Wall Street Loses $4.7 Trillion After Midterm Election Shift

Wall Street suffered a $4.7 trillion market meltdown on Thursday after midterm election results granted the Democratic Party control of both chambers of Congress and 30 governorships. The sell-off primarily hit the artificial intelligence sector, including chipmakers and neocloud providers, as investors anticipated a slowdown in data center construction due to stricter Democratic governance and opposition. The Nasdaq fell 5.5%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped over 11%.

Companies led by Elon Musk, including Tesla and SpaceX, were heavily impacted. Musk had previously invested over $474 million in Republican candidates during the election cycle.

Simultaneously, Nvidia faces internal instability. CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman the United States government suspects is a Chinese spy. Huang is currently under investigation by his board over allegations that sensitive information was shared with the Chinese government. This investigation coincides with government concerns regarding the smuggling of Nvidia chips into China via Megaspeed International.