So we get to see this every once in a while. An unleashed version of Elon Musk posting a barrage of mostly nonsensical stuff on Twitter, only to realize the damage that it seems to have done later. After having already been in trouble for tweeting insider information last year, Elon Musk is back at it, once again tweeting stuff that resulted in Tesla wiping off almost $15B from its market cap.
In the early morning hours of yesterday, almost when trade began on the exchanges, Elon Musk came out with a tweet, that said, “Tesla stock price is too high imo”. And looks like the market heeded to his opinion. As soon as the tweet came out, company’s stock price started losing steam, closing at a 10% low from previous close. Tesla finally closed at $701.32, more than 10% down from its previous close of $781.88
Tesla stock price is too high imo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
Just a couple days back, Tesla reported yet another profitable quarter, its third in a row. That, despite coronavirus pandemic hitting the the automotive industry hard. Crucial production at Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory seems to have resumed just in time, thus providing impetus to investors. The market met the announcement with a cheer, taking Tesla’s price to well over $780 per share.
Elon Musk’s tweet storm has been in the making for a few days now. More recently, he had voiced his opinions against the ongoing shelter-at-home orders, asking the US Federal government to “FREE AMERICA NOW”. He then took the earnings conference call to term government’s measures as “fascist”, saying that the lockdown should be immediately lifted and economic activity should resume.
Post his “Stock price too high” tweet, Musk didn’t just stop there. Here is all that he tweeted afterwards:
Now give people back their FREEDOM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
This isn’t the first time Elon Musk has tweeted about Tesla’s share price, in violation of corporate ethics. Back in August 2019, he had tweeted of taking Tesla private at $420 per share, further adding that he has secured the funding to do so as well. The SEC made him sign an agreement at that point, mandating him to submit all his opinions on Tesla’s finances and other topics for vetting to legal counsel.
Musk’s tweets around Tesla’s finances and corporate matters have shown how careless he seems to be, when it comes to valuing his company’s shareholders. And it is no surprise, that many of them have launched lawsuits against him. Shareholders claim that Tesla misled them when Musk said on Twitter in 2018 that he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 per share, and had secured funding for the transaction.
