Multi-billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk on Friday fired off a series of weird tweets, mentioning he is selling “almost all” his physical belongings and devoting himself to Mars and Earth.
Tesla’s market valuation was worth around $141 billion before the first tweet and it reached around $133 billion later and kept falling further.
Tesla stock price is too high imo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
Now give people back their FREEDOM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
And the rocket’s red glare,
the bombs bursting in air— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
“I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house,” Musk said in one tweet.
He also mentioned that his girlfriend, songwriter and producer Grimes, is mad at him.
I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
Facing follow-up questions from his followers, the Tesla CEO told one user that this supposed sale of everything he owns is not because he needs the cash but because he is devoting himself to Mars and Earth as well as possession just weigh people down.
Responding to Musk, a user tweeted, “Heading to Tibet to become a monk too? Btw, where are all those ventilators you promised California?”
Another user posted to him: “It is frustrating cause I have almost all my savings invested in Tesla and I’m not some rich guy. He doesn’t recognize this also hurts the small folks. I wish he’d just delete twitter at this point.”
Some users even mentioned that they are happy to know that Musk and his musician girlfriend who recently confirmed she is carrying the child of Musk expected this month are together.
“This is the best news I’ve heard so far. This means you’re still together, despite speculation to contrary. Maybe that is what this is about,” mentioned another user.
In another tweet, Musk said he thinks the stock price of Tesla is “too high” — a tweet that was followed by a sharp drop in the share price of the company. Tesla’s stock went down a massive 9.3 per cent with his tweet.
Earlier, Tesla stock stumbled more than 10 per cent and its valuation reduced by nearly $9 billion after Musk’s tweets Â- in reminiscence of his controversial tweets in Augist 2018 when he posted about Tesla “going private” at $420 a share. That tweet cost him his role as Tesla Chairman.
The August 2018 tweet resulted in Musk and Tesla reaching a settlement of fraud charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September that year.
The settlement included $40 million in penalties, split between the company and Musk, and the removal of Musk as chairman of the Tesla board.
Terms of the deal also required Tesla to impose controls to oversee Musk’s social-media communications. It was unclear Friday whether such controls have been in place, and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk is supposed to seek pre-approval if his tweets include anything regarding the company’s securities, including his acquisition or disposition of shares, nonpublic legal or regulatory findings or decisions.