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Tesla Takedown - a grassroots movement that aims to bankrupt Elon Musk by hammering Tesla's share price, intending to induce a margin call on the mega-billionaire's X-related debt - organized massive protests across the globe at Tesla dealerships on Sunday. Yet, Elon Musk has very shrewdly eliminated any possibility of a margin call, which speaks volumes as to the futility of the movement's end goals.
The #TeslaTakedown movement is pointless because 1) Musk only owns 13% of Tesla so you're hurting 401Ks more than Elon 2) Even if Tesla went to zero, Musk would still be worth 200B ($135B from SpaceX alone) 3) These protests, especially violent ones are backfiring as you're… pic.twitter.com/UAVwinBD6s
— Xander Johnson (@XanderBJohnson) March 21, 2025
Even before Friday's chess move by Elon Musk, some remained unconvinced as to the utility of Tesla Takedown's actions, pointing to ordinary investors' bleeding 401Ks as emblematic of an unacceptable form of collateral damage. Also, given Musk's sizable stake in SpaceX, personal bankruptcy for the mega-billionaire remained an extreme tail-end possibility even before the measures announced on Friday.
$TSLA On March 29, 2025, protests were organized across the globe at Tesla dealerships in response to Elon Musk's involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and his influence on sweeping federal budget cuts.
Demonstrators in various cities, including…
— Special Situations 🌐 Research Newsletter (Jay) (@SpecialSitsNews) March 30, 2025
Yet, inexplicably, the Tesla Takedown movement continues to gain momentum across the globe, as highlighted by the impressive array of Tesla dealerships that were subjected to protests this Sunday.
Before this Friday, the movement had a discernible target: to reduce Tesla's share price to the ~$114 price level, at which point Musk's $12.5 billion margin debt - incurred during X's acquisition process - became callable.
However, as we noted on Friday, Elon Musk's xAI has formally acquired X in an all-stock deal that values the AI-focused enterprise at $80 billion and the social media platform at $33 billion inclusive of ~$12 billion in liabilities (Musk's margin loans).
Basically, Elon Musk has offloaded his X-related margin debt on xAI, which itself is a private entity and not subject to the vagaries of the market. In so doing, the mega-billionaire has precluded the possibility of selling billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to satisfy any margin call that might have been triggered as a result of the stock's continuing precipitous fall.
BREAKING: Tesla Likely Finished In Germany As 94% Surveyed Say They’d Never Buy Musk’s EVs pic.twitter.com/g3RnixQHET
— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) March 29, 2025
Of course, while the biggest tail-end risk for Tesla investors has evaporated, the situation remains precarious for the EV giant by any definition of the word. Consider the fact that a whopping 94 percent of Germans recently surveyed expressed negative views on Tesla. For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Musk alienated a large segment of the German population when he wholeheartedly supported the far-right AfD party in recent elections. Meanwhile, in the US, Elon Musk's DOGE-related activities continue to drive a political wedge into Tesla's brand image.
I think @tesla is working really hard to deliver an insane amount of cars in the US before Q1 comes to an end. Two referral accounts I used went crazy in March. 20 cars sold and started using a 3rd referral account.
Can’t wait to see the numbers on 4/2 $tsla @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/0Ot0VZwCG4— Ramy (@TeslaXplored) March 30, 2025
In the near-term, Tesla's upcoming quarterly delivery figures could prove to be a sizable blow, hence the company's all-out efforts to try to drive sales by any measure possible.
President Trump says he “couldn’t care less” if automakers hike prices after his 25% auto tariff kicks in, adding he hopes it pushes more buyers toward American-made cars. Starting Apr. 3rd, the tariffs hit all imported vehicles and parts outside NAFTA. JPMorgan expects prices to… pic.twitter.com/eyFUFutXSc
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) March 30, 2025
In this epic maelstrom, Tesla does have one thing going for it: Trump's 25 percent tariffs on imported cars and auto parts. After all, Teslas are currently some of the most innately American cars on the market, and remain unaffected by Trump's tariffs.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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