Tesla (TSLA) stock rose on Friday after Elon Musk announced he had hired a new CEO for Twitter without naming the person.
“I am thrilled to announce that I have hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” said Musk, the current CEO of Twitter. said in a tweet. “She will start in ~6 weeks!”
Musk’s role “will transition to executive chairman and chief technical officer, overseeing products, software and sysops,” he wrote.
The tweet sent Tesla shares up 2% just before the market closed on Thursday. Shares of Tesla also rose more than 2% on Friday morning, despite a high-profile recall in China due to a braking and acceleration fault.
Musk made his first offer on Twitter on April 14, 2022. Tesla shares closed the day at $333. Since then, the stock has lost nearly half its value as Musk sold shares to pay for his new social media platform. The official $44 billion buy closed in October, and Wall Street has been hyper-focused on the “Twitter overhang” that has weighed on Tesla shares ever since.
“Musk’s reign as CEO of Twitter has finally come to an end and will therefore be a positive for Tesla stocks as they finally begin to remove this lingering albatross from history,” wrote Wedbush Chief Securities Officer Dan. Ives, in a note to clients Friday morning. “We think that adds about $15 a share to Tesla’s story, as Musk’s CEO overtake is now off to Twitter.”
Musk has not officially named a new CEO, although multiple outlets have reported that NBCUniversal’s head of publicity Linda Yaccarino is “in talks” for the position. NBCUniversal said in a statement Friday that Yaccarino is leaving the company, effective immediately.
Once he leaves Twitter, Musk will still be the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
It will come at a crucial time for the electric vehicle maker, as China reminds us that falling US demand and an electric vehicle price war are putting pressure on the stock.
Tesla shares have fallen 20% in the past month after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter gross margins.
Musk also did not help the cases when the results were called.
“It’s hard to say what the margin will be,” Musk told investors when asked how low margins would be as the company continues to cut prices.
Tesla’s annual meeting of shareholders is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16.
Josh is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.
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