Tesla shares soar pre-market as Trump hails ‘genius’ Musk

Shares in Tesla soared in pre-market trading Wednesday after Donald Trump claimed victory in the US presidential election and hailed the electric car company’s boss Elon Musk as a “genius”.

Tesla shares were up more than 15 percent at $289.44 in after-hours deals before the opening bell on Wall Street.

Investors welcomed the prospect of a Trump victory as Wall Street futures — bets on what the price of a stock will be at a later date — jumped as the former president appeared poised to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris.

Musk shared a photo on his social media platform X showing him with Trump at an election watch party in Florida, and the Republican candidate singled him out during a celebratory speech.

“We have a new star, a star is born: Elon,” Trump said, marvelling at Musk’s SpaceX rocket and the deployment of the Starlink satellite internet service during Hurricane Helene.

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“He’s an amazing guy,” Trump said. “He’s a character, he’s a special guy, he’s a super genius.”

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Musk staunchly supported Trump during the campaign through America PAC, a political action committee that contributed tens of millions of dollars and doled out $1 million giveaways to registered voters in key states.

“Tesla shares are rising … due to his special ties with Donald Trump,” Andrea Tueni, analyst at Saxobank, told AFP.

Trump, Tueni said, “owes him a lot”.

Investors are betting that their closeness “will turn into something positive for Tesla”, Tueni added.

Trump said during the campaign that, if he won the White House, he would install the tech billionaire at the head of a government efficiency commission to eliminate “trillions” of dollars in wasteful spending.