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The astonishing public bonfire of the friendship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has reportedly cost the tech entrepreneur £14.7 billion ($20 billion) and his investors have lost five times as much. The world's most powerful man, Trump, and the world's richest, Musk, went toe-to-toe in recent months after their White House 'bromance' spectacularly fell apart in arguments which appeared to centre of Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill" of spending legislation.

Entrepreneur Musk, whose firm Tesla is one of the world's best known electric vehicle firms, has been hit hard by the bill which includes massive reductions to government support for renewable energy and electric vehicles. But his fallout with the president could have hit his stocks even further with reports investors have lost £73 billion ($100) since the spat between the two men first emerged in June.

The shocking losses have been calculated from analysis by the US news site, Axios, which reports Tesla stock has fallen about 14% since the start of last month.

The two leaders have continued to sling mud at one another, often using their own social media platforms to post their latest thoughts on the other. Posting after the Senate passed the 'big, beautiful bill', Musk wrote on X: "Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!"

Donald Trump also fired back at Musk's plans to start a third American political party to compete against the traditional two-party system of the Democrats and the Republicans.

Slamming Musk's new America Party, Trump said the idea was "ridiculous", adding: "It's always been a two-party system and I think starting a third party just adds to the confusion."

And on Sunday the president wrote on his TruthSocial network: "I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks."

It come after the president hinted he would deport Musk back to South Africa

According to US news site Axios, investors have been spooked by the wrangles between the businessman and the politician.

The news outlet said Ivana Delevska, founder of Spear Invest, recently sold off Tesla shares because of the risks associated with the public spat. Both Musk's rocket firm SpaceX and Tesla still have large US government contracts.

Ms Delevska said: "While the opportunity is outsized the risks are very significant as well, while the reward potential is clearly here the risks are significant as well."