Tesla is on track to have its worst year on record, with the electric carmaker’s share price falling 70 percent over the past 13 months.
Tesla investors seem fed up with the 24/7 Twitter mayhem since Elon Musk bought the company earlier this year.
They claim that the takeover and ensuing chaos, which saw Musk take a hands-on approach to running the social media network, distracted him from running the pioneering electric car company and severely damaged his finances.
Tesla stock price hit an all-time high of more than $414 in November 2021. Since then, it’s down 70 percent to $123.15 on Friday, with shares down another 1 percent.
Shares stayed in the high $380 range through April 1, the last day of trading before Musk announced he was buying Twitter stock.
Elon Musk has seen $122 billion wiped from his fortune in the past 12 months
Tesla shares are down 69% for the year in what may be its worst annual performance since its IPO in 2010
The company has since lost nearly two-thirds of its value, at a time when rival automakers are eroding Tesla’s dominant share of electric vehicle sales.
Tesla shares are down 69 percent for the year in what could be its worst annual performance since its IPO in 2010, as investors worry Twitter is taking up too much of the billionaire’s time.
This week, Tesla increased the discounts it offers on its two best-selling models, a clear indication that demand for its electric vehicles is slowing.
The Texas company began offering a $3,750 incentive on its website earlier this month for its Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV, but on Wednesday doubled the discount to $7,500 for those who be delivered by December 31st.
The rare rebates follow a series of price hikes by Tesla in recent years that have been blamed on supply chain disruptions and inflation.
Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush, said: “This is a sign of slump in demand and does not bode well for Tesla heading into December’s year-end. EV [electric vehicle] Competition is increasing across the board and Tesla is seeing some headwinds in demand.’
Musk dumped $2.58 billion in Tesla stock last week and has sold nearly $23 billion in shares in his automaker since April, when he began taking a position on Twitter.
Tesla is facing its worst year on record as its stock price has fallen 70% over the past 13 months
The Model Y SUV, one of Tesla’s best-selling cars, is on sale at a significant discount through the end of 2021
Tesla’s share price fell off a cliff after the company cut prices again in the US
A significant portion of that revenue has been used to fund its $44 billion acquisition of the social media company, which has been marred by chaos since its acquisition.
His 13.42 percent stake has been wiped out by hundreds of billions of dollars – and he is no longer the richest man in the world
His 13.42 percent stake has been wiped out by hundreds of billions of dollars – and he is no longer the richest man in the world.
The Tesla sell-off came as global markets plummeted into the red as hopes of a Santa Claus rally before Christmas fizzled.
On Friday, Musk said he would not sell Tesla stock for 18 months or more, in an apparent attempt to comfort shareholders who have watched the stock fall nearly half its value since the CEO bought Twitter in October has lost.
“I’m not selling any stock for 18 to 24 months,” Musk said during an audio-only group conversation on Twitter Spaces.
Regarding Musk’s involvement with Twitter, it has already been suggested that he intends to run the company on a temporary basis, and last month he told a court he plans to find someone else for the top job.
Warning Twitter that he’s been “on the fast track to bankruptcy since May,” he tweeted, “The question isn’t finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”
Tesla investors seem fed up with the 24/7 Twitter mayhem they say has distracted eccentric CEO Elon Musk from the electric-car company that was the main source of his wealth
His short tenure was mired in controversy, including the firing of half the company’s employees and the return of banned users like Donald Trump to the site.
The latest uproar came over users being banned from promoting links to other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Within 24 hours, Mr Musk reversed the decision and apologized, saying any “major policy changes” would be publicly voted on from now on.
The first of these appears to have been when he asked his 122 million followers last Sunday if he should step down as CEO.
When it became clear where the poll would go, Musk tweeted, “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because you may get it.” Those who want power deserve it least.’
The Tesla and SpaceX tycoon has followed Twitter polls in the past and likes to quote the phrase “vox populi, vox dei,” Latin for “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
The poll came a week after Musk fell to second on a Forbes list of the world’s richest people, while Tesla’s share price continued to fall.
The end of the assembly line where a quality control inspection takes place at Tesla Motors in California’s only full-fledged car factory