Shares of Tesla tumbled on Friday (May 1) after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk tweeted that the electric carmaker's high-flying stock was overly expensive.
This report produced by Chris Dignam.
Tesla CEO and frequent Twitter troublemaker Elon Musk unleashed a series of perplexing posts on Friday, saying he's "selling almost all physical possessions" and "will own no house," and that the stock price of his electric car company "is too high." Shares of Tesla fell 10% following the tweetstorm, which included one thread that quoted parts of the U.S. national anthem.
Another tweet quoted part of the Dylan Thomas poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." And another said "give people back their FREEDOM." The posts raised questions about whether Musk's account had been hacked.
Reuters could not immediately verify whether Musk sent the tweets, and both Tesla and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The tweet about Tesla's stock price also raised questions about whether Musk could land in hot water again with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last year, Musk settled a dispute with the SEC over his use of Twitter, sparked by the infamous "funding secured" tweet.
As part of the settlement, Musk agreed to submit his public statements about Tesla's finances and other topics to vetting by the company's legal counsel.
Friday's eyebrow-raising tweets follow others this week - including one similar to tweets from President Donald Trump - as well as comments on Tesla's earnings conference call on Wednesday, criticizing the California government's stay-at-home orders, which have forced him to shut down Tesla's plant in Fremont, California.
Including Friday's drop, Tesla shares are still up over 40% over the last 12 months.
Musk is also on the verge of a massive payday if Tesla's market cap can stay high enough to average $100 billion over six months.
As of Friday, that payout could be worth over $700 million.
This potentially raises old legal issues investors thought were behind the company and the controversial founder and CEO.
