Elon Musk’s Bizarre Week: Twitter Deal Moves Ahead, Tesla Stock Tanks, Zooming’ With Putin

Breaking Business Elon Musk’s Bizarre Week: Twitter Deal Moves Ahead, Tesla Stock Tanks, Zooming’ With Putin Derek Saul Forbes Staff I cover breaking news with a focus on markets and sports business. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Oct 7, 2022, 03:10pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world—and among the most eccentric— had a particularly strange week even by his standards, with his net worth falling $27.

6 billion, his acquisition of Twitter inching ahead and his position on the Ukraine-Russia conflict suddenly under fire. It was a mixed bag for Elon Musk this week. Associated Press Key Facts Monday: Tesla shares crater 9% after Musk’s electric vehicle giant fell short on quarterly car deliveries, while Musk makes waves over his Twitter poll proposal for peace in Ukraine, withterms more friendly to Russia than Ukraine or the White House backs, including ceding part of the country’s internationally recognized territory (Musk explains he’s a “big fan of Ukraine, but not of WW3”).

Tuesday: Twitter discloses Musk told the company he would move forward with the original purchase terms the parties agreed to in April valuing Twitter at $44 billion, sending Twitter’s stock up 22% and bringing the messy saga between Musk and Twitter to an apparent end two weeks before a trial to force the deal through was set to begin. Wednesday: Musk and Twitter’s fairytale ending lasts barely a day before reports in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times indicate the sides remain at odds over certain details, and that Musk lobbied for as steep as a 30% discount. Thursday: Musk reveals in a tweet he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on a video call in 2021, while the judge presiding over Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk pushes back the trial scheduled for October 17, setting an early November trial date if the parties don’t close the deal by October 28.

Friday: Tesla shares sink another 6% to $224. 45, declining 12% on the week and hitting a four-month low, while Musk hits back on a Financial Times report that the Starlink internet terminals provided to the Ukrainian army by Musk’s SpaceX were experiencing outages on the battlefield, with Musk tweeting it was “bad reporting” and that anything on the frontlines is “classified. ” Forbes Valuation We estimate Musk’s net worth fell 11% this week due to Tesla’s fall.

Musk’s $220 billion fortune remains the largest in the world, though the gap between him and the second-wealthiest man Bernard Arnault shrunk to below $85 billion. Key Background Musk is one of the most-followed Twitter users and often stirs controversy on the platform, which accepted his unsolicited takeover bid April 25. “Very intense 7 days indeed,” Musk tweeted early Friday, also referring to several happenings at SpaceX and Tesla, including Tesla’s unveiling of an early prototype of its human-like robot at its AI Day last Friday.

Musk indicated late Tuesday he may turn Twitter into a “super app,” X, which would potentially bring a variety of services, like messaging, ride hailing, food delivery, into one app. Crucial Quote “My diplomatic response to you is fuck off,” Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk replied to Musk’s poll Monday, receiving nearly 170,000 likes. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky joined in on the Twitter trolling, polling users if they liked a Musk who supports Russia or Ukraine better.

Further Reading If Musk Turns Twitter Into X—His ‘Everything App’ — Here’s What It Might Look Like ( Forbes ) Elon Musk Slammed For Russia-Friendly Proposal To End War In Ukraine ( Forbes ) Twitter Shares Soar 22% After Musk Offers To Buy Company At Original Price ( Forbes ) Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip . Derek Saul Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.