Musk to refocus on Tesla job as profit plunges

Elon Musk says he’ll be spending less time in Washington slashing government costs and more time running Tesla after his electric vehicle company reported a big drop in profits.

Musk said on a conference call with analysts Tuesday that “now that the major work of establishing Department of Government Efficiency is done,” that he will be “allocating far more of my time to Tesla” starting in May. Musk said he now expects to spend just “a day or two per week on government matters”.

Tesla struggled to sell vehicles as it faced angry protests over Musk’s leadership of DOGE, a jobs-cutting group that has divided the country. The Austin, Texas-based company reported a 71 per cent drop in profits and a 9 per cent decline in revenue for the first quarter.

“Investors wanted to see him recommit to Tesla,” said Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives. “This is a big step in the right direction.”

Tesla shares are down more than 40 per cent for the year.