A nine-word tweet posted to Elon Musk’s account sent Tesla stock up on Tuesday—until trading of the shares was halted, reports the AP. « Am considering taking Tesla private at $420…. Technology News Summaries.
(Newser)
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A nine-word tweet posted to Elon Musk’s account sent Tesla stock up on Tuesday—until trading of the shares was halted, reports the AP . « Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured, » he initially tweeted. CNBC reports Fox Business reporter Liz Claman asked Musk about the share price and got a single-word response: « 420. » There were initial questions about whether the tweet was legitimate or « serious, » as Reuters puts it (a follow-up tweet from Musk’s account simply reads « Good morning » followed by a smiley face emoji; others pointed out the 420-marijuana connection, per CNBC).
Subsequent tweets by Musk on the subject suggested he was serious. Trading was then halted over concerns the tweet could be seen as an attempt to influence the stock price. Stocks initially jumped to $371 then dropped to $360; they had climbed to $367 when trading was halted. The company’s current market value is $61 billion; that figure would increase to $71.3 billion at the $420 share price. The stock’s 52-week high is $389.61, which it hit in September.
