Former President Donald Trump could soon be announcing his bid to run for President of the United States again in the 2024 election. The 2024 election could see a rematch of Trump versus Joe Biden. Current president Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2022 election.
A return of Trump to the Oval Office could greatly impact several U.S. business sectors. One sector that could be impacted is the automotive sector with Biden and the Democratic-led Congress supporting the growth of electric vehicles. Trump has not been a strong advocate of EVs.
What Happened: An ongoing feud between Trump and Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk has escalated in recent years, with name-calling increasing after Musk publicly supported Ron DeSantis, who would be a potential opponent of Trump for the Republican nomination.
Musk said at the time that Trump would be “too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.”
Musk said Trump should instead “sail into the sunset” and stop his political aspirations.
Trump has called Musk “sloppy” and suggested he was on drugs. Trump also referred to Musk as an idiot after learning he had supported DeSantis.
The escalation increased as Musk has both supported and made fun of Truth Social, a social media platform owned by the Trump Media & Technology Group.
“It (Truth Social) is essentially a rightwing echo chamber. It might as well be called Trumpet,” Musk said of Truth Social.
Trump Media & Technology Group is in the process of merging with Digital World Acquisition Corporation DWAC.
Although there have been moments of agreement between Trump and Musk, as the former president praised the acquisition of Twitter by Musk. The praise by Trump could come as Musk has publicly said that he might overturn the ban of Trump on the social media platform.
Musk also shared a since-deleted picture of himself, Trump and Kanye West, who acquired Parler, as the three musketeers with the respective social media networks they own.
Here’s a look at how Tesla has performed against the S&P 500 since Trump announced he was running for President of the United States, and who had the last laugh.
Related Link: Donald Trump Will Announce 2024 Presidential Bid Later This Month
Investing in Tesla: Trump formally announced his presidential candidacy on June 16, 2015, at the Trump Tower in New York City.
Trump running for office and ultimately beating Hillary Clinton to be elected president was expected to be negative for a company like Tesla that had benefitted from some form of clean energy support from President Barack Obama.
Tesla shares did not fall under Trump’s time in office, and instead have been one of the best-performing stocks since 2015.
Tesla shares hit a split-adjusted high of $16.75 on June 16, 2015. A $1,000 investment could have purchased 59.70 shares of Tesla on the heels of Trump’s announcement. That $1,000 investment would be worth $12,474.32 today, representing a return of 1,147.4%.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY hit a high of $210.35 on June 16, 2015, the day of Trump’s announcement. A $1,000 investment could have purchased 4.75 shares of SPY. That $1,000 investment would be worth $1,787.62 today, representing a return of 78.8%.
As you can see, the investment in Tesla significantly outperformed the S&P 500.
Sometimes, politicians and those in charge of countries and policies matter less than a company’s financials and growth.
Read Next: 51 Facts About Tesla And SpaceX CEO Elon Musk
Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore on flickr
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