- Tesla and SpaceX lost about $456 billion in combined market value between Election Day's close and Thursday's close.
- SpaceX now trades below its $135 IPO price from June.
- Investors fear probes and tougher rules under a Democratic Congress and a newly blue Texas, but a wider tech sell-off is also to blame.
- Elon Musk is down roughly $90 billion in a week, though he remains the richest person on the planet.
Two trading days. That is all it took for Elon Musk's two biggest companies to shed a sum larger than the entire economy of many mid-sized countries. By Thursday's close, Tesla and SpaceX had lost roughly $456 billion in combined market value since the polls closed on Tuesday, and the first question most people asked me was simple: did the midterms really do this?
The honest answer is yes and no. Politics lit the match, but a rough day for tech stocks supplied plenty of fuel. Let me walk through what actually happened.
The numbers, day by day
Tesla closed on Election Day at $398.50. By Thursday it was at $343.69, a fall of about 13.8 percent over the two sessions, or roughly $216 billion in value. Thursday alone was brutal: Tesla dropped close to 11 percent in a single day.
SpaceX, which listed on Nasdaq in June at $135 a share, slid from $141.31 to $123.62 over the same stretch. That is a drop of about 12.5 percent and roughly $240 billion. It also means the stock now sits under its IPO price, which is not a headline anyone at Starbase wanted this month.
| Company | Election Day close | Thursday close | Change | Approx. value lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla (TSLA) | $398.50 | $343.69 | -13.8% | ~$216 billion |
| SpaceX (SPCX) | $141.31 | $123.62 | -12.5% | ~$240 billion |
| Combined | – | – | – | ~$456 billion |
One thing worth flagging if you are comparing headlines: you will see $420 billion, $450 billion, $456 billion and $457 billion floating around. They are all describing the same slide. The lower number was an intraday snapshot, and the higher ones came after the closing bell, with small differences in how share counts were applied.
Musk's own fortune took the hit too. Forbes pegs the drop at about $90 billion over the week, leaving him just under $800 billion. Bloomberg's index put him around $785 billion after Thursday's session. After the SpaceX listing in June he had briefly topped $1 trillion.
Why investors got nervous
The short version is that markets hate uncertainty, and Musk's businesses suddenly have a lot of it. Democrats now control Congress, and investors are worried about two things: new investigations aimed at Musk's companies, and tighter regulation of the AI and data-centre buildout that both Tesla and SpaceX are leaning on.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank said they could see SpaceX facing some extra headwinds in this kind of environment. Another wrinkle is the long-floated idea of a SpaceX and Tesla merger. More regulatory scrutiny would make any such deal harder, and it would need shareholder approval anyway.
Washington is not the only worry. Texas is where it gets personal.
Texas turned blue, and that matters more than it sounds
Texas is the backbone of Musk's empire. It is home to Tesla's headquarters and its largest US factory, SpaceX's Starbase launch site, and the planned Terafab chip plant. This week Democrats won the biggest offices in the state for the first time in decades.
- Governor: Gina Hinojosa beat incumbent Greg Abbott. She has talked about halting new data centres and has already challenged tax breaks given to Musk's companies, including roughly $1.7 billion in school tax breaks tied to Terafab and over $54 million in state grants to SpaceX.
- US Senate: James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, the candidate Musk's money had propped up.
- Attorney General: Nathan Johnson becomes the first Democrat in that job since 1994, and he has reportedly signalled interest in looking at around $110 million in state grants to Starlink.
Add the federal side. SpaceX had booked about $6.78 billion in federal contracts by early October, including satellites for the Golden Dome missile-defence programme. Senator Ted Cruz has warned that Democrats could use subpoenas to go after Musk. When a company leans that heavily on government work, a hostile Congress is a real risk, not just noise.
The $474 million bet that didn't land
Musk was the single biggest political donor of this cycle. By mid-October, a New York Times tally put his spending at around $474 million, mostly through his own America PAC (about $216 million), the Senate Leadership Fund ($168 million) and the Congressional Leadership Fund ($30 million). About $212 million went toward Paxton's Senate run in Texas alone.
It did not buy much. A Forbes analysis found that 44 of the 106 candidates he backed lost and only 18 won, mostly in seats Republicans were always going to hold. On Election Day he urged followers on X to vote red; by Wednesday morning that post had been deleted, with no explanation.
My read: the donations themselves barely dent a fortune this size. What hurts is that Musk tied his brand to one side of a race that went the other way, in the very state where his companies have the most to lose.
It was not only Musk, though
I want to be fair here, because the "Musk lost the election and his stocks crashed" story is neat but incomplete. The Nasdaq was heading for its worst day in about 18 months on Thursday. Chip and AI names such as AMD and Micron fell by as much as 16 percent at one point, and data-centre players like CoreWeave and Nebius dropped 15 to 18 percent.
So part of the Tesla and SpaceX fall is simply Musk's companies being valued like AI infrastructure plays at a moment when the market got scared about AI infrastructure. His political exposure made them fall harder than most.
What happens next
Nothing happens overnight. The new Congress does not sit until January, and any law aimed at data centres would still have to get past President Trump's veto. State-level action in Texas could move faster, especially on tax breaks and grants.
Here is what I would watch over the coming weeks:
- Whether Texas officials actually act on the tax breaks and grants, or just talk.
- Committee announcements in January, and whether Musk's companies appear on any subpoena lists.
- Whether SpaceX recovers above its $135 IPO price or keeps slipping.
- Any new comment from Musk on the SpaceX-Tesla merger idea.
- Whether the wider AI stock sell-off calms down or deepens.
Remember that $456 billion is a drop in market value, not cash that vanished from a bank account. It is the market's way of saying it now sees more risk than it did last Tuesday. Prices can and do bounce back, and they can fall further. This is reporting, not investment advice.
The bottom line
Tesla and SpaceX lost about $456 billion in two days because three things hit at once: a Democratic Congress, a Democratic sweep of top offices in Texas, and a tech sell-off that did not care who Musk voted for. Political risk is now part of the pricing for both companies, and that is unlikely to fade quickly.
After years of covering earnings seasons and election nights, I have learned that the first reaction is rarely the final one. The next few months will show whether this was a panic or the start of a real repricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Tesla and SpaceX lose after the midterms?
About $456 billion in combined market value between Tuesday's close and Thursday's close on November 5, 2026. Earlier reports said more than $420 billion, and some outlets calculated about $457 billion, depending on the method.
Why did Tesla and SpaceX shares fall?
Investors worry about congressional probes, stricter regulation and pressure on data centres under a Democratic Congress and new Democratic leadership in Texas. A broad tech and AI sell-off added to the damage.
Is SpaceX stock below its IPO price?
Yes. SpaceX closed Thursday around $123.62, under the $135 IPO price set in June 2026.
How much is Elon Musk worth now?
Roughly $785 billion to $790 billion, depending on the index. That is about $90 billion lower than a week ago, and below the $1 trillion peak after the SpaceX IPO. He is still the world's richest person.
How much did Musk spend on the midterms?
About $474 million by mid-October, according to a New York Times tally, including roughly $212 million toward Ken Paxton's Texas Senate campaign. Paxton lost to James Talarico.
Is the $456 billion a real cash loss?
No. It is a fall in market capitalisation, or paper value. It becomes a realised loss only when shares are sold at the lower price.
Should I buy or sell Tesla and SpaceX now?
This article is news coverage, not financial advice. Prices are moving quickly, so talk to a licensed financial adviser before making any decision.
Sources
- CNBC, "Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX lose over $420 billion in combined market cap after midterms," Nov 5, 2026
- Trending Topics, "The 'Elon Sell-Off': Tesla and SpaceX Lose $457 Billion After Musk's Election Flop," Nov 6, 2026
- TradingView News, "Tesla and SpaceX Shed $456 Billion, Elon Musk Loses Nearly $80 Billion in a Day"
- Forbes and Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates, as cited above; Fast Company and The New York Times on Musk's political spending