August seventh marks a memorable day in Tesla's history, as CEO Elon Musk made a fake Twitter post stating that he would buy out stockholders at $420 a share, according to a report on the Fin24 website. This proved to be an untrue statement, as the billionaire had neither the funding nor the investor support to execute such a bold claim.
Mr. Musk learned that what he had intended as a harmless joke turned into one of his biggest losses as a businessman. Investors were not happy with Mr. Musk's joke, causing more stern measures to take place.
Elon Musk's and Tesla's futures look bleak
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Musk's false tweet resulted in him losing his place as a chairperson of Tesla. He is also required to pay a $20 million fine on account of the SEC. Reportedly, Mr. Musk will continue his job as CEO of the company, much to the relief of Tesla supporters, but must give up his title as chairperson within the next 45 days, according to Fin24. He is not legible to be re-elected as chairperson again for another three years. In addition, the SEC's lawsuit against Mr. Musk prohibits him from serving as an officer or director of any other public company. Mr. Musk agrees to these demands, according to the Incorporated website, despite outrage from Tesla investors.
However, the decision of the SEC does not settle the lawsuits of several investors. The settlement simply revealed emails and other documents not available to the public, giving Tesla the upper hand in fighting off the lawsuits.
Tesla also took some big hits as a result of Mr. Musk's tweet. On Friday, stock shares plummeted by 14 percent, causing damage to the company itself.
This loss in profit was due to the confusion investors all shared over Mr. Musk's tweet and anger over the fact the tweet was fake.
Also, on the account of a close friend of Elon Musk's, he will be purchasing an extra $20 million in shares from Tesla during the company's next trading opportunity.
Tesla attempts to put this all behind them
It has been decided that it is in the best interest of the company to pull back and put this whole incident behind them. The tweet has caused detrimental loss to both Tesla and Elon Musk alike. There will soon be proper restraints put into place, according to the SEC, and Tesla shareholders need not worry any longer.
According to Fin24, it later was confirmed that the reason for Mr. Musk's tweet was that he had not long before learned of the number 420's significance in the marijuana culture and after assuming a 20 percent premium on shares, rounded the resulting number to 420. He also wanted to impress his girlfriend.
Even now Mr. Musk continues to make provocative tweets, not seeming to react on Twitter to the stake at hand. This is leaving fans confused and concerned as they discuss throughout Mr. Musk's Twitter feed what they think is going to happen next.
