Don't Want to Invest in Musk? Wall Street Launches New ETF to Avoid Tesla and SpaceX

Bloomberg reported on Thursday (9th) that Wall Street's ETF market continues to innovate, with a new investment strategy emerging: avoiding Elon Musk altogether. Emerging ETF provider Subversive ETFs has filed with regulators to launch two ETFs tracking the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indices, but excluding all companies founded, controlled, or led by Elon Musk—highlighting the growing trend toward hyper-customization in the ETF market.

According to the filing, the two ETFs, tentatively named QQNE and SPNE, will allow investors to maintain exposure to broad market indices while avoiding Musk-affiliated companies such as Tesla and SpaceX, the latter of which was recently added to the Nasdaq 100. In other words, investors can still gain diversified market exposure while excluding specific firms to reflect their personal views on Musk and his companies.

In recent years, Wall Street has launched several Musk-related ETFs, including leveraged ETFs tracking Tesla’s performance, leveraged products linked to SpaceX (SPCX-US), and the ELON ETF, which once went long on Tesla (TSLA-US) and short on Ford (F-US). Now, the 'anti-Musk' ETFs represent another layer of market segmentation, showing how even passive index-tracking ETFs can now express subjective views on individual entrepreneurs or investment themes.

Subversive ETFs noted that some investors may perceive governance risks, political risks, and higher stock volatility in Musk-related companies, and thus want investment tools that allow them to avoid such exposure.

However, market reactions are mixed. Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth Management, said it's unsurprising that ETF issuers are capitalizing on Musk's controversial profile to attract attention. But he warned that if the market begins excluding companies from major indices based on investor sentiment toward a single individual, it could signal that the ETF market has become overly fragmented.

Jeffrey Ptak, an analyst at Morningstar, also cautioned that while continuous product innovation fosters competition, investors should be aware that some new ETFs may lack clear investment merit yet charge higher management fees.

Dave Nadig, research director at ETF.com, bluntly stated that products built on highly specific investment theses often fail to attract long-term investors and are more marketing gimmicks than compelling investment strategies.

Bloomberg Intelligence data shows that in June 2025, the U.S. ETF market launched 214 new funds—the highest monthly count on record—drawing in approximately $191 billion in inflows, second only to the all-time high. This reflects the continued dynamism of the ETF market, pushing issuers to launch increasingly niche products to capture investor interest.