Against a backdrop of nosediving car sales across Europe, China and the US, political activism that has seen its dealers set ablaze and in some cases shot at, and most recently the beginnings of institutional investors on Wall Street turning away from Tesla - retail investors continue to buy the stock at unprecedented levels. The question is... why?

Key words: Tesla, retail investors, Elon Musk, GameStop, financial fraud, meme stocks, cult of personalities

Articles:

The Independent (2025), Tesla’s year keeps getting worse - now short sellers have made $16bn from Musk’s firm: https://www.independent.co.uk/business/tesla-share-price-elon-musk-criticism-b2717107.html

The Economic Times (2025), 'I mean...': Elon Musk almost 'close to tears' in interview when asked about Tesla struggles: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-elon-musk-tesla-shares-tank-i-mean-elon-musk-almost-close-to-tears-in-interview-when-asked-about-tesla-struggles-watch-video/articleshow/118896998.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=

The Financial Times (2025), $1.4bn is a lot to fall through the cracks, even for Tesla:

https://www.ft.com/content/62df8d8d-31f2-445e-bfa2-c171ac43db6e

The Graduate Press (2025), Saying Goodbye to Twitter Trust:

https://thegraduatepress.org/2022/11/21/saying-goodbye-to-twitter-trust/

Graphic News (2025), Meddling Musk sees Tesla sales crash and burn in Europe: https://www.graphicnews.com/en/pages/46754/business-tesla-sales-crash-and-burn-in-europe