Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk has been arguing with Tesla investors in recent days as the electric car company’s stock price continues to plummet. Long-time Tesla bull Ross Gerber complained that Tesla has “no CEO,” while Musk steadfastly claimed that the drop in Tesla shares is strictly due to macroeconomic factors.
CNBC reports that as Tesla shares sank eight percent on Tuesday to a new 52-week low, CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to argue with investors and blame the stock downturn on macroeconomic factors rather than his focus on Twitter in recent months.
Tesla shares closed on Tuesday around $138 per share, eight percent lower for the day which was largely mixed for other stocks. Long-time Tesla bull Ross Gerber tweeted that the stock price was being affected by the company having “no CEO” implying Musk was distracted with Twitter.
Tesla stock price now reflects the value of having no CEO. Great job tesla BOD – Time for a shake up. $tsla
— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) December 20, 2022
Gerber has since launched an informal campaign to have fellow shareholders vote to appoint him to Tesla’s board of directors, where he presumably hopes to affect some change within the company.
Musk appeared annoyed by Gerber, responding: “Please tell us your great ideas, Ross …” to Which Gerber responded that he had three points: “1. Tesla needs a media and comms team. 2. Tesla needs a succession plan as well as clarify when Elon will be back from Twitter. 3. Tesla needs to communicate about Elon’s stock sales and a stand still agreement should be made.”
Musk responded: “Go back and read your old Securities Analysis 101 textbook,” before following up with a tweet blaming larger market factors for Tesla’s downturn.
In simple terms:
As bank savings account interest rates, which are guaranteed, start to approach stock market returns, which are *not* guaranteed, people will increasingly move their money out of stocks into cash, thus causing stocks to drop.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2022
Gary Black, a long-time Musk fan and Tesla investor, took issue with Musk’s explanation, stating that he can’t compare a short-duration bank account with long-duration Tesla stock.
Elon – you can’t compare a very short duration bank account with long duration $TSLA stock. The proper compare is the 10yrTY, which has dropped from 3.92% to 3.65% today. Since you closed on TWTR, TSLA -38% vs NDX -1%. If it was all int rates, NDX would be down a similar amount.
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) December 20, 2022
Others noted that the performance of Tesla stock since Musk purchased Twitter should be the main focus for investors.
Let's just emphasize that point shall we:
"Since you closed on TWTR, TSLA -38% vs NDX -1%."
"Since you closed on TWTR, TSLA -38% vs NDX -1%."
"Since you closed on TWTR, TSLA -38% vs NDX -1%."
"Since you closed on TWTR, TSLA -38% vs NDX -1%."— Scott Wainner (@scottwww) December 20, 2022
Compared to other automakers, Tesla has suffered a severe decline. Since Musk’s purchase of Twitter began in April 2022, Tesla shares are down 59 percent, while Ford is down 26 percent, GM is down 12 percent, and the entire S&P 500 is down 14 percent.
Musk recently repeated his previous sentiment that he plans to appoint a new CEO at Twitter but is currently waiting to find someone he believes can adequately fill the role.
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
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