- CEO Elon Musk says he won’t sell any more shares in Tesla for 18 months or more, likely an attempt to comfort shareholders of the electric vehicle company who have watched the stock lose nearly half of its value since Musk’s purchase of Twitter went through in October.
In less than two months, Musk has presided over a dizzying series of changes that have unnerved advertisers and turned off users. He’s laid off half of the workforce, axed contract content moderators and disbanded a council of trust and safety advisors. He has dropped enforcement of COVID-19 misinformation rules and called for criminal charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert.
Tesla’s market value was over $1.1 trillion on April 1, the last trading day before Musk disclosed he was buying up Twitter shares. The company has since lost nearly two-thirds of its value, at a time when rival automakers are cutting in on Tesla’s dominant share of electric vehicle sales.