Published , by Asif Khan
Published , by Asif Khan
Elon Musk has once again dumped Tesla shares. This time, the soon-to-be owner of Twitter sold $4 billion of his TSLA position, but don't worry he says this is the last time... For now.
Now, this is not the first time that Musk has sold shares of Tesla, with his first decision to sell shares being determined by a Twitter poll. This time, Musk is just straight up buying Twitter for $44 billion. It's important to note that Musk had told Tesla shareholders that "just as my money was first in, it will be the last out."
A lot has changed since 2013, and Musk has had no problem repeatedly going back on his word. As one of the wealthiest people on Earth, it appears that he wasn't busy enough. The executive runs both Tesla and SpaceX, but surely Twitter won't take up all of his time. Right?
Musk has been on a tear posting a combination of cringy tweets, memes, and statements about free speech. The future owner of Twitter has even gone on the offensive targetting employees at the company. Musk's recent attack was on Twitter's top lawyer Vijaya Gadde alleging liberal bias on the social media platform and blaming her. His ridiculous group of followers made it their jobs to attack and harass Gadde on Twitter.
Twitter reported Q1 2022 earnings results earlier today, and the company is still losing money from operations, which may explain the change of heart from the board of directors that lead to them accepting Elon's $44 billion bid for the company. Twitter (TWTR) has never been consitently profitable and just had to restate nearly 3 years of mDAU dislcosures.
This evening's news that Musk dumped $4 billion worth of TSLA shares on April 26, 2022 is a gut punch to shareholders who have witnessed the CEO tweet the stock down nearly 15% this week. Some people want off the merry-go-round and who can blame them? Then again, Tesla's Q1 2022 financial results were pretty impressive with profits and revenues on the rise.
A lot of people like to compare Elon Musk to Steve Jobs, but he is honestly starting to look more like a supervillain or Howard Hughes. Musk's obsession with free speech, his willingness to engage right wing political pundits, and his extremely poor track record when it comes to dealing with critics could end up being his undoing. For now, he is left holding the bag that is Twitter. That is certainly one way to diversify.
Elon Musk has given society a lot of reasons to be skeptical of everything he says. Countless times he has been wrong about predictions, ranging from a prediction that COVID-19 would be gone by April 2020 and many delays of Tesla products. In 2013 he told shareholders that his money would be the last out, and that has been proven to be a flat out lie. Only time will tell how many more lies Elon will tell Twitter users, Tesla investors, and the broader public.
This article is only meant for educational purposes, and should not be taken as investment advice. Please consider your own investment time horizon, risk tolerance, and consult with a financial advisor before acting on this information.
Full Disclosure:
At the time of this article, Shacknews primary shareholder Asif A. Khan, his family members, or his company Virtue LLC had the following positions:
Long Tesla via TSLA shares
Short Tesla via out-of-the-money TSLA put options
Long Twitter via TWTR shares