Elon Musk.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, file
- Tesla stock soared 2% on Thursday, surging late in the day after Elon Musk announced he would step down as CEO of Twitter.
- Musk tweeted that he had found a new CEO for Twitter who would start in about six weeks.
- “My role will transition to that of executive chairman and chief technical officer, overseeing products, software and sysops.”
Tesla stock jumped more than 2% on Thursday, peaking near the end of the trading session after Elon Musk announced he would step down as Twitter’s chief executive.
“I’m thrilled to announce that I have a new CEO for X/Twitter,” Musk said. tweeted at 3:44 p.m. ET. “She will start in about 6 weeks! My role will transition to that of Executive Chairman and CTO, overseeing products, software and sysops. »
The stock ended Thursday’s trading session at $172.08 and continued to rise after hours.
Musk has drawn ire from investors in the year since the start of the Twitter takeover saga, first for selling billions of Tesla shares to fund the purchase, then from shareholders who said that he couldn’t effectively manage Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter simultaneously.
In late April, a group of 17 Tesla shareholders, including large pensions and institutions, called on the board to rein in Musk, accusing the eccentric billionaire of neglecting his publicly traded electric vehicle company.
“Boards can and should step in if a CEO appears to be distracted or too focused on other projects,” the letter said. “Yet the board allowed Elon Musk to run multiple businesses, which has prevented him from addressing the multiple strategic and competitive issues Tesla faces.”
Investor Dan Nathan last month pointed to Musk’s mountain of debt following the Twitter takeover as reason to believe there was pressure being put on Tesla and that Musk’s time as CEO general of three companies was coming to an end.
Musk has cut costs at the social media platform through mass layoffs in recent months, and supporters like Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood have defended his leadership and business acumen.
Tesla stock is up more than 59% in 2023.
