Elon Musk can't continue to go down this political path, says Wedbush's Dan Ives

Company Performance & Valuation - Tesla's valuation decreased by approximately 70 billion USD following Musk's announcement of launching the America Party [1] - Wedbush believes shareholders' patience is wearing thin due to the ongoing "soap opera" surrounding Musk [3] Corporate Governance & Leadership - Wedbush suggests Tesla's board should establish guardrails for Musk, particularly regarding his political endeavors, to mitigate potential conflicts of interest with his role as CEO [2][3][8][9][10] - Granting Musk 25% voting control is viewed as crucial for enabling a potential merger with XAI [4][5] - The board needs to address the $56 billion pay package that is still in contention from Delaware [5] Strategic Direction & AI - A merger with XAI could create an AI powerhouse, potentially benefiting Tesla's robo-taxi and autonomous driving initiatives [4][5] - Integrating XAI with Tesla could consolidate AI efforts, including robotics and humanoid development, under one umbrella [4][5] Political & Regulatory Landscape - Musk's political activities, such as forming a third party, could negatively impact Tesla, especially concerning autonomous regulatory frameworks [8][10]