Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell 12% in a single trading session, lowering its market value by $126
billion U.S.
The steep selloff came as investors worry that Tesla chief executive officer (CEO) Elon Musk
may sell shares of the automaker to complete his $44 billion U.S. takeover of Twitter (TWTR).
Tesla’s market capitalization is now down more than $275 billion U.S. since April 4, when Elon
Musk disclosed that he had a sizable stake in Twitter. That’s a drop of roughly 23%. The dollar
value of Musk’s 17% stake in Tesla has shrunk by more than $40 billion U.S.
Tesla’s stock price is sinking amid a broader selloff in equity markets around the world due to
concerns of slower economic expansion and persistent inflation. In addition, investors have fled
high-growth companies as the U.S. Federal Reserve raises interest rates.
Elon Musk has said that he is using Tesla shares as collateral in the transaction to buy Twitter.
That has led to investor worries that the Tesla CEO may sell some of his stake to fund the
Twitter acquisition.
So far in 2022, Tesla stock is down 27% at $876.42 U.S. per share.
