By Azania Patel
Stock prices for Tesla have been unstable as CEO Elon Musk continues his streak of chaos on Twitter.
Investors in Tesla have been critical of Musk’s new role in Twitter. His policies on the social media platform will backfire on the car brand, they claim. ““Customers don’t want their cars to be controversial. They want to be proud as hell to drive them – not embarrassed”, Gary Black of Future Fund, a major investor in Tesla was quoted saying.
Questions about Musk misusing Tesla resources to bankroll Twitter have depleted share holder trust in the CEO. US Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote an open letter to Robyn Denholm, Chair of Tesla’s Board questioning the legality of some of Musk’s moves.
In the letter, Warren reminded the board that they were responsible “for ensuring that a controlling shareholder (especially one who is also a Chief Executive Officer, or CEO) does not treat the company as a private plaything.”
After Musk ran a poll suggesting he may step down as Twitter’s CEO, Tesla’s stocks climbed briefly yesterday. However, after the tech billionaire gave no indication that he would follow through the 57 percent user vote asking him to step down, Tesla stocks plummeted again.
Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, both the companies have faced fiscal shocks. Advertisers have quit en-masse from the platform, citing reasons of brand image and controversial hate speech policies. Tesla on the other hand has seen its worse drawdown since it went public in 2010. Its stock prices are down by 62 per cent since its November 2021 of $381.59 (£314.29).
Investment bank and global brokerage Oppenheimer & Co its rating on Tesla stocks. Oppenheimer analyst stated that “The combination of Twitter’s unclear cash needs and diminishing options for Mr. Musk to serve those needs” had made a separation between Tesla and Twitter impossible.
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