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Elon Musk’s obsession with Twitter took a toll on Tesla shares

Elon Musk

Elon Musk's obsession with Twitter took a toll on Tesla shares

Elon Musk's high-profile takeover of Twitter has overshadowed his Tesla leadership at a significant stage in the automaker's brief history.

The electric car maker is working hard to scale up production at new plants in Austin, Texas, and outside of Berlin.

Covid constraints and unstable supply chains, a challenge for many automakers, have resulted in sporadic shutdowns at Tesla's Shanghai production.

READ MORE: ELON MUSK WILL STEP DOWN AS TWITTER CEO AFTER FINDING A “FOOLISH ENOUGH” SUCCESSOR

Demand for Tesla vehicles looks to be slowing as interest rates climb and a global recession looms.

Until recently those about to purchase had to wait months for a new Tesla.

Analysts believe that the cars are now accessible within days, indicating a drop in demand.

Still, Musk has been fascinated with Twitter, a firm he recognises he overpaid for.

READ MORE: TESLA ACCUSED OF ILLEGALLY FIRING EMPLOYEES CRITICAL OF MUSK

Mr. Musk sold $23 billion in Tesla stock to finance his $44 billion purchase of the social media platform in October, saturating the market and bringing down the price.

Tesla's share price has fallen 66 percent since its peak in November 2021 at the close of trading on Wednesday, December 21.

This highlights how quickly investors lost trust in both the firm and Mr. Musk.

The slump underscores concern that Mr. Musk may have to sell more of his Tesla share to fund his purchase of Twitter.

READ MORE: ELON MUSK POLLS TWITTER USERS ON WHETHER HE SHOULD QUIT AS CEO

Now that other carmakers are offering genuine electric vehicles, Tesla no longer has a monopoly on the market.

In the US, electric vehicles from Ford, General Motors, and Hyundai have reduced Tesla's position.

The sliding stock price also indicates that investors no longer accept Mr. Musk's promises that Tesla would sell 20 million cars annually by 2030.

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That ambitious figure would be more than Volkswagen and Toyota's combined sales.

Tesla's $1 trillion valuation was justified by its aim of global dominance.

However, Tesla is now worth less than half of that.

Mr. Musk recently stated on Twitter that the stock had plummeted due to increasing interest rates and the risk of a recession.

Source: The New York Times

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