There hasn’t been a time when Tesla investors have been so divided. Many are urging Elon Musk to stay out of politics. Personally, I thought he would distance himself from it after leaving Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) behind, settling his feud with Trump, and even apologizing. I assumed the worst was over. But I didn’t expect Elon to go one step further — pushing for a new American political party.

From an investing perspective, it’s hard to say how this will affect Tesla’s business. There’s no real framework for this — very few CEOs are so deeply involved in politics and running multiple companies. Elon’s juggling Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, X… and now politics. While he’s proven capable of running companies well, politics is a whole different game. As they say, politics is dirty — and it could bring unpredictable consequences.

Still, I believe the probability of serious negative impact on Tesla’s operations remains low — for now. So I’m holding. In fact, I’m working toward accumulating 1,000 Tesla shares, and I’m just about 60 shares away.

While many investors are choosing to sell based on political headlines, I’ve decided to stay in. Why? Because I still see immense potential in Tesla’s technology and roadmap. Just recently, Tesla delivered a car straight from Giga Texas to a customer’s home using Full Self-Driving (FSD) — at speeds of up to 120 km/h, completely unsupervised. That’s not just innovation — that’s game-changing.

Then there’s RoboTaxi. I believe Tesla is ahead of the curve and might actually end up disrupting companies like Uber. Uber is caught in a classic innovator’s dilemma: do they partner with Waymo and risk losing control, or keep improving their current services? Either way, Waymo could easily launch their own app and eat into Uber’s business. Tesla, on the other hand, has the cost advantage — they rely solely on vision with eight cameras, cutting down hardware expenses drastically.

Every accident Tesla makes will be scrutinized by the media, more than any other player. But if they can bring the cost per mile down significantly below Uber and Waymo, Tesla could emerge as the winner in a “winner-takes-all” market.

Delivery numbers haven’t been stellar lately, and many have criticized Tesla for that. But I believe the company is turning a new page — shifting its focus toward Full Self-Driving and Optimus (Tesla’s humanoid robot). The reality is: Tesla can only grow car deliveries so much each year. Eventually, that growth will plateau. But autonomy and robotics? That’s exponential potential.

New Bets I Am Watching

On the stock front, I’ve also added two new shares to my portfolio: Lemonade (NYSE:LMND) and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (HKEX:3750). These positions are relatively small, making up less than 5% of my overall stock holdings combined. But I like to have some skin in the game when I’m learning about a new company or industry

Lemonade, with its AI-driven insurance model, is a high-risk, high-reward bet. If they execute well and meaningfully scale their customer base, I believe there’s potential for a 10x return over the long term. According to their 2024 Investor Day, they aim to achieve adjusted EBITDA profitability by 2026 and grow to $10 billion in in-force premiums — an ambitious target, but one that shows they’re thinking long term and aiming for scale.

As for CATL, I’m genuinely impressed by their execution and dominance in battery technology. They’re not only a key supplier for Tesla’s Giga Shanghai but also a global leader in battery innovation — the kind of edge that’s hard to compete with. While these aren’t core positions yet, they’re exciting additions that keep me intellectually invested — and curious to see where they’ll go.

Stock Portfolio

Here’s a quick snapshot of my financials as of 21 June 2025:

• Stock Portfolio: ~$818,000
• Crypto: ~$60,000
• SRS: $67,000
• Cash: ~$20,000
• Unlisted Securities: ~$700,000
• Property Value (Equity Value): ~$482,000
  
  Total Net Worth= $2.14 mil

In terms of net worth, not much has changed since last year. Tesla surged to the $400s last year, but has since dropped to the low $300s. I’ve been consistently adding to my investments, so even though I’ve contributed more, the total value has stayed flat due to the pullback in Tesla stock. Still, I remain optimistic.

Of course, I wish Elon would tone down the politics. But investing in Tesla means investing in Elon — the whole package. He’s not the type of CEO who takes a few billion and retires comfortably. He’s a high-risk, high-conviction innovator. He’s willing to go all-in, even if it means risking everything. That’s what makes Tesla what it is.

So yes, Elon’s actions may stir controversy. Every move he makes will affect the stock. But I’m still here, still holding, and still working toward my 1,000-share goal. We’ll see where the road leads — but for now, I’m not selling.