With Tesla shares down 41% so far in 2025, Elon Musk said his time spent with the Department of Government Efficiency will “drop significantly” starting next month.
The announcement came Tuesday during opening remarks of Tesla’s quarterly earnings call. Tesla’s stock suffered its worst quarterly drop since 2022 in the three months that ended in March.
“As people know, there’s been some blowback with the time I’m spending in DOGE,” Musk said.
The mercurial CEO tried to downplay concerns that the brand is tarnished by his involvement with the Trump administration, claiming that protesters who have appeared at Tesla dealerships are “well paid.”
“The actual reason [they’re protesting] is that they wish to continue to receive waste and fraud,” Musk said.
“But the large work of getting DOGE in place is mostly done,” he added. “Starting next month, I will be allocating much more of my time at Tesla.”
Musk has been running his portfolio of companies — including Tesla, SpaceX, and X — alongside his role at DOGE. He has gained access to sensitive data and gutted entire federal agencies in his attempts to cut government spending — moves that have sparked nationwide protests at Tesla showrooms.
The company’s stock is down approximately 40% for the year to date, reflecting concerns over declining sales, increased competition, and Musk’s DOGE activities. The biggest portion of Musk’s fortune of more than $350 billion comes from his Tesla holdings.
Ahead of the earnings call, investors submitted questions. Dozens asked about Musk’s focus on DOGE and when he will return his attention to Tesla.
“Can Elon please provide some reassurance that at some point soon he will be done with DOGE and politics?” one investor asked. “Many Tesla shareholders wish he would reprioritize the majority of his time and effort to engineering.”
Dan Ives, a Tesla analyst at Wedbush Securities and longtime Musk supporter, said the company faces a “code-red situation” if its CEO stays at DOGE.
“Musk needs to leave the government, take a major step back on DOGE, and get back to being CEO of Tesla full-time,” said Ives.
Tesla would have lost money on automotive sales this quarter without environmental regulatory credits provided by the federal government. Revenue from the credits, which the company receives for selling its electric cars, increased to $595 million from $432 million in the same quarter last year, according to the company’s filings.
Musk added that Tesla is in the process of “localizing” its supply chains to reduce dependency on foreign imports. He claimed that Tesla is the “least-affected car company” with respect to tariffs.
“Those decisions are entirely up the president,” Musk said of Donald Trump’s trade policy. “I can relay my advice, but it’s up to him. I’ve been on the record that lower tariffs are better overall for prosperity.”