Enlarge image
Elon Musk: His fans flew away from him, a majority of users voted for Musk's resignation as Twitter boss.
That can only be good for the investors in the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
Tesla stock is up significantly.
Photo:
Samuel Corum/AFP
Just 14 months ago, US electric car maker Tesla was worth more than $1 trillion on the stock market.
Since April, however, a breathtaking downturn has set in: Tesla is now worth less than half on the stock market at around $450 billion.
Calculated from the record high, Tesla shares have even lost more than 60 percent in value.
How can that be?
Tesla, led by the magician Elon Musk, as a pioneer of the automotive future: That was the dominant narrative until the beginning of 2023. Great technological lead, the fastest pace of innovation, a breathtakingly fast transformation from luxury supplier to mass manufacturer: This is one of the reasons why Tesla is (still) in the Stock exchange worth significantly more than the three car giants Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes together.
But the image of the winning company Tesla has gotten bigger and bigger cracks.
Tesla shareholders attribute the decline of the group to one thing in particular: the ominous entry of Tesla boss Elon Musk into the short message service Twitter.
Ever since Musk acquired Twitter for the whopping $44 billion -- more specifically, unable to wriggle out of the deal -- two factors have weighed heavily on Tesla like millstones.
From savior to risk factor
First, Musk needs money to fund the Twitter purchase.
The wealth of what is now only the second richest man in the world is based primarily on his shares in Tesla: Since the announcement of the Twitter deal, Musk has repeatedly parted with large numbers of Tesla shares and thus redeemed billions.
Musk's repeated selling has accelerated Tesla's stock price decline in recent months.
Musk's net worth has fallen to $154 billion, according to Forbes.
The richest person is currently the French luxury entrepreneur and LVMH boss
Bernard Arnault
(73).
Second: The chaos surrounding Twitter ensures that Musk can only muster little "management attention" for the much more valuable company, Tesla.
The argument surrounding Twitter seems to be taking up a lot of Musk's time.
He's also angered the public with his controversial decisions to fire about half the workforce and allow previously banned accounts to be reinstated as part of "freedom of speech."
This was accompanied by a change of role: Musk has turned from a former savior to a risk for companies.
Musk's removal from Twitter is cause for celebration for Tesla shareholders
No wonder Tesla investors are longing for the end of the Twitter nightmare.
And they are now one step closer to this end: Musk surprisingly called on Twitter users on Monday night to vote on whether he should resign as Twitter boss.
That would be an end to the dual role of Twitter and Tesla boss.
Musk could focus more on Tesla again in the future.
For Tesla shareholders, that sounds like a promise of salvation.
And the result of the survey was clear: 57.5 percent of users voted in favor and 42.5 percent against Musk stepping down as head of Twitter by Monday noon (CET).
Over 17.5 million users took part in the vote.
Musk has not yet said when he will step down.
"There is no successor," he replied when asked by a Twitter user about a possible change in the post.
The fact is, however, that Musk would remain the most powerful man on Twitter even without his managerial post, after all he owns the company.
Nevertheless, more and more shareholders are now getting back into Tesla because they hope that Musk's dual role will soon come to an end.
The fact that Musk will continue to own Twitter and keep him busy even if he doesn't remain CEO takes a backseat to that.
In addition, some investors now consider Tesla shares to be cheap again.
However, even at the current price level, Tesla is still worth more than its German competitors BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen combined.
And while Musk may soon step down as Twitter CEO, his personal Twitter drama is far from over.
la
