Elon Musk: Is He a Media Speculator?

Elon Musk can be considered a speculator who generates movements in the shares of his companies, due to his frequent and often controversial public comments, especially on the now called social network X. His statements have had significant effects on the financial markets, both on shares of his own companies and on cryptocurrencies.

Here are some examples of times when their companies’ stocks have been impacted:

In August 2018, Musk announced on Twitter that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share, which boosted the stock price. However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of fraud, resulting in fines of $20 million for both him and Tesla, and the regulator has since urged the entrepreneur to moderate such comments. But he did not stop.

In May 2020, the entrepreneur tweeted that Tesla’s stock price was “too high,” causing the stock’s value to drop by more than 10%, wiping out approximately $14 billion from Tesla’s market capitalization.

Another similar move occurred in November 2021, when the entrepreneur published a poll asking whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares, leading to a 4.9% drop in the company’s share price.

The following graph shows how these types of executive opinions have impacted Tesla: