Things are not looking good for Elon Musk. He is officially the first person to lose and second to acquire $200 billion as Tesla stocks tragically collapsed in recent days. Experts are saying the combination of a depressed tech sector market and Musk’s questionable practices after acquiring Twitter are to blame for the near $1 trillion loss.
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The timing of Tesla’s stock collapse points to a problem stemming beyond a depressed economy. Tesla shares reached their highest point ever this past March at $402.67. They fell to $108.72 on December 28, 2022.
Notably, Elon Musk has been accused of gross mishandling of Twitter, which he purchased in October for $44 billion. The massive buy, which he tried to renege on, led him to sell off billions of dollars in Tesla, Inc shares. He unloaded $3.58 billion in December, bringing his total Tesla stock sell-off near $40 billion since late 2021.
It doesn’t look good when you have to gut one of your companies to keep another one afloat, but it gets worse. Much worse.
Musk’s Twitter “Antics” May Be Largely Responsible for Tesla’s Downfall
Immediately after acquiring Twitter, Musk began mass layoffs and firings, violating labor laws in multiple states. He’s now mandated a “zero-based budgeting” policy in an attempt to save $500 million in non-labor costs. The result has been an absolute fiasco, with the shutdown of Twitter’s Sacramento data center and a reportedly filthy San Francisco headquarters where employees have claimed to bring their own toilet paper to work.
On top of it all, and perhaps the root of the issue itself, Musk has been accused of tyrannical behavior. This is not just towards his employees, but the public itself. He’s seemed to court white nationalists and hate groups while allowing many banned accounts to return to the platform. Together with a substantially smaller Twitter team overlooking content, it’s allowed violent videos and COVID disinformation to run rampant. He’s done this while using the banner of free speech as justification.
The Independent reported that Musk also suspended half a dozen journalists from Twitter. He did so while accusing them of doxing him and his family. But, according to the publication, he did not provide any evidence of said doxing. As a result, civil rights groups and press freedom advocates have condemned Musk’s actions, likening the CEO to a dictator.
The Robb Report describes Musk’s actions as “virtual full-time devotion to managing Twitter at the expense of Tesla.” Nikki Ramirez says that Musk may have “inadvertently killed two birds with one stone.”
Despite the heap of trouble that Musk finds himself immersed in, he’s voiced that he is not concerned with Tesla stock dropping. He told the All-In podcast that an already “volatile stock market” is partly responsible. Tesla was also offering a $7,500 discount to US customers prior to the year’s end.