As Elon Musk and his supporters push through the federal government in search of agencies to dismantle, a grassroots movement is gaining momentum to strike back where it hurts—the billionaire’s wealth.
While legal battles challenge the actions of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (pending confirmation), the slow-moving judicial process has left many frustrated. Some Americans opposed to Musk’s aggressive government overhaul have sold their Teslas or resorted to vandalism. But now, hundreds are organizing a nationwide protest at Tesla dealerships on February 15—a movement that rapidly took shape on Bluesky, led by disinformation researcher Joan Donovan and filmmaker Alex Winter.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Donovan explained the movement’s strategy: “As citizens, we have different points of leverage. One is talking to our representatives, but another is publicly calling attention to the ransacking of the federal government’s data, and particularly the way Musk is operating with no transparency—and, it seems, with impunity.”
What began as a few small demonstrations outside Tesla stores has expanded to organized protests in cities like Austin, Portland, Seattle, Kansas City, and Mesa, Arizona.
Tesla and Musk have not responded to requests for comment.
Donovan, an assistant professor of journalism at Boston University, said she was inspired by a small protest in Maine, where a few demonstrators with signs at a Tesla charging station sparked discussions about Musk’s actions. She then took to social media, writing on February 8: “If Musk thinks he can speed run through DC downloading personal data, we can certainly bang some pots and pans on the sidewalks in front of Tesla dealerships.” She added the hashtag #TeslaTakeover and linked to Tesla’s list of U.S. store locations.
Winter, known for his role in the Bill & Ted franchise and his work on the documentary The YouTube Effect, quickly joined the effort. “Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines,” he urged in a February 10 post on Bluesky. “Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk, and stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy.”
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Following their calls to action, 42 protests have been organized across the U.S., spanning states like California, Florida, Texas, and New York. Winter also partnered with The Disruption Project, a group that trains people for mass activism, and said hundreds have RSVP’d to participate, with international interest growing as well.
Beyond public demonstrations, the protests also aim to hit Musk financially. A significant portion of his vast wealth comes from his 20% stake in Tesla, and he has borrowed heavily against those shares. According to an April 2024 regulatory filing, nearly 60% of Musk’s Tesla holdings were used as collateral for loans. If Tesla’s stock price drops significantly, lenders could demand repayment or force renegotiations, putting pressure on Musk’s finances.
“The long goal is to devalue Tesla, to create a vote of no confidence in the company’s future, and to prompt widespread selling of shares, which would legitimately hurt him,” Winter said. “But I also see enormous value in just the public-facing activist education and literacy aspect of this.”
Winter, whose documentaries have tackled financial corruption and algorithm-driven misinformation, has long been wary of Musk’s influence over tech. Donovan, meanwhile, sees Musk as exploiting Americans’ lack of understanding about government functions while spreading misinformation. She fears this could incite violence, particularly as Musk and his followers target government officials, judges, and their families.
Her hope is that the protests will inspire broader local resistance. “I think one of the things Musk has overlooked is that power isn’t derived from the federal government—it’s derived from the states,” Donovan said. “And state agencies have a lot of power to force accountability.”
