Cramer compares Warren Buffett and Elon Musk, says Wall Street has turned on Tesla CEO

• CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday examined the decline of Tesla stock, explaining why investors may not be happy with CEO Elon Musk.
• To Cramer, investors love Musk as long as Tesla’s stock is performing well. But they’ve changed their tune now that shares are down more than 30% year to date.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday discussed two of the most high-profile billionaires on Wall Street, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett. He said investors continually admire Buffett, but have turned on Musk with the sharp decline in Tesla’s share price.

“We are in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. Buffett does it endlessly,” he said. “Musk? Nothing that can make you money right now. And no matter what, to the small mind of Wall Street, that’s really all that it’s all about.”

To Cramer, investors love Musk as long as Tesla’s stock is performing well, saying they call him a “genius” and praise the company’s electric vehicles. But now that Tesla’s down more than 30% year to date, many have changed their tune, with some noting Musk’s electric vehicles are falling in price and that he faces stiff competition from Chinese carmakers, Cramer said. They might also be worried that the CEO is distracted by other ventures like his takeover of X, formerly known as Twitter, according to Cramer.

“With the downgrades and price target cuts, the long knives are really out for Musk,” Cramer said. “They obviously never liked him, they only liked that Tesla’s stock was a juggernaut.”

But Cramer hasn’t lost faith in the Tesla CEO.

“Look, even when Tesla’s business is faltering and the stock is going down, I always caveat that by reminding you that Elon Musk is brilliant,” he said. “But now there are overtones that he’s lost his touch or maybe become more of an evil genius — which I think, by the way, is unfair, but life’s unfair.”

Cramer said Buffett isn’t a “tough call” for investors, saying his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway “has so many levers that it’s truly magnificent.” He said the company has a solid portfolio, adding its insurance business is essential because auto insurance companies often raise rates, and that Buffett’s Geico is the best and the cheapest.

CNBC has reached out to Tesla and Musk for comment.

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