On March 29, 2025, the “Tesla Day of Rage” unfolded as a global protest movement, spearheaded by the “Tesla Takedown” campaign, targeting Tesla dealerships and vehicles in over 250 cities worldwide. Demonstrators, fueled by opposition to Elon Musk’s influential role in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), engaged in a variety of actions: selling off used Teslas, burning Tesla vehicles, and staging protests outside dealerships. These acts were not merely symbolic; they aimed to strike at Tesla’s financial core by depressing its stock value and disrupting its market performance. While Musk, owning roughly 12.8% of Tesla, bore the brunt of public ire, the impact rippled far beyond him, hitting the company’s largest institutional shareholders—The Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street—whose combined stake exceeds Musk’s at over 17% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.
 

The sale of used Teslas en masse by disillusioned owners and activists directly undermined the resale market, a critical component of Tesla’s brand value and consumer confidence. Data from early 2025 indicates that prices for used Cybertrucks had already dropped nearly 8% since January, and the Day of Rage accelerated this trend as flooded markets drove prices lower. Simultaneously, the burning of Tesla vehicles—ranging from isolated incidents to coordinated attacks like those in Las Vegas and Seattle—escalated repair costs, insurance premiums, and public perception challenges for the company. These actions hurt Tesla’s bottom line, contributing to a stock plunge of over 35% since Trump’s inauguration. For Vanguard (7.49%), BlackRock (6.3%), and State Street (3.49%), this translated to billions in lost market value, as their passive investment strategies, tied to index funds, left them exposed to Tesla’s volatility without the ability to quickly divest.
 

Protests outside Tesla dealerships, a hallmark of the March 29 events, further compounded the financial strain on these institutional giants by disrupting sales and amplifying negative publicity. From New York to London, crowds chanted slogans like “Nobody voted for Musk” and waved signs urging boycotts, deterring potential buyers and rattling investor confidence. Tesla’s first annual sales drop in over a decade, reported in 2024, worsened in early 2025, with U.S. sales down 16% between December and January. This slump, exacerbated by the Day of Rage, hit Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street hardest as their massive combined ownership—over 546 million shares—dwarfed Musk’s 410.79 million. Unlike Musk, whose wealth and influence extend beyond Tesla, these firms rely heavily on steady stock performance, making the protests’ economic fallout a direct blow to their portfolios, even as they remained silent amidst the chaos.