Tesla Faces Lawsuit After Stock Plummets 22% Following Musk's Tweet

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Tesla has become embroiled in a lawsuit over CEO Elon Musk's tweet about a preliminary vote on whether to sell 10% of his shares.

On the 8th (local time), according to the economic media Business Insider, Tesla shareholder David Wagner filed a complaint with the Delaware Court of Chancery requesting an investigation into whether Musk is violating agreements with authorities by posting tweets without prior approval from the legal team.

Musk had previously agreed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2019 to obtain prior approval from Tesla's legal counsel before posting tweets or social media posts related to Tesla.

This measure was implemented after Musk caused a stir in the stock market by tweeting in August 2018, "Considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share. Funding secured."

Wagner argued, "If there is a legal counsel, it is unclear who at Tesla is currently reviewing Musk's tweets."

Wagner stated, "Musk continues to post on Twitter and social media about important matters concerning Tesla and its shareholders without any restraint," adding, "This ultimately affects Tesla's stock price."

On the 6th of last month, Musk conducted a poll on Twitter asking whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares, citing discussions about the introduction of a wealth tax.

With a majority of respondents (57.9%) in favor, Musk proceeded with the sale, selling 12.9 million shares worth nearly $14 billion (approximately 16.63 trillion KRW) in several transactions by the 18th of this month. However, he still needs to sell an additional 4.1 million shares to reach the 10% target.

Musk's consecutive sales caused Tesla's stock price to drop by 22%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.