The fall in the share price of Tesla seemed to find no end at last and accelerated again shortly before Christmas. The paper has already lost more than 65 percent in value since January 2022: At the beginning of the year, Tesla shares were still listed at 400 US dollars. Two-thirds of Tesla’s market cap has already evaporated.
CEO Elon Musk (51) brought in a lot of criticism, not least after the takeover of Twitter. After all, he had to sell many Tesla shares to finance the multi-billion dollar takeover of the short message service, which, among other factors, also depressed the price. Most recently, between December 12 and 14, Musk sold almost 22 million Tesla shares for a total of almost $3.6 billion. It was the fourth time this year that he had sold billions in Tesla shares. With this, Musk continues to antagonize the investors in the US electric car manufacturer.
Musk has now announced that he does not want to sell any more shares in the electric car manufacturer for the next two years. In an audio chat on Twitter Space, the Tesla and Twitter boss said he expects the economy to slide into a “serious recession” in 2023 and demand for cars will be low. Musk had repeatedly announced in the past that he would not sell any more Tesla shares, but then he did.
Shares in Tesla, the world’s most valuable automaker, have been among the worst-performing stocks among major automakers and tech companies this year. Three factors in particular weigh on the stock: First, the towering valuation, second, Tesla Twitter-Trauma and thirdly, the realization that the one-time tech messiah Elon Musk more and more unpredictable and with it becomes a risk for the company
. Most recently, Musk had voted on Twitter announced his imminent departure as Twitter CEO – “As soon as I find someone stupid enough to do the job,” as Musk announced in his typically extroverted manner.