Tesla CEO Elon Musk went on a bizarre Twitter rant on Friday that sent shares of his company down by more than 11 per cent
Elon Musk sent stocks of his electric car company on a freefall on Friday after he went on a bizarre Twitter rant.
The Tesla founder announced that he felt the company’s stock price was ‘too high’, before revealing he was planning to sell of his physical possessions.
The market was quick to react to the 11.am ET tweet and Tesla shares began a precipitous nosedive, falling more than 11 per cent and trading at around $693 as of the afternoon.
It’s not the first time that Musk’s tweets have landed him in hot water with his investors.
The billionaire was fined $40million last year after he wrong claimed in a 2018 tweet that he’d secured funding to take Tesla private.
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Musk that year after he tweeted on August 7 that he had ‘funding secured’ to take Tesla private at $420 per share.
The agency said the tweet, which sent Tesla’s share price up as much as 13.3 percent, violated securities laws.
Musk’s privatization plan was at best in an early stage and financing was not in place.
As part of a settlement with the federal government, Musk agreed to have certain tweets pre-approved by lawyers, and monitored by a company committee.
However, on Friday, Musk appears to have gone rogue in a series of incoherent tweets that included misquoted lyrics of The Star Spangled Banner as well as a strange pledge to sell his possessions.
Musk also tweeted: ‘Now give people back their FREEDOM.’
‘Tesla stock price is too high imo,’ Musk tweeted at around 11:11am Eastern Time on Friday
Right after he posted this tweet, Tesla shares began a precipitous nosedive on Wall Street
That tweet is likely a reference to Musk’s controversial comments slamming the coronavirus lockdown, which he called ‘fascist’ on Wednesday.
The tech entrepreneur, who according to Forbes is worth more than $38billion, also tweeted that he intends to sell ‘almost all physical possessions.’
‘Will own no house,’ Musk tweeted. He then remarked: ‘Just one stipulation on sale: I own Gene Wilder’s old house.
‘It cannot be torn down or lose any its soul.’
In November 2013, Musk purchased a three-quarter-acre Bel Air home for $6.75million.
That property once belonged to Wilder, the late Willy Wonka actor who died in 2016. Musk has since turned the property into a private school.
Musk also tweeted: ‘I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house’
Musk, who has blasted the coronavirus lockdown as ‘fascist,’ also tweeted: ‘Now give people back their FREEDOM’
He then posted a series of tweets that contained the lyrics of The Star Spangled Banner
The home is one of six that Musk bought within walking distance of each other.
Musk also purchased a seventh home near Tesla headquarters in North California.
In total, he has spent more than $100million for seven properties since 2012, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Musk then remarked on Twitter that his girlfriend, the musician Grimes, was mad at him.
In response to another Twitter user, Musk revealed that Grimes, who is pregnant, is due to give birth on Monday.
Last week, rumors spread across Twitter claiming that Musk and his Canadian love interest planned to name their child Influenza.
However, the false claim, which came to light earlier this week, seems to have originated from a fake news site called World Grey News earlier this week.
An article headlined ‘Grimes named her child WHAT’ included a false BBC News logo and even a fake quote from the artist confirming the unborn child’s name.
The baby will be Musk’s sixth child.
The South Africa native was first married to Canadian author Justine Musk, with whom he has five children.
Their firstborn died of sudden infant death syndrome at the age of 10 weeks.
Musk was married twice to British actress Talulah Riley. The couple also divorced twice.
Piers Morgan wondered if Musk was ‘on the wacky-baccy again’
Another Twitter user commented that Musk has ‘gone off the deep end’
Michael Tannenbaum commented that ‘someone should unplug Elon Musk, wait ten seconds, and then plug him back in’
‘Elon Musk is 100% cocaine powered,’ tweeted a parody account of God
Musk also had a brief, highly publicized relationship with Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Musk on Friday also attempted to recite the Star Spangled Banner, tweeting: ‘And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air…gave proof through the night that our flag was still there…Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave…O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?’
He then tweeted: ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light of consciousness.’
On Twitter, some wondered if Musk was smoking marijuana – as he famously did during an interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast in September 2018.
Piers Morgan wondered if Musk was ‘on the wacky-baccy again.’
Another Twitter user commented that Musk has ‘gone off the deep end.’
Michael Tannenbaum commented that ‘someone should unplug Elon Musk, wait ten seconds, and then plug him back in.’
‘Elon Musk is 100% cocaine powered,’ tweeted a parody account of God.
In recent days, Musk has vented over the ongoing coronavirus lockdown.
Even though his company has reported healthy earnings, one of the biggest disruptions to Tesla has been the government-ordered shutdown of its factory in Fremont, California, which began on March 24.
Alameda County, where the factory is based, on Wednesday extended stay-at-home orders until May 31 and vehicle manufacturing is not considered an essential business that is exempt.
On a conference call on Wednesday, Musk said he did not know when they could resume production.
‘I think the people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry,’ Musk said as he went off track in the call about earnings.
‘It’s like somebody should be, if somebody wants to stay in the house that’s great, they should be allowed to stay in the house and they should not be compelled to leave.
‘To say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom!’
The strictest stay-at-home orders recommend that people only leave their homes for essential trips such as visiting the grocery store or pharmacy.
Tesla shut down the California factory just as it was ramping up production of its new electric crossover utility vehicle Model Y, which it expects to generate record demand and higher profit margins.
Tesla on Wednesday said the Model Y was already contributing profits, marking the first time in the company’s history that a new vehicle is profitable in its first quarter.
Musk on Friday also revealed that his girlfriend, the musician Grimes, is set to give birth on Monday. The couple is seen above in New York City in May 2018
‘Baby due on Monday,’ the Tesla CEO tweeted on Friday
Musk tweeted that Grimes was ‘mad at me’ for pledging to sell his possessions
Last month, Tesla said production and deliveries of its Model Y sports utility vehicle were significantly ahead of schedule, as it delivered the highest number of vehicles in any first quarter to date, despite the outbreak.
Tesla reported that it eked out a first-quarter net profit on Wednesday.
The electric car and solar panel company said it made $16million from January through March, its third-straight profitable quarter.
Excluding items, Tesla posted a profit of $1.24 per share. Analysts had expected a loss of 36 cents per share.
Tesla shares are also up for the year after recovering from a sharp slump in March.
But Musk called the state stay-at-home order a ‘serious risk’ to the business.
‘So the expansion of the shelter in place or as frankly I would call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes, against all their constitutional rights, is my opinion, and breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong, and not why people came to America or built this country, excuse me,’ Musk added later.
‘It’s an outrage. It will cause loss, great, great harm, but not just to Tesla, but any company. And while Tesla will weather the storm there are many small companies that will not.’
Tesla produces a fraction of the cars of its rivals but has a much larger stock market value on expectations of tremendous growth.
Musk said that while other carmakers were cutting back, Telsa was ramping up investment.
He said Tesla might announce the location of a new US factory in one to three months.
Tesla said it could not predict how quickly vehicle manufacturing and global supply chains will normalize, saying it would revisit full-year guidance for net income and cash flow when it reports current-quarter results in three months.
Musk tweeted later on Wednesday that ‘hospitals in California have been half empty this whole time’
Musk replied to Kimbal Musk who said Colorado ‘is doing well’ and ‘our governor has ended the stay at home order’
Tesla in January said it expected positive quarterly cash flow and positive net income going forward.
The company on Wednesday did not update its previous forecast of delivering half a million vehicles by the end of 2020.
Tesla said its free cash flow had been impacted by growing inventory due to coronavirus shutdowns.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted demand for cars, with automakers including Tesla forced to furlough workers and close factories.
Vehicle demand in the United States has dropped as much as 80% in some hard-hit areas in March, but some analysts said sales appeared to recover slightly in the first two weeks of April.
The electric carmaker did not say when it planned to resume production at its Fremont plant.
Elon Musk has an extensive real estate portfolio that includes six homes (one of them seen above) in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles that are within a few blocks from each other
But Tesla on Wednesday said it expected production at its vehicle factories in Fremont, California and in Shanghai, China to ramp gradually through the second quarter.
The company said operations at its Shanghai plant were progressing better than expected, with production rates of its Model 3 sedan expected to hit 4,000 units per week, or 200,000 per year, by mid-2020.
It delivered 88,400 vehicles during the first three months of the year, a 40 per cent increase from a year ago.
That was aided by production at its new factory in Shanghai.
It said gross margins at its Shanghai factory were approaching those of Model 3 production in the United States.
Automotive gross margins in the first quarter jumped to 25.5 per cent overall.
Alongside a link to a Wall Street Journal op-ed about whether lockdowns are saving lives, Musk tweeted: ‘Give people their freedom back!’
Musk also tweeted a link to a local news story about Texas lifting some restrictions this week, saying: ‘Bravo Texas’
Musk had earlier hit out at Silicon Valley, saying it had become ‘Sanctimonious Valley’ and ‘too much the moral arbiter of the world’
But of the $5.1billion in overall automotive revenue, nearly 7 per cent were due to regulatory credits – money Tesla receives from other automakers that buy the company’s carbon emissions credits to meet stricter regulation.
Revenue from those credits nearly tripled from the last quarter.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nicholas Hyett also flagged that Tesla’s free cash flow was negative last quarter and improved only modestly on a yearly basis.
‘The immediate future doesn’t look like the ideal time to be selling premium priced cars, so perhaps it’s no surprise guidance has been paused,’ Hyett said.
On Wednesday, Musk tweeted his opposition to California shuts downs as he complained: ‘Hospitals in California have been half empty this whole time.’
He also retweeted his brother Kimbal Musk who said Colorado ‘is doing well’ and tweeted that the governor ‘has ended the stay at home order’.
‘Bravo!’ Elon Musk tweeted at Governor Jared Polis.
Musk tweeted on March 6 that ‘the coronavirus panic is dumb’ but later offered to supply hospitals with free ventilators.
Then on Tuesday, Musk and a host of critics slammed YouTube for removing a video of two doctors suggesting COVID-19 death tolls are being boosted and urging an end to lockdowns because they do more harm than good.
Musk had previously shared the clip and stated: ‘The docs make good points.’
YouTube took down the video of news conference featuring Drs. Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi, who run a private urgent-care clinic in Bakersfield, California, on Monday because they claim it violated their user policy by disputing health officials.
‘FREE AMERICA NOW,’ the 48-year-old tweeted.
Alongside a link to a Wall Street Journal op-ed about whether lockdowns are saving lives, Musk also tweeted: ‘Give people their freedom back!’
He tweeted a link to a story about Texas lifting some restrictions this week, saying: ‘Bravo Texas’.
Musk later clarified, in response to a tweet from one of his followers, that he believed states should be reopening slowly.
‘Yes, reopen with care & appropriate protection, but don’t everyone under de facto house arrest,’ he tweeted.
Musk had earlier hit out at Silicon Valley, saying it had become ‘Sanctimonious Valley’ and ‘too much the moral arbiter of the world’.
Eccentric billionaire with the loose lips – and Twitter account – is no stranger to controversy
Musk, who is considered a visionary in the world of business, has also gotten into trouble for his antics.
In September 2018, he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and smoked what appeared to be marijuana.
While he didn’t break any laws since weed is legal in California, where the podcast was taped, the episode fueled perceptions that Musk was too wild and out of control for a chief executive of a major corporation.
The 48-year-old billionaire accepted a joint from the host, Rogan, after a rambling conversation that also took in the dangers of AI and the possibility China is spying on US citizens through their phones.
Hours later, Tesla’s chief accounting officer Dave Morton resigned citing ‘public attention’ on the company.
Meanwhile, shares plummeted in the wake of the spectacle, wiping $4.3 billion off the company’s value.
It followed weeks of serious turbulence for both Musk and Tesla, after he falsely announced he was taking the company private in a deal with Saudi Arabia and accused a British hero diver of being a paedophile.
In the summer of 2018, Elon Musk (left) referred to Vernon Unsworth (right), a British diver who took part in the rescue of 13 trapped people in a water-flooded Thai cave, as a ‘pedo guy.’ Unsworth unsuccessfully sued Musk for defamation
A month prior to the pot-smoking incident, Musk tweeted that he had ‘funding secured’ to take Tesla private at $420 per share.
That tweet prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission to file a lawsuit against Musk.
Musk settled the lawsuit, agreeing to step down as chairman and have the company’s lawyers pre-approve written communications, including tweets with material information about the company.
Musk and Tesla were ordered to pay $20million each to the federal government to settle the lawsuit.
In the summer of 2018, Musk generated headlines after he referred to a British diver who took part in the rescue of 12 boys trapped in a water-flooded Thai cave, as a ‘pedo guy.’
The diver, Vern Unsworth, sued Musk for defamation, though a Los Angeles court determined that Musk was not liable for damages.
In August 2018, Musk apologized after he referred to a Wall Street analyst as a ‘boring bonehead’ and said another’s questions were ‘so dry they’re killing me.’
The comments came after Tesla reported mixed results for the second quarter, posting a wider-than-expected loss, while simultaneously predicting it would turn a profit for the first time ever in the second half of the year.
In May of that year, Musk went on a Twitter rant blasting journalists for their coverage of Tesla.
Musk took ‘big media companies’ to task in a series of tweets, saying the public doesn’t respect them anymore because of their ‘holier-than-thou hypocrisy’ and because they ‘claim to the truth, but publish only enough to sugarcoat the lie’.
After a reporter from the Verge retorted by calling him a ‘media-bating Trump figure,’ Musk sharply replied by saying President Donald Trump was elected because no one believes the media anymore.
He rounded out the spectacle by saying that he plans to create a site called ‘Pravda’, a reference to the state-run Russian news agency, where people can rate journalists.