Scott Galloway Declares Musk’s DOGE a Bust and ‘One of the Greatest Brand Destructions’ Ever

NYU professor Scott Galloway criticized Elon Musk’s political entanglements with President Donald Trump during Friday’s episode of the Pivot podcast, calling Musk’s involvement with DOGE “one of the greatest brand destructions” in history.

Speaking with co-host Kara Swisher, Galloway said Musk’s bet on Trump’s DOGE had backfired. He argued Musk alienated his customer base in the process of slashing jobs and spending on behalf of the White House.

“This has arguably been one of the greatest brand destructions,” Galloway said. “Tesla was a great brand.”

According to polling cited by Galloway, Tesla has fallen from the eighth most reputable brand in 2021 to 95th. Galloway commented:

I mean that’s in the company of – you know, Amazon and Coke and Apple – it’s fallen from eighth to 95th. And also, we talked a lot about this, their revenue was down 20%. Do you realize Tesla, despite the fact it trades at 150 times earnings and most automobile companies trade at 10, Tesla’s sales are declining faster than any automobile company in the world?

They declined 20%. Profits are down 71. Sales, you want to talk about sales declines, down 59%, year on year in France, 81% in Sweden, 74% in the Netherlands. Their sales were cut in half in Switzerland, 33% in Portugal. And their sales are down by two-thirds in Denmark, and what I don’t get is he’s such a – he is a brilliant guy, but he’s alienated his core demographic.

Swisher, a veteran tech journalist, responded that Musk has also “alienated the Republicans.”

Galloway concluded, “He’s alienated the wrong people. Three-quarters of Republicans would never consider buying an EV. So he’s cozied up to the people who aren’t interested in EVs.”

Last month, Musk told Tesla investors he would reduce his time spent on DOGE starting in May to refocus on the struggling company, CBS News reported.

He also announced plans to cut back political spending.

Watch above via the Pivot podcast.