you want to celebrate the fact that the stock is up an insane amount,” the employee said. “But on the other, it’s difficult to be truly happy because of Trump and what it means for Tesla’s mission.”

Do you work at one of Musk’s companies or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com or 248-894-6012