Elon Musk, CEO of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, has sent the stock price of his company down considerably with a message on Twitter. After the billionaire sent the words “Tesla share price is too high in my opinion”, the company’s shares plunged 13 percent on Wall Street.
The message was part of a series of notable messages. For example, in an earlier tweet, Musk declared that he was selling all of his physical assets, including his homes. He also called for people to “return their freedom,” possibly referring to lockdown measures against the new coronavirus.
Musk’s sometimes bizarre behaviour on Twitter has already earned him a million-dollar fine from the American stock watchdog SEC. According to the regulator, Musk misled investors in 2018 by claiming that Tesla was taken off the stock exchange and that the financing for it was complete. After a settlement, Musk also had to resign as chairman of Tesla.
The new tweet can become a new pain point. The SEC banned Musk from tweeting on a number of price-sensitive topics around Tesla without the permission of a lawyer. This included the automaker’s finances, production figures and the purchase or sale of shares by Musk.