Extreme weather is dangerous weather, and that’s particularly true for the heavy rainfall events that experts say are becoming more frequent with climate change. The powerful storms can pose threats ranging from falling limbs to downed power lines to drowning.
Experts say disaster preparation and good planning can help protect lives and property.
What should you do if you face record rainfall?
Long before extreme weather happens, it’s important to consider whether your home meets building codes, and to know what your insurance covers, experts say. This is the time to address any shortcomings.
Once storms draw near, stay informed by signing up for real-time city, county and federal weather alerts, and listen to the news and whatever your local officials are saying. You can take simple steps to help protect your property, such as ensuring that gutters, storm drains and stormwater systems are clear and ready to do their part in carrying off heavy rain.
If using sandbags to protect property, make sure they’re properly made and stacked to keep water out.
Should you try to evacuate or stay put?
If there are local orders to evacuate, you need to heed them. Gather important documents, get enough gas to drive out and prepare to be away for an extended period of time, said Jeannette Sutton, associate professor at the University at Albany. People need to err on the side of caution, she said.
As major storms move in, there often comes a point when leaving is more hazardous than staying put. One major danger involves flooded roadways. Drivers who attempt to push through them can be swept away by water that is deeper than it appeared and stronger than thought.
How can you prepare your home and belongings?
Moving keepsakes, furniture and valuables to upper levels and making sure sump pump batteries are fully charged are shorter-term ways to prepare, along with ensuring there’s enough food, water and medical supplies.
Cars can be protected by getting them into a parking structure with upper levels.
Experts also say use common sense in planning: Don’t keep your backup generators in a basement where they can be ruined by flooding, for instance.
What can you do once a disaster has started?
If you aren’t able to prepare for floods in time, you should move to the highest level of your home, experts say, or seek out a safe shelter.
If high winds and tornadoes are a threat, however, it could be dangerous to be too high up. That’s why checking forecasts is critical.
Alexa St. John, Associated Press climate reporter
Another day, another recall: On Tuesday, popular chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely recalled two of its bars, Tony’s Dark Almond Sea Salt Bar (6.35oz) and Everything Bar (6.35oz), following 12 reports from consumers who found small stones “not filtered during third-party almond harvesting and the almond processing process.”
The bars were distributed nationwide from February 7 to March 24, 2025 and sold in various retail stores, as well as at Tony’s online store.
“We are extremely sorry to have to issue this recall, and for the inconvenience that this will cause,” a company spokesperson told Fast Company. “Whilst the probability of a product being affected is low, we always put the safety and satisfaction of our consumers first.”
The company added that all complaints occurred outside of the United States and Canada, and no injuries or illnesses have been reported. Tonys issued this voluntary recall in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a precautionary measure.
How can I tell if I purchased one of the recalled chocolate bars?
The recall applies to seven lot codes, listed below:
6.35-oz. of of Tony’s Chocolonely Everything Bar with lot code 4327, UPC 850011828564, and use by date Nov. 22, 2025
6.35-oz. of of Tony’s Chocolonely Everything Bar with lot code 4330, UPC 850011828564, and use by date Nov. 25, 2025
6.35-oz. of of Tony’s Chocolonely Everything Bar with lot code 4331, UPC 850032676441, and use by date Nov. 26, 2025
6.35-oz. of of Tony’s Chocolonely Everything Bar with lot code M4331, UPC 850011828564, and use by date Nov. 26, 2025
6.35-oz. of of Tony’s Chocolonely Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt with lot code 163094, UPC 858010005641, and use by date April 2, 2026
6.35-oz. of of Tony’s Chocolonely Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt with lot code 162634, UPC 858010005641, and use by date Feb. 28, 2026
6.35-oz. of of Tony’s Chocolonely Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt with lot code M162634, UPC 850011828908, and use by date Feb. 28, 2026
No other Tony’s products are affected.
What should I do if I have a recalled Tony’s chocolate bar?
If you purchased one of the affected products with the specified lot codes, it is recommended to return it to the store of purchase for a refund, or throw it away. For more information, or to claim a refund or replacement, visit the company’s website here.
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter.
When assessing home price momentum, it’s important to monitor active listings and months of supply. If active listings start to rapidly increase as homes remain on the market for longer periods, it may indicate pricing softness or weakness. Conversely, a rapid decline in active listings could suggest a market that is heating up.
Generally speaking, local housing markets where active inventory has returned to pre-pandemic levels have experienced softer home price growth (or outright price declines) over the past 30 months. Conversely, local housing markets where active inventory remains far below pre-pandemic levels have, generally speaking, experienced stronger home price growth over the past 30 months.
How does housing inventory look in 2025? It looks like we will see a double-digit increase in active inventory this year across most of the country.
National active listings are on the rise (up 28.5% between March 2024 and March 2025). This indicates that homebuyers have gained some leverage in many parts of the country over the past year. Some sellers markets have turned into balanced markets, and more balanced markets have turned into buyers markets.
Nationally, were still below pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels (20% below March 2019) and some resale markets, in particular big chunks of Midwest and Northeast, still remain tight to tight-ish.
Here’s how the March 2025 inventory/active listings, compare to historical totals, according to Realtor.com:
March 2017: 1,172,713
March 2018: 1,067,281
March 2019: 1,115,940
March 2020: 937,319
March 2021: 440,589 (overheating during the pandemic housing boom)
March 2022: 354,016 (overheating during the pandemic housing boom)
March 2023: 562,444 (mortgage rate shock)
March 2024: 694,820
March 2025: 892,561
Below is the year-over-year percentage change by state.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
While active housing inventory is rising in most markets on a year-over-year basis, some markets still remain tight.
As ResiClub has been documenting, both active resale and new homes for sale remain the most limited across huge swaths of the Midwest and Northeast. Thats likely where home sellers this spring will have more power.
In contrast, active housing inventory for sale has neared or surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels in many parts of the Gulf region, including metro area housing markets such as Punta Gorda and Austin. These areas saw major price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home prices getting stretched compared to local incomes. As pandemic-driven migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices.
This softening trend is further compounded by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market. Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
At the end of March 2025, seven states are above pre-pandemic 2019 active inventory levels: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. The District of Columbia is also above pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels. (Weakness in D.C. proper predates the current admins job cuts.)
The states that have jumped above pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels are where home buyers have gained the most leverage heading into the spring 2025 housing market.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
Big picture: Over the past few years weve observed a softening across many housing markets as strained affordability tempers the fervor of a market that was unsustainably hot during the Pandemic Housing Boom. While home prices are falling in some areas around the ulf, most regional housing markets are still seeing positive year-over-year home price growth. The big question going forward is whether active inventory and months of supply will continue to rise and cause more housing markets to see price softening?
Below is another version of the table abovebut this one includes every month since January 2017.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
If youd like to further examine the monthly state inventory figures, use the interactive chart below. (You can also find more information here on the ongoing softness and weakness across Florida.)
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
Influencing has a major pay gap, and its not what you might expect.
A new report from Collabstr, based on over 15,000 influencer collaborations using first-party data, reveals a surprising disparity: male creators earn 40% more per collaboration than female creators$291 compared to $208 on average.
This gap persists despite women making up the majority of the content creator space. In 2024, 72% of influencers are women, up from 70% in 2023.
These two facts are connected. The report, which focused predominantly on nano and micro-influencers, suggests that female creators are paid less largely due to the sheer number of women in the industry. Oversaturation drives down rates and weakens their bargaining power compared to male counterparts. Notably, the report found that the higher the follower count, the smaller the pay gap.
While female dominated niches like fashion, beauty, lifestyle receive a lot of influencer spend, there is a lot of saturation especially at the nano and micro-influencer stage, and as a result the brands have more options and are able to price collaborations lower because there is essentially unlimited supply in these niches, Collabstr cofounder Kyle Dulay tells Fast Company.
Perception also plays a role in the gender pay gap. According to the report, women are more often labeled as influencers, while men are referred to as content creators. This distinction isnt just semanticit has real consequences. The label influencer can diminish and undervalue womens work, framing them as product-pushers, while men are positioned as creative professionals and innovators.
Dulay suggests that one way for female creators in saturated niches to command higher rates is by narrowing their focus. Instead of being a ‘beauty’ influencer, see how you can narrow that down further, perhaps into skincare particularly or highlighting your journey with acne, he explains. By doing this, you’re no longer competing with every other female in the beauty space, and you retain the power to price your services accordingly, rather than having prices dictated by brands.
That niche doesnt have to be permanent. As you grow, naturally the ratio of female to male influencers drops, and you can begin widening your niche while retaining your pricing power, he adds.
The creator economy is booming. The user-generated content (UGC) market hit $7.62 billion in 2024 and is projected to climb to $35.44 billion by 2030. More creators are seizing the opportunity66% now offer UGC services, up from just 26% in last years report.
For female creators especially: know your worth, and dont be afraid to claim it.
Earthquakes and the damage they cause are apolitical. Collectively, we either prepare for future earthquakes or the population eventually pays the price. The earthquakes that struck Myanmar on March 28, 2025, collapsing buildings and causing over 2,700 deaths, were a sobering reminder of the risks and the need for preparation.
In the U.S., this preparation hinges in large part on the expertise of scientists and engineers in federal agencies who develop earthquake hazard models and contribute to the creation of building codes designed to ensure homes, high-rises and other structures wont collapse when the ground shakes.
Local communities and states decide whether to adopt building code documents. But those documents and other essential resources are developed through programs supported by federal agencies working in partnership with practicing engineers and earthquake experts at universities.
This essential federal role is illustrated by two programs that we work closely with as an earthquake engineer and a disaster management expert whose work focuses on seismic risk.
Improving building codes
First, seismologists and earthquake engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS, produce the National Seismic Hazard Model. These maps, based on research into earthquake sources such as faults and how seismic waves move through the earths crust, are used to determine the forces that structures in each community should be designed to resist.
A steering committee of earthquake experts from the private sector and universities works with USGS to ensure that the National Seismic Hazard Model implements the best available science.
In this 2023 update of the national seismic risk map, red areas have the greatest chance of a damaging earthquake occurring within 100 years. [Image: USGS]
Second, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, supports the process for periodically updating building codes. That includes supporting the work of the National Institute of Building Sciences Provisions Update Committee, which recommends building code revisions based on investigations of earthquake damage.
More broadly, FEMA, the USGS, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation work together through the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program to advance earthquake science and turn knowledge of earthquake risks into safer standards, better building design and education. Some of those agencies have been threatened by potential job and funding cuts under the Trump administration, and others face uncertainty regarding continuation of federal support for their work.
It is in large part because of the National Seismic Hazard Model and regularly updated building codes that U.S. buildings designed to meet modern code requirements are considered among the safest in the world, despite substantial seismic hazards in several states.
This paradigm has been made possible by the technical expertise and lack of political agendas among the federal staff. Without that professionalism, we believe experts from outside the federal government would be less likely to donate their time.
The impacts of these and other programs are well documented. We can point to the limited fatalities from U.S. earthquakes such as the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake near San Francisco, the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles and the 2001 Nisqually earthquake near Seattle. Powerful earthquakes in countries lacking seismic preparedness, often due to lack of adoption or enforcement of building codes, have produced much greater devastation and loss of life.
The US has long relied on people with expertise
These programs and the federal agencies supporting them have benefited from a high level of staff expertise because hiring and advancement processes have been divorced from politics and focused on qualifications and merit.
This has not always been the case.
For much of early U.S. history, federal jobs were awarded through a patronage system, where political loyalty determined employment. As described in The Federal Civil Service System and The Problem of Bureaucracy, this system led to widespread corruption and dysfunction, with officials focused more on managing quid pro quo patronage than governing effectively. That peaked in 1881 with President James Garfields assassination by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled supporter who had been denied a government appointment.
The passage of the Pendleton Act by Congress in 1883 shifted federal employment to a merit-based system. This preference for a merit-based system was reinforced in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. It states as national policy that to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive workforce and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles.
The shift away from a patronage system produed a more stable and efficient federal workforce, which has enabled improvements in many critical areas, including seismic safety and disaster response.
Merit-based civil service matters for safety
While the work of these federal employees often goes unnoticed, the benefits are demonstrable and widespread. That becomes most apparent when disasters strike and buildings that meet modern code requirements remain standing.
A merit-based civil service is not just a democratic ideal but a proven necessity for the safety and security of the American people, one we hope will continue well into the future. This can be achieved by retaining federal scientists and engineers and supporting the essential work of federal agencies.
Jonathan P. Stewart is a professor of engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Lucy Arendt is a professor of business administration management at St. Norbert College.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
In a showy speech at the White House yesterday, President Trump announced his most sweeping tariffs to dateand the news has sent the global economic order into chaos.
The slew of tariffs impact more than 180 countries. Trump announced a minimum 10% tariff on almost every country worldwide, meaning that nearly every good imported into the U.S. will automatically receive a 10% tax. Dozens of countries have been hit with much higher rates: Goods from China will now have a 34% tariff added on top of a previous blanket tax imposed this year; Cambodia will face a 49% tariff; and Vietnams imports will be taxed at 46%.
The Trump administration is framing this global trade war as a way to punish other countries in a trade surplus with the U.S., as well as a means to increase manufacturing jobs on American soil. Many experts, however, are warning that the move is likely to cause a spike in inflation, with some fearing an impending recession. Meanwhile, world leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, are denouncing the decision and calling for talks to rescind the fees. The news has already caused the American stock market to take a concerning nosedive.
Trump announced his new tariff plan while wielding a series of difficult-to-parse charts that have been widely criticized for lacking any discernible organization. But data visualization should play a key role in simplifying and clarifying the confusion around the new policies. To that end, here are three graphics to help you actually understand the new tariffs.
The tariffs
This map, created by USA Today journalist Carlie Procell, provides a simple, comprehensive view of how Trumps tariffs are impacting targeted countries.
The graphic is color-coded into five different segments based on the severity of the tariffs levied against each region: ultra light blue countries, for example, land somewhere between the baseline 10% tariff and 20%, while the darkest blue countries are getting hit the hardest with tariffs between 40% and 50%. By clicking on the various blue shades in the color key, users can isolate their view to examine each of the five tiers individually.
Explore the interactive graphic here. [Image: USA Today]
Procells map also comes with an alphabetized table organized by country. To determine the tariffs faced by a specific country, users can simply search its name in the attached toolbar.
The fallout
For a better look at the initial fallout of the tariff announcement, a group of reporters at The New York Times have created a graph tracking global stock markets trajectories from Trumps inauguration on January 17 to this morning.
See the updates here [Image: The New York Times]
The graph shows percentage change in major stock indexes for Germanys DAX, Chinas Shanghai SE Composite, the United Kingdoms FTSE 100, Canadas S&P/TSX Composite, the United States S&P 500, and Japans Nikkei 225.
As of 9:30 a.m. Eastern, the S&P 500 plunged more than 4% since yesterdays market close (amounting to a total 9% drop since Trumps inauguration.) Major stocks in both Asian and European markets also slumped abruptly this morning. The graph suggests that Trumps new tariffs are even harsher than most economists and investors feared.
Whats ahead
Less than a day after the tariff announcement, many analysts are predicting that American consumers should prepare for a spike in inflation.
To keep track of this rising cost of living, CBS News has created a price tracker for goods including groceries, new vehicles, used vehicles, parts, repairs, insurance premiums, and construction and manufacturing raw materials. According to the tools accompanying article, CBS plans to update the prices of groceries weekly (including heavily imported fruits and veggies like bananas and bell peppers), while the other categories will be updated every month.
See the interactive tracker here. [Image: CBS News Data]
Over the coming weeks, the price tracker could help consumers understand how the cost of essential goods is changing as a result of the new tariffs. In an interview with CNBC, David Rosenberg, president and founder of the market research firm Rosenberg Research, warned, were in for several months of a very significant price shock for the American household sector.
TikTok is shutting down TikTok Noteswait, you didnt even know it existed? Well, that explains a lot.
TikTok Notes, the platforms short-lived attempt to take on Instagram (just as Instagram Reels was built to mimic TikTok), is officially being retired. Launched in limited markets like Canada, Australia, and Vietnam last year, the photo-sharing app let users post images with captionssimple enough, but apparently not compelling enough.
Users are now being notified that TikTok Notes will shut down on May 8, with TikTok instead shifting focus to another ByteDance-owned platform: Lemon8.
Were excited to bring the feedback from TikTok Notes to Lemon8 as we continue building a dedicated space for our community to share and experience photo content, designed to complement and enhance the TikTok experience, a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch.
Lemon8think Instagram meets Pinteresthas quietly been gaining traction, tripling its U.S. user base since last summer and hitting 12 million downloads. It reportedly had around 12.5 million global monthly active users by December 2024. TikTok didnt spell out why Notes is getting the axe, but given how few people knew about it . . . the writing was on the wall.
In a notice to users, TikTok is urging anyone who used Notes to download and save their content before the app disappears for good. Theyre also encouraging creators to continue their creative journey on Lemon8 instead.
Unlike TikToks vertical video scroll, Lemon8 leans photo-first, allowing users to post curated carousels and slideshows. Still, it borrows TikToks dual-feed format, with both a Following and For You feed for discovery.
Déj vu? Thats because TikTok already started plugging Lemon8 as a backup late last year when a potential U.S. ban first loomed. Now, with a fresh April 5 deadline hanging over TikToks head, the strategy looks familiarand unchanged.
The short lesson of TikTok Notes: if it aint broke, dont fix it. And if the whole app banned, I guess everyone panic.
On Wednesday, President Trump unveiled a series of sweeping tariffs that not only targeted major U.S. trading partners but also included small, remote islands and territories.
Among the most unexpected entries on the list were the Heard and McDonald Islands, isolated sub-Antarctic volcanic islands located in the southern Indian Ocean, roughly halfway between Australia and South Africa. Though these islands are Australian territories, they are virtually uninhabited, with the only significant human presence occurring during Australian Antarctic Science expeditions. These expeditions generally take place every three years, lasting only a couple of months during the summer. For the majority of the time, the islands are left to their resident penguins and seals, with only occasional visits from commercial tourist groups, private expeditions, or fisheries and defense surveillance patrols.
Despite their isolation, the islands appeared on a White House list of territories subject to new trade tariffs. According to the list, the Heard and McDonald Islands currently impose a 10 percent “Tariff to the U.S.A.,” with a small note specifying that this includes “currency manipulation and trade barriers.” In return, the U.S. has announced “discounted reciprocal tariffs” at the same 10% rate.
A White House official explained that the inclusion of the Heard and McDonald Islands is due to their status as Australian territory, as reported by Axios. The islands reportedly had no trade with the U.S. last year, according to the most recent U.S. data.
The export figures from the Heard and McDonald Islands are equally perplexing. Despite having no permanent human population and only a fishery, the islands were recorded as having exported $1.4 million worth of goods to the U.S. in 2022, mostly classified as “machinery and electrical” imports. The exact nature of these goods remains unclear. Over the previous five years, imports from the islands ranged between $15,000 and $325,000 annually, as reported by The Guardian.
Another unusual entry on Trump’s tariff list is Jan Mayen, a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean. Like the Heard and McDonald Islands, Jan Mayen has no permanent human inhabitants and is grouped with Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago known for its polar bears and small human population. Trump has set a 10 percent tariff for both Svalbard and Jan Mayen, while Norway itself faces a 15 percent tax on imports from the U.S.
Prices of Nike Jordan and Adidas Samba sneakers are likely to rise in the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed a raft of new tariffs on Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, key manufacturers of sportswear and apparel.
Shares in Nike, Adidas and Puma dropped sharply on Thursday after Vietnam was targeted with a 46% tariff rate, Cambodia with 49%, Bangladesh with 37% and Indonesia with 32%, while Trump hiked tariffs on China by an extra 34 percentage points, following the earlier 20% tariffs.
Fast-fashion retailers H&M, which sources from China and Bangladesh mainly, and Zara owner Inditex were also hit.
“The April 2 tariffs seem purpose-built to hobble the apparel industry,” said Dylan Carden, an analyst at William Blair in Chicago.
The new tariffs would increase the average U.S. import tariff rate on apparel from 14.5% in 2024 to 30.6%, according to calculations by Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware.
Based on 2024 import values, the new tariffs would result in a total of $26 billion in duties on apparel, more than double last year’s level, Lu said.
In the past years, apparel and sportswear brands have shifted their sourcing away from China due to escalating political tensions between Washington and Beijing and have imported more from countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, and India.
Retailers may not be able to fully offset these tariffs, as countering the impact of the levies on Vietnam alone would require price increases of 10% to 12%, according to UBS analysts.
“With additional tariffs proposed across other key Asian sourcing hubs, the scenario of shifting production now looks far less viable, narrowing the set of effective mitigation levers available to brands,” the UBS analysts added.
The U.S. imported more than $15 billion in textiles and garments from Vietnam in 2024, which was roughly about 10% of Vietnam’s total U.S. exports, according to a Jefferies note.
Nike produced half its footwear and roughly 30% of its apparel in Vietnam in its 2024 financial year, while Adidas relied on the Asian nation for 39% of its footwear and 18% of its apparel last year.
Shares of Nike tumbled about 8% in premarket trading, while Adidas dropped more than 10% to a one-year low. Puma’s shares fell 10.7% to hit their lowest level since November 2016.
Rival sportswear makers, including Lululemon, Skechers, Under Armour, Hoka maker Deckers and On Holding were all down between 8% and 15% before the bell on Thursday.
Nike, Adidas and Puma did not reply to requests for comment on the tariffs, while On said it was “constantly monitoring the evolving situation”.
Helen Reid, Reuters
Tech leaders often brand themselves as disruptorsand few fit that label more snugly than Elon Musk. In the three months since joining Donald Trump in the White House following Trumps election, Musk has certainly disrupted Washington. Now, reports suggest Musk is preparing to exit his government post, having led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and overseen sweeping cuts across numerous federal agencies.
Musks time in government may be short-lived, but his political legacy is already sealed. As the architect of aggressive budget slashes, his tenure has sparked backlash that could linger far beyond the halls of powerand into the boardrooms of his private ventures.
Musk stepping out the political firing line might calm the headlines, but the brand damage is already done, says social media expert Matt Navarra. The internet doesnt forget, and neither do his investors. Navarra believes Musks recent behaviorwhat he calls Musks political anticshas become a heavy drag on the entrepreneurs public image. Teslas stock has plummeted nearly 30% this year, while the recent merger of X, the social platform Musk acquired in 2022, with his AI startup xAI, has drawn ridicule for its apparent lack of financial return.
At the heart of the reputational and financial downturn is a growing perception that Musk has prioritized political theater over operational focus. His reputation as a visionary founder has dimmed as his companies have stumbled. The Musk DOGE initiative and spending 110% of his time with the Trump administration in the White House/Palm Beach since January inauguration has been exacerbating and so troubling for investors and Tesla’s stock, says Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities.
Though Ives remains optimistic about Teslas long-term potential, he acknowledges the fallout from Musks high-profile role in government austerity. Tesla has unfortunately become a political symbol because of Musk, and this is a very bad thing for the future of this technology stalwart, Ives says. With major protests erupting globally at Tesla dealerships, Tesla cars being keyed, and a full brand crisis tornado now underway, this has turned into a life of its own and cast a dark black cloud over Tesla’s stock.
Navarra notes that this moment is particularly damaging because Musks companies were once buoyed by his persona. Tesla, X, and even SpaceX all used to benefit from his cult of personality, but now I think that charisma is curdled, he says. I think there’s a growing gap between Musk the innovator and Musk the provocateur, and it’s hard for any brand to thrive when its CEO behaves like a chaos agent on the timeline.
So far, Musk appears unmovedor unawareof the toll his political turn has taken on his empire. (He did not respond to a request for comment sent to both his government and Tesla email addresses.) But Navarra warns the consequences may be long-lasting. Even if he fades from the political narrative, his digital footprint stays loud, he says. Every tweet, every jab at the media, or every partisan swipe, it all feeds into how the public sees Tesla and X. He’s not just shaping the narrative, he is the narrative, and the longer that continues, the harder it becomes for his companies to tell a different story.
