If “card-carrying Tesla bull” were a term in the dictionary, a picture of Dan Ives would be next to it. The Wedbush Securities tech analyst never wavers in his conviction that the company is the most undervalued AI play in the market.

In his view, the share ought to trade closer to $620 with Tesla deserving of a $2 trillion market cap—slightly more than double what it’s currently worth. Nor does Ives tire of explaining that Tesla’s single most important asset driving this projected growth over the next 12 to 18 months is its transformative CEO, Elon Musk.

So when he called on the company’s board to adopt a carrot-and-stick approach to ensure the entrepreneur invests his limited time in the company rather than in politics, Musk’s response was immediate.

“Shut up, Dan,” the entrepreneur fired back on Tuesday, dismissing Ives’s notion favoring a special board oversight committee.

On Monday, Tesla closed at $293 a share, its lowest since Musk fell out with President Donald Trump over the latter’s tax cuts and spending bill in early June.

The company did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

‘You don’t babysit Elon’

Musk’s public castigation of Ives came amid growing concerns Tesla’s CEO will again prioritize activism over business now that he aims to form a third party capable of disrupting the Republican-Democrat duopoly on Capitol Hill.

His newfound endeavors come at a sensitive time: Tesla has yet to face investors this year, nor has it set a date or an agenda for its shareholder meeting. Given the advance notice needed and the ongoing summer break, it might once again be September before an AGM will be convened.

Top on the agenda would likely be a new pay package for a CEO who is goading the White House with continued attacks against Trump.

Shut up, Dan — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2025

But Ives’s plan to create a special oversight committee and link pay to guardrails around his political activism also met with criticism from other Musk supporters. They argue that a CEO like Musk does not clock in like a worker drone.

“Some people want the Tesla board to micromanage his hours and police his outside activity. This would be a terrible mistake,” wrote Dave Lee, a Tesla stock influencer with over half a million followers on Musk’s X platform. “You don’t babysit Elon.”

Tipping point reached

Dubbed “Tesla’s biggest cheerleader on Wall Street” by EV motoring site Electrek, Ives often acts as a conduit between his clients in the investment community and the company.

The Wedbush analyst combines the occasional stern word with positive reinforcement, rewarding the CEO with effusive praise whenever he reacts to external pressure.

When Musk flew back to Tesla to rally his demoralized troops at an emergency all-hands meeting before returning to Washington, Ives praised the display.

“Leaders lead in times of trouble and crisis … and last night Elon Musk took a major and much needed step forward,” he wrote. “We applaud Musk for ‘reading the room’ and showing important hand-holding at this key time for employees and investors.”

But this week Ives conveyed his clients’ growing frustration over the distraction posed by a potential America Party, calling for the board to form a special oversight committee—even though a core part of any board’s job is providing oversight.

“We believe this is a tipping point in the Tesla story,” Ives said on Tuesday. “We urge the board to act now.”

Tesla Inc TSLA analyst Dan Ives isn’t being quiet when it comes to CEO Elon Musk’s political drama, even though Musk directly told him to “shut up.”

What Happened: Tuesday on CNBC’s “The Exchange,” Ives stood firm on his call for the Tesla board to step up and take action as Musk continues to express discontent with the White House.

“This soap opera I think has taken on a life of its own … the board’s the only one that can step in to set guardrails,” Ives said on the show.

The longtime Tesla bull released a note earlier in the day calling on the Tesla board to “act now” and make sure Musk is focused on Tesla’s autonomous and robotics future instead of trying to create a new political party.

Musk continues to escalate his ongoing public dispute with President Donald Trump related to his disapproval of Trump’s spending bill, which was signed into law on Friday.

Ives called on Tesla’s board to establish 25% voting control for Musk, which he believes would open the door to a potential merger between Tesla and Musk’s xAI. He also wants the board to set boundaries to determine how much time Musk spends at Tesla, which would include oversight of his political involvement.

Musk responded to an X post from Ives in Musk fashion.

“Shut up, Dan,” the Tesla CEO said.

Ives told CNBC that he saw the response, but that didn’t deter him from continuing the press the issue. Shareholder patience is wearing thin, and Musk is Tesla’s biggest asset. Given the direction the company is going with autonomous and AI, the company has never needed him more than it does now, he explained.

“Clock strike midnight, and this is the time for the board to lay out a plan for shareholders,” Ives said.

If xAI and Tesla were to merge, it could be a “game-changer” for the EV company’s robotaxi and humanoid robotics plans, he said, adding that he believes a potential merger would create an “AI stalwart.”

As the AI race continues to accelerate, Musk needs to devote his time and energy to Tesla, or the company will fall behind other major players in the AI space, he told CNBC. Ultimately, Ives believes Tesla is on a path to a market cap of $2 trillion. The company was valued at approximately $947 billion as of Monday’s close, according to Benzinga Pro.

Musk said in May that autonomous and robotics will “overwhelmingly dominate” Tesla’s future financial success. Tesla officially launched its robotaxis in Austin last month. The company reportedly halted its Optimus humanoid robot development last week, focusing instead on a redesign.

TSLA Price Action: Tesla shares were up 3.06% at $302.96 at the time of publication Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro. The stock is down approximately 7% over the past month and has fallen 25% year-to-date.

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