Musk goes the Monk way, quotes Dylan in tweets sending Tesla stocks rocketing down

Tesla CEO Elon Musk went on a rampage on Twitter, Friday, sending his followers into a frenzy and stocks of the company crashing. In a series of tweets, Musk declared, among other things, he would be selling “almost all of possessions”. In undertaking a journey on the path of a monk, Musk ended up wiping billions off the value of the company he created in day trading.

The Billionaire’s first tweet was about his plans to distance himself from the samsara (material world). “I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house,” tweeted. Replying to a follower, he later tweeted, “Don’t need the cash. Devoting myself to Mars and Earth. Possession just weigh you down.” He then followed it up with the second tweet that got his investors worrying. He tweeted, “Tesla stock price is too high imo.” And, then he went on to demand, “Now, give people back their FREEDOM.”

Shares of Tesla tanked more than 12 per cent within minutes of its CEO’s tweets pushing the company stock in a freefall and leaving the investors in it worried. Just days before, the company had reported a strong quarter. Tesla was trading around 760 dollars and plummeted to 718 in less than an hour if trade after Musk made his musings public. The electric car maker went public in 2010.  

This is not the first time the Tesla CEO is in the public eye for tweeting about company’s stock and valuation. Musk was after running into the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had then directed to have his social media posts on the company vetted before making them public. In 2018, he expressed his desire to take company private. “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” he had tweeted on August 7, 2018. Back then too, he had posted a string of tweets making his plan on taking Tesla public. The company had to post a formal blog assuring its investors that it hasn’t arrived at a final decision.

Don’t need the cash. Devoting myself to Mars and Earth. Possession just weigh you down.

Elon Musk

Tesla had in its recent launches, introduced the Cybertruck, an all-electric, battery-powered, light commercial vehicle. The launch drew more attention towards the truck’s unconventional look resembling a space-age all-terrain rover from an alien world. As much as it drew criticism for its radical design, it also placed the company truck in a different league from the other auto giants like Ford and General Motors.

Musk didn’t stop tweeting till this report was being written. He quoted about the star-spangled banner and then followed it up another tweet reciting Dylan Thomas’ famous poem, Do not go gentle into the night. He tweeted, “Rage, rage against the dying of light of consciousness,” fuelling speculations of his turning over a new leaf and emerging in a new role.