Tesla shares are plummeting, and Musk says it's hard to balance being DOGE and CEO.

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 With Wall Street selling off and concerns about a recession, Tesla shares fall 15%. Tesla investors are concerned about Elon Musk's political activities. Tesla's rally following the Trump election was destroyed by recent losses.

March 10 (Reuters) - In an interview with Fox Business on Monday, Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk stated that he is working with the Trump administration and running his businesses "with great difficulty." His remarks came after Tesla's stock market value dropped by $130 billion as a result of a widespread selloff on Wall Street, putting the electric car maker's shares at their lowest level since October. The shares of Tesla (TSLA.O) fell 15% to $222.15, putting a significant strain on the Nasdaq (). IXIC), opens a new tab, which lost 4% due to concerns that the Trump administration's tariffs on major U.S. trading partners might plunge the nation into a recession.

On Monday, the decline in Tesla's market capitalization exceeded Ford Motor (F.N.) and General Motors (GM.N.)'s combined stock market values of $86 billion. The last of a Tesla rally that nearly doubled the company's stock following the U.S. election on November 5 was wiped out by Monday's losses. Donald Trump is the president. The optimism that Tesla would benefit from Musk's close relationship with Trump drove that increase.

Tesla investors have expressed concern that Musk was losing focus on running Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI as a result of his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency to reduce government spending. In an interview on Monday, Larry Kudlow of Fox Business inquired about the pressure. "In other words, how do you manage your other businesses?" Kudlow asked.  "With great difficulty," Musk replied, with a sigh.

Supporters are betting on Musk's promises to deliver self-driving taxis and humanoid robots, which is why Tesla's stock has continued to trade at multiples significantly higher than those of other automakers despite the recent share decline. "Tesla Takedown" protests against the automaker in the United States and a decline in Tesla's sales in Europe have resulted from Musk's involvement in Trump's sweeping workforce reductions. On Sunday, dozens of people demonstrated against Musk at the Tesla showroom in Lisbon, some of whom carried signs that read "Boycott Tesla."

"The focus of the public seems to be on what he's doing for the federal government. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B, stated, "So if you're a shareholder, you can't help but wonder if that's not detracting from what he should be doing for the publicly traded company that he's running." Riley Assets Musk's support for far-right parties in Europe appears to be coming at a price for Tesla sales there.  The European Automobile Manufacturers Association reports that, while overall EV sales increased by over 37% in January, Tesla's car sales in Europe fell by 45% from the previous year. It is difficult to ascertain how much Musk's political activities influence Tesla's vehicle sales, which saw their first annual decline last year.

Other factors in the global EV market, according to analysts, include increased competition from Chinese brands and legacy automakers like GM.