Tesla drops almost $270 billion in two days as Musk tweets spook investors
Almost US$199 billion ($270 billion) has been wiped off Tesla's valuation in just two days as investors shy away from the stock following Elon Musk's Twitter followers voting in favour of him selling 10 per cent of his shares in the company.
Tesla shares fell by about 3 per cent in morning trading in New York, recovering slightly from a premarket drop of 6 per cent.
Mr Musk tweeted on Saturday that he would let Twitter users decide if he should sell 10 per cent of the 170.5 million shares he holds in Tesla.
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Tesla's stock has plummeted since the open of trade on Monday, following Elon Musk's weekend social media bet. Google Finance
The Twitterverse verdict: 58 per cent of more than 3.5 million voters had said "yes" when the poll closed on Sunday.
"Much is made lately of unrealised gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10 per cent of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?" the Tesla CEO posted.
He added that he would follow the poll's result whichever way it went, but has not yet announced what, if anything, he will do next.
Mr Musk has previously fallen foul of regulators for posting tweets that have moved Tesla's stock price, without previously consulting the board or fully vetting the material information he was providing shareholders.
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It's likely to be the biggest two-day drop in 14 months for the EV automaker. AP
In 2018, the SEC charged him with fraud, after tweeting that he was considering taking Tesla private.
To settle the charges, Mr Musk agreed to a court-approved deal that required that Tesla directors review any social media posts containing information "material" to shareholders.
Months later, after he was called out for defying the order, the settlement was amended to include a specific list of topics Mr Musk needs permission to tweet about.
The list includes tweets about the company's financial condition, production numbers or new business lines.
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Elon Musk doesn't receive pay from Tesla - he borrows capital against the stock he owns in the company. AAP
Mr Musk receives no salary from Tesla.
His 170.5 million shares of Telsa were worth US$208.3 billion ($282 billion) as of the close of trading on Friday.
At the price of US$1222.09 per share, 10 per cent would be valued at $US20.8 billion ($14.64 billion).
He has owned 80 per cent of those 170.5 million Tesla shares since the company's initial public offering in 2010.
In addition, he has the option to buy another 73.5 million shares.
It's not clear if those shares would be counted in his holdings if the Twitterverse convinces him to sell 10 per cent of his stake in the company.
As of Sunday, Mr Musk was the richest man on Earth with a total net worth of US$338 billion ($458.2 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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