5. Elon Musk’s expensive tweet
In 2018, the engineer and technology entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted something that cost him billions. The controversial tweet made investors very nervous indeed as the behavior of the billionaire became ever more erratic.
Musk’s tweet announcing that he was considering taking Tesla private was the most financially damaging by far. The firm’s share price surged initially, but when it transpired funding hadn’t actually been secured, the price tanked.
Tesla and Musk were both fined $20 million apiece by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Elon Musk had to stand down as Tesla’s chairman for three years. Also, Musk’s tweets must now be approved by Tesla, although it’s really unclear if that is actually happening.
