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3471Kevin O’Leary, Chairman of O’Leary Ventures, says Tesla shareholders need to buckle up and think long term, even as the electric vehicle maker’s stock price gets whipsawed by controversy surrounding its CEO, Elon Musk.
“Volatility doesn’t scare me”
In a post on X and an interview with News Nation, O’Leary said Tesla’s chaos isn’t new, and it’s part of what you sign up for as an investor.
“If you own Tesla stock like I do, you’re already used to the chaos,” he wrote.
“This company doesn’t just move with earnings — it moves with Elon’s tweets. One post and the stock can swing 10%.”
His comments came after Tesla lost $152 billion in market cap on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop in its history, following a public spat between Musk and President Donald Trump.
Shares fell 14% after Trump threatened to revoke government contracts tied to Musk’s companies over disagreements related to EV tax credits in a new federal spending bill.
Despite the plunge, O’Leary is unfazed.
He says Tesla is not just a car company but “a bet on the future: EVs, robotics, autonomous driving. If you believe in the tech, you hold the stock.”
Brands can recover, he argues
O’Leary pushed back on the idea that the Musk-Trump feud has permanently damaged Tesla’s image.
“Everybody tells me the brand’s destroyed, yada yada yada, woof woof woof. Remember Tylenol?” he said in the interview.
“Everyone said there would never be another bottle of Tylenol on the shelves. It came back 10 times bigger.”
O’Leary was referring to the 1982 Tylenol scandal, when seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting cyanide-laced capsules.
Johnson & Johnson quickly pulled 31 million bottles from store shelves, launched public safety campaigns, and introduced tamper-proof packaging.
The brand eventually regained public trust and its market share.
Similarly, O’Leary believes Tesla can recover from brand damage caused by Musk’s political battles.
“Elon’s a unique individual. He’s a bombastic person,” he said in the interview. “But brands recover.”
Musk vs. Trump: “Just another bad date”
While some political observers say the rift between Musk and Trump could be lasting, especially after Musk brought up Epstein in his attacks, O’Leary sees it as temporary.
“Do you think the relationship ever recovers?” he was asked.
“I would say yes,” he responded. “It’s like a marriage. They had a little tiff. They had a bad date, and now they’re going to call each other and say, sorry about that, honey. Let’s work it out.”
According to O’Leary, both Musk and Trump are transactional and pragmatic. He thinks this kind of tweeting war is irrelevant to policy.
“These are two massive egos, but they’re also pragmatic. You think they’ll stay mad forever? No chance. It’s just another bad date,” he wrote.
What’s next for Tesla?
Even before this latest political dust-up, Tesla had been facing pressure.
The company is dealing with slowing EV sales in Europe, a weakening brand in the West, and looming expectations to launch a driverless ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, where competitor Waymo is already operating.
But for investors like O’Leary, short-term drama doesn’t shake long-term conviction.
“If you believe in the tech,” he said, you hold the stock.”
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