"You weren't wrong"… Musk, who wiped out 20 trillion won in market capitalization, attempts reconciliation?

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who has had sharp disputes with U.S. President Donald Trump on social media, made a gesture of reconciliation.

According to Bloomberg, on the 5th (local time), Musk responded "You weren't wrong" after billionaire hedge fund investor and Trump supporter Bill Ackman posted on X (formerly Twitter) that "I support both Trump and Musk. They must achieve peace for the good of our great country."

This gesture, interpreted as an act of reconciliation, came after Tesla's share price plunged 14% from the previous day.

Previously, Musk had withdrawn SpaceX's spacecraft withdrawal plan, which he had announced in response to President Trump's threat to terminate federal government contracts with Musk-owned businesses.

When an X user expressed regret over the exchange between Musk and Trump, saying "It's a shame things were said. Both of you are better than this, so take a step back and reflect," Musk replied, "Good advice. I won't withdraw Dragon (SpaceX's spacecraft)."

Musk is also the CEO of SpaceX, and the Dragon spacecraft is currently the only U.S. spacecraft certified by authorities to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

As Musk hinted at easing tensions, President Trump also appeared to avoid escalating the conflict for now.

During a phone interview with U.S. political media Politico, Trump was asked about his public split with Musk and replied briefly, "It's fine."

Politico reported that White House aides persuaded President Trump to refrain from public criticism of Musk to prevent the situation from worsening and that there were plans to mediate reconciliation by speaking with Musk on the 6th.

However, a White House official denied that any call was scheduled between the two.

Previously, Trump and Musk had engaged in disputes via social media for some time.

Their relationship rapidly deteriorated after Musk officially stepped down as head of the government efficiency department (DOGE) under the Trump administration and left the White House on the 30th of last month.

Musk openly criticized Trump's tax cut bill, leading to intensified conflict as Trump showed his displeasure.

Trump expressed his anger, saying, "Musk is crazy" and "very disappointed," while Musk responded, "He's ungrateful," and openly expressed support for Trump's impeachment.

As their feud peaked, Tesla's share price collapsed on the New York Stock Exchange that day, erasing $152 billion (about ₩206 trillion) in market capitalization based on closing prices.

No Jeong-dong, Hankyung.com reporter dong2@hankyung.com