Elon Musk’s latest strategy to save Twitter after huge revenue losses from fleeing advertisers could hurt another of his companies considerably. The tycoon, according to a document published by the Securities and Exchange Commission, has sold Tesla shares worth about $3.6 billion with the apparent goal of keeping the social network afloat. Something that has done nothing but worry investors in the electric mobility company, whose share value is plummeting.
This is the second time Elon Musk has sold such a large number of Tesla shares to make up for lost revenue at Twitter. In addition, in a considerably short period. Last November, specifically —and according to reports from The Wall Street Journal—, the executive sold 19.5 million shares for a total value of 3,950 million dollars. Adding the sale of this December, whose value was 156 and 176 dollars per share, Musk would have liquidated more than 39,000 million dollars in shares of your company since just one month ago.
These are precisely movements that have considerably damaged the value of Tesla’s shares, which They have fallen 60% during this 2022. Although at the level of sales and profits, Tesla is not having a bad year, investors seem to have found one more headache to the already current uncertainty about the economy; the possible insouciance of Elon Musk in his mobility company for his new brown: Twitter.
The tycoon, precisely, has made a multitude of moves to avoid bankrupting Twitter; something that, precisely, does not rule out having to do if the company’s economic situation worsens. One of these movements is the dismissal of thousands of employeeswhich in turn has allowed Musk to dispense with physical facilities, although he has not paid the rent for Twitter headquarters in San Francisco and other offices where there is still a staff presence for weeks.
Elon Musk, despite the cuts, continues to face significant financial losses since he owns Twitter. The magnate himself confirmed last November that the social network loses a total of 4 million a dayand the situation, taking into account the sale of Tesla shares this December, does not seem to improve.
Musk also has to deal with advertisers fleeing Twitter, which at the same time jeopardize the company’s main source of income: advertising. The executive, in fact, hopes that subscriptions to Twitter Blue and the lure of any user paying $8 a month to verify their account, can offset those huge losses in revenue that previously came from ads. Elon Musk, in fact, confirmed just a few days ago that in 2023 they would launch a “superior plan” of Twitter Blue without advertising. The CEO of Twitter, even, has come to consider making Twitter completely paid.