If you don’t mind that the CEO of Tesla keeps posting antisemitic Tweets(X’s), a cheap, low-mileage Model 3 or Model X could be in your future. That’s because both owners and investors in Tesla are beginning to bail. Do a Google search of “embarrassed to drive a Tesla,” and there are about 4.5 million hits. Musk continues establishing he is a genuine antisemite.

Ross Gerber, a top Tesla investor, tweeted, “Sadly, this is a win for Rivian. I will be replacing my Tesla Model Y for a Rivian next year. I’m sure the rest of LA will as well.” Gerber held 420,000 shares of the stock through his investment firm Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investiment Management firm. 

What do Henry Ford and Elon Musk have in common?

He says that after Musk tweeted he was in agreement with a post on X espousing the Great Replacement Theory, Gerber says his clients are “pissed off.” “Getting a flood of messages from clients wanting out of Tesla and anything to do with Elon Musk,” he says. “Many saying they are selling their cars as well. What is he doing to the Tesla brand??!!?!?.” Indeed, but we’ve already seen Musk destroy Twitter/X with his welcoming of fringe theories and prevailing general hate toward different races. 

All of this is almost a carbon copy of another automotive antisemitic scion you may have heard of, Henry Ford. He was so admired by Adolph Hitler that he had a portrait of Ford on the wall behind his desk. He even made a compliment about Ford in “Mein Kampf.” 

Ford was pushing Jewish hate through his own “Dearborn Independent” newspaper. Musk has the modern version of a newspaper with Twitter/X. Technology and 100 years separate the two hateful industrialists, but the similarities are undeniable. 

“It takes a lifetime to build a reputation…”

We suppose that some thought Musk’s hateful tweets were just outliers or some sort of mistake. Many probably didn’t even know about some of the transphobic nonsense he was spewing last year. But it’s all coming together now that he is doubling down with his personal views and hate speech. We can already see thousands of Tesla used cars choking dealers’ lots.

Many turned a blind eye to Ford’s dark side as evidenced by the millions of cars he built and sold. And the same will probably be the case with Musk and Tesla. But it is amazing that in these times of white nationalist terrorism and the war in Gaza, people like Musk are so open about their dangerous and hateful views. 

Gerber’s last tweet says it all, “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a day to lose it.” Even if Musk shuts up today, the damage is done. EV buyers have more and more alternatives to Tesla popping up every week. That makes it so much easier to just dump a Tesla and move on. Selling it may not embarrass you as much as driving it, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see many used Teslas enter the market as Musk continues to tarnish the brand’s reputation.