Tesla stock fell 20% in a week, wiping some $125bn from the company's value as its CEO Elon Musk instead worked on shitposting and his quixotic plan to buy Twitter. As the deal he struck depends on Tesla maintaining its value, further decline will put it in danger.
$243 billion. That's how much Musk, who owns 21% of Tesla but has pledged more than half his stake as loan collateral, is worth, according to Forbes. The PayPal cofounder grew up in South Africa before attending the University of Pennsylvania as a transfer student. Despite Tesla's stock plunge on Tuesday, Musk remains the world's richest person—by far. Amazon Founder and Chair Jeff Bezos comes closest, with a net worth of $166 billion.
"We do not believe this Twitter bid will result in a major sale of Musk's Tesla shares," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a Friday note, positing shares would instead be pledged for loans. "We see no risk from this Twitter situation impacting shares of Tesla or Musk's focus."
Musk's Twitter buyout seems to appeal to no-one except right-wing Twitter addicts and pundits feeding off their energy—least of all workers or investors depending on Musk's stability and ability to focus. There are other reasons to think the deal is doomed, such as Musk's continued trolling on Twitter and the naivete of his free speech rhetoric in the face of immovable obstacles such as Apple's App Store policies and EU privacy rules.
Tesla is (or was) valued higher than the rest of the automobile industry combined. Leveraging this to buy a marginally-profitable social network so you can pursue vendettas against the SEC, Chelsea Manning and the kid who posts the location of your private jet? This is, if nothing else, exactly what we always meant by Serious Business.
