Falling Tesla... Investors Criticize as a "Company Without a CEO"

Market Cap Falls Below $500 Billion Intraday
"Stock Price Will Drop Further" Warning

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The U.S. electric vehicle company Tesla has yet to escape the slump in its stock price. Recently, the stock price fell below the $200 mark and continued to decline daily, at one point dropping the market capitalization below $500 billion during trading hours. Investors are pinpointing the 'Twitter risk' as the reason for the stock price decline and are raising concerns about Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

On the 13th (local time), Wall Street issued repeated warnings that Musk's focus solely on managing Twitter, which he recently acquired, is negatively impacting Tesla's brand image.

Gary Black, CEO of Future Fund, who holds $50 million worth of Tesla shares, sharply criticized on Twitter that "Tesla has no CEO."

He pointed out, "The Twitter controversy has made the Tesla brand terrible," adding, "Tesla drivers no longer feel proud of their cars." Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Asset Management, targeted Tesla's board of directors, asking directly, "Who is running Tesla at this critical time?"

Bloomberg reported, "Concerns are growing that Musk is focusing only on managing Twitter, which he recently acquired, and neglecting Tesla's management." It was revealed that Musk is considering taking out loans using Tesla shares as collateral to reduce the burden of high-interest debt incurred during the Twitter acquisition process, which acted as a negative factor for Tesla's stock price.

Tesla's stock price has already plunged nearly 60% this year alone due to Twitter risk. On this day, Tesla's stock listed on the Nasdaq market repeatedly fell during trading hours, dropping below $160 at one point. The market capitalization also fell below $500 billion (approximately 649 trillion KRW) during trading hours.

Tesla's market capitalization surpassed the $500 billion threshold two years ago as its stock price surged ahead of its inclusion in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index, but the stock price has halved this year, falling nearly 60%. Tesla also closed the previous day with a sharp 6.27% drop.

According to Bloomberg, while the S&P 500 index rose 12% since the end of September, Tesla fell 40% during the same period.

There are also warnings that the outlook for weakening electric vehicle demand is weighing down Tesla's stock price, potentially leading to further declines.

Bloomberg pointed out, "Tesla's stock has never been this cheap, but the price could still go lower," noting that electric vehicle demand in the Chinese market is falling short of expectations and that the Musk-related Twitter risk will continue to be a negative factor for Tesla in the new year.

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