Tesla Stock Falls by 11 Percent in Wake of Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal
The price of Tesla stock dropped by 11 percent on Tuesday, a day after Twitter’s board approved Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $44 billion offer to acquire that company, CNBC reported. According to Fortune, investors were seemingly spooked by the billionaire entrepreneur’s addition of yet another company to his responsibilities. He already leads three companies in addition to Tesla: SpaceX, Neuralink and the Boring Company. Because Musk has indicated that he wants to heavily influence Twitter’s operations, that could lead to time constraints for him.
Musk has secured $25.5 billion of fully committed debt, including $12.5 billion in loans against his Tesla stock for the Twitter deal, which also includes $21 billion in equity. Despite Musk being the world’s richest person, much of his wealth is tied up in Tesla stock; that means that he would likely have to borrow against his holdings to fund the deal.
Tesla stated in its first-quarter 2022 earnings report on April 20 that its automotive revenue was up by 87 percent from the year-earlier period to $16.86 billion, but the company lost about a month of “build volume” in Shanghai because of COVID-19 shutdowns.
Fortune interviewed Zoe Gillespie, an investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, who said, “I think investors [wonder] whether the depth of the Tesla board’s going to be potentially dragged into Twitter.” She added, “Whether it’s just a short-term thing until the lay of the land is determined, the market hasn’t viewed it positively because I think there are questions around whether the deal could impact on top [Tesla] executives as well, and whether the focus will still be on Tesla.”
Fortune also interviewed Richard Windsor, founder of research firm Radio Free Mobile, who said that while Musk’s purchase of Twitter is an “excellent deal” for Twitter’s current shareholders, it raises the risk for Tesla shareholders. “If Musk did step back a little bit from Tesla, the shine or the appeal of the shares might diminish, and consequently, the shares might sell down somewhat,” he said.