A sort of bloodbath has been observed for Tesla stock as billions of dollars were just got wiped off after its CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the automaker’s stock was “too high”.
Tesla stock declined over 10 percent and its valuation declined by almost $9 billion after Musk’s tweets in reminiscence of his controversial tweets in August 2018 when he had posted about Tesla “going private” at $420 a share. That tweet cost him his role as the automaker’s Chairman.
On Friday, he again stirred the controversy again by tweeting that “Tesla stock price is too high imo”.
Tesla’s market valuation was worth about $141 billion prior to the first tweet and it reached around $133 billion.
One user asked Musk: “Are you doing it because you need the cash or is this to protest the world burning down?”
Musk answered: “Don’t need the cash. Devoting myself to Mars and Earth. Possession just weigh you down”.
The August 2018 tweet led the CEO and Tesla reaching a settlement of fraud charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September the same year.
The settlement included $40 million in penalties, split between the company and Musk, and the elimination of Musk as chairman of the Tesla board.
Terms of the deal also needed Tesla to impose controls to supervise Musk’s social-media communications. It was not clear Friday whether such controls have been in place, and Tesla did not immediately replied to a request for comment.
Musk is supposed to ask for pre-approval if his tweets include anything about the company’s securities, including his acquisition or disposition of shares, nonpublic legal or regulatory findings or related decisions.
