Elon Musk makes promise to Tesla shareholders about Twitter

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently made a promise to shareholders of his electric vehicle maker about the Twitter acquisition.

Musk “will make sure Tesla shareholders benefit from Twitter long-term,” he vowed in a tweet Tuesday evening.

His comment was in response to a Twitter user arguing the Tesla CEO’s recent takeover of the social media platform “elevates Tesla’s brand reach and marketing.”

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The billionaire completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in late October, months after the start of a legal battle between him and the social media company that eventually involved a Delaware court giving them a deadline for closing the deal. 

Changes that Musk has made at Twitter since taking over include laying off half its workforce, launching a purchasable verification badge and ending enforcement under the platform’s COVID-19 misleading misinformation policy.

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The promise that Tesla stockholders would see benefit from Twitter in the long-term comes as Tesla’s stock has seen some declines. The electric vehicle maker’s share price fell more than 2% on Wednesday and is down roughly 60% year-to-date. 

Amid the recent performance of Tesla’s stock, some of its big investors have appeared to grow restless over the amount of focus Musk has apparently directed toward Twitter. 

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While testifying in court last month, the Tesla CEO said he expected to “reduce my time at Twitter” and “find someone else to run” the social media platform “over time,” The Wall Street Journal reported. He reportedly acknowledged much of his time has been dedicated to Twitter since he bought it, though he also expressed expectations at the time that would change.

He also serves as CEO of SpaceX and co-founded three other companies: OpenAI, Neuralink and The Boring Company.

Musk, appearing virtually at a conference in mid-November, described his workload as “not something I’d recommend, frankly.”

Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.