From calling the Coronavirus pandemic panic dumb to repeatedly angering the investors and falling in lawsuits, Elon Musk has said it all on Twitter. So much so, his army of worshipers started wondering whether the Mogul of the space empire’s account had been hacked. For a self-styled futurist and popular tech influencer looked up to by as many as 33 million followers, is it responsible on his part to tweet without any accountability?
Crux of the Matter
Case 1 : Contrarian Stance on COVID-19: Advocates Ending Lockdown in US
The coronavirus panic is dumb — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2020
Even though recent reports suggest that COVID-19 has claimed more American lives than the infamous Vietnam War, Elon impatiently suggested that the US government should end self-isolation and give “freedom back” to the people.
FREE AMERICA NOW — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2020
With predictions by CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) stating that the pandemic could last up to two years, and with the dangers of a second wave of the virus, it is surprising that a smart guy like him would say anything other than demanding cooperation from the general public.
Case 2: Once Bitten by SEC, Never Shy: Stock Prices Seem High Again? In 2018, Tesla’s investors had questioned his leadership when Musk carelessly tweeted how Tesla Inc.’s stock price is overvalued and his company’s stock fell down 12% in the next hour itself.
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018
The situation escalated further when the CEO’s next set of tweets talked about securing funding that would make Tesla a private company at $420 a share. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that maintains orderly and efficient markets to facilitate capital formation, sued him for falsely asserting this figure on a public platform, meant to impress his girlfriend, rapper Grimes. Musk and Tesla, each paid $20 million to settle this securities-fraud lawsuit back then.
My gf @Grimezsz is mad at me — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
Thereby a mutual agreement between SEC and Tesla required the CEO to not speak about the following without an approval: – company’s financial condition – earnings forecast – proposed acquisitions – production data.
Tesla stock price is too high imo — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
In a déjà vu state of affairs, Musk yet again said last week how Tesla’s stock price is too high in his opinion and this time the electric car company’s stock price dropped by 10 percent. This fall wiped off $14bn of Tesla’s value.
Holy crap. How did @elonmusk time this stock call so well? He nailed it almost to the second. (Chart via @lorcanrk) pic.twitter.com/Bu1pRfzzuO — Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) May 1, 2020
Case 3: Gets High, Loses Executives and Stocks Shares of Tesla plunged 6% when SpaceX’s top executives resigned, right after a bizarre video surfaced of Musk smoking pot on a Joe Rogan podcast. This fueled concerns about his recreational drug use.
The company’s HR chief, Gaby Toledano, and Chief Accounting Officer, Dave Morton, both stepped down from their roles, citing intense public attention as the reason.
Tesla Goes Bankrupt Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 — Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018
The April fools’ joke that caused Tesla’s stock to plunge more than 7%
Timeline of 2018 showcasing the rise and fall of Tesla Inc. stocks
Case 4: Thai Cave Operation Controversy: Hero for Everyone, ‘Pedo’ to Him Musk came under fire in late 2018, when he questioned the motives of a British diver who helped rescue soccer team boys trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand. He tweeted about him being a pedophile and then baselessly referred to the public hero as a “child rapist” in an email to a reporter.
Elon Musk sent me an email last week. In it, he accused a British cave rescuer of being "a child rapist" who took a "12-year-old bride." He didn't provide any evidence of those claims. He also called me a "fucking asshole."https://t.co/EIAjzEJXiY — Ryan Mac 🙃 (@RMac18) September 4, 2018
The submarine diver retorted back by calling it Tesla’s PR strategy while critics advised the SpaceX founder to stick to his pledge of being less combative and more productive on social media.
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk sent a "kid-size submarine" to help the 12 boys trapped in the Thai cave. Vern Unsworth, who was involved in the rescue operation, rejected the idea completely. https://t.co/BLdRUYjEE7 pic.twitter.com/95o1X5snBb — CNN (@CNN) July 15, 2018
Facing backlash for his animosity, the entrepreneur hurriedly deleted previous tweets and congratulated the team behind the successful operation. Then he offered his help by proposing a kid sized submarine model for rescue operations ahead, which ironically got rejected for being impractical.
The capsule for the mini-submarine was built with SpaceX rocket parts
Musk v/s Fans
Defensive demenour of Mr. Musk
Who is running this lame collection of bots & trolls anyway? Try harder! I’m an engineer, knucklehead. Just do “business” on the side. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 4, 2020
One of his fans speculating whether his account has been hacked
.@elonmusk tweeted: "I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house." "Tesla stock price is too high imo." And many other weird tweets. It looks like his twitter account has been hacked.https://t.co/KWnB4R95Gv pic.twitter.com/wdAI4RBrKc — ICO Drops (@ICODrops) May 1, 2020
Conspiracy theories suggesting the real Musk is long gone
The real Elon Musk has been dead since 2018. He was replaced by an AI. This was the year he started dating Grimes, called the scuba dude a ‘pedo’ and pretended to take Tesla private. What happened to real Elon? His body was launched where no one could find it. The perfect crime. pic.twitter.com/6rDelvqR92 — Ordinary Guy (@ordinarytings) May 1, 2020
“I’m not an alien…but I used to be one”Elon Reeves Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., SpaceX, and Boring
Curiopedia
In October last year, Elon Musk donated $1 million to plant trees after a YouTuber asked him to donate for this campaign of his oven on twitter. He then changed his twitter name to Treelon.
Actor Robert Downey Jr. sought help from Elon Musk to get into the character of Tony Stark for the 2008 film Iron Man, making Musk a direct inspiration behind RDJ’s portrayal of Tony Stark. Musk later guest-starred as himself in the sequel of the film.
Shares of Tesla Inc jumped more than 8% on Monday (4th May), taking Tesla’s market capitalization to $141.1 billion at the close. Only 3 days ago Tesla’s stock fell by 10% after Musk tweeted it to be overvalued in his opinion. More importantly, Tesla’s stock market value reached a six-month average of $100.2 billion, according to an analysis of Refinitiv data. As of today, Tesla Inc. is the most valuable automobile company in the world.
Curated Coverage
Bloomberg – Tesla Falls as Musk Says Stock Too High in 2018-Style Tweets
The Guardian – Coronavirus has Elon Musk acting like just another used car salesman
The Guardian – Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue ‘pedo’ in baseless attack
The New York Times – Elon Musk Defends His Rejected Mini-Sub Plan for Thai Cave
Yahoo Finance – Timeline: Tesla, thanks to Elon Musk, had an insane month
Comments