Is Elon Musk trying to get people to dislike him? This time it seems as though he might as well be targeting Tesla shareholders, who have seen the electric vehicle company’s stock price dip… and dip… and dip…
The 16.1 percent decline in Tesla’s stock price seen just last week was the worst drop across a single week since early 2020 when economic chaos around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, per MarketWatch. The falls don’t reflect the broader stock market, with the S&P 500 — an index including Tesla — down only by single digits across the last trading week.
Substantial drops in the stock price at Tesla have been recorded in correlation with Musk’s takeover of the social media site Twitter, a deal that finalized in October after he initially resisted it going forward, leading to court action from the company meant to force Musk to follow through. Musk abruptly got back onboard as that case moved forward. Since the deal was completed, he has spent what seems like a substantial amount of his time exerting close control of the company — although he has multiple other high-profile firms where he is in high-ranking leadership positions, including Tesla where he is CEO.
Musk’s impacts on the stock price at Tesla aren’t only connected to concerns about the company’s stability stemming from his only increasingly antagonistic public persona. Recently, he also revealed a sale of billions in Tesla stock shares, bringing him up to nearly $40 billion worth of Tesla stock sales over the preceding 13 months. Other investors could take a hint from these sales and also start ditching. According to figures cited in Bloomberg on Saturday, which was after he disclosed his latest sales, about one-third of Musk’s overall wealth is tied up in Tesla stock, so fluctuations in the company’s stock price threaten to significantly impact his portfolio. Leo KoGuan, who is the third-largest individual shareholder at Tesla, recently called — in a post on Twitter — for new leadership at Tesla, citing concerns about the level of Musk’s actual involvement in running the company.
“Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO. Tesla needs and deserves to have working full time CEO. What Tesla BOD should do, do nothing? Elon will find his own successor under BOD independent supervision,” he said Wednesday.
Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO
Tesla needs and deserves to have working full time CEO
What Tesla BOD should do, do nothing? Elon will find his own successor under BOD independent supervision https://t.co/AJSvij9ncP
— KoGuan Leo (@KoguanLeo) December 14, 2022
