--- title: "Tesla Investors Furious at Elon Musk for Vanishing During Crisis to Play With Shiny New Twitter" description: "Tesla share are on yet another nosedive this week — and investors are getting increasingly furious at CEO Elon Musk for failing to actually run the company." date: "2022-12-13" modified: "2022-12-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/tesla-investors-furious-elon-musk-crisis" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "twitter" --- # Tesla Investors Furious at Elon Musk for Vanishing During Crisis to Play With Shiny New Twitter ![Tesla share are on yet another nosedive this week — and investors are getting increasingly furious at CEO Elon Musk for failing to actually run the company.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* Tesla stocks are in [yet another]() nosedive this week — and investors are getting increasingly furious at CEO Elon Musk, [*The Wall Street Journal* reports](), for failing to actually run the company during a time of crisis. "There is no Tesla CEO today," [tweeted]() Gary Black, a hedge fund manager who owns around $50 million worth Tesla stock. Tesla's stock fell more than six percent on Monday*,* following a [weekend whirlwind of disaster]() for Musk. Overall, it's lost well over half its value since the beginning of the year. The billionaire CEO is still investing most of his time at Twitter, in a [disastrous acquisition]() that's been fraught with controversy [from the start](). As Twitter disintegrates, Tesla investors say it's inflicting serious collateral damage on Tesla's reputation. Just in the past week, Musk — who sold more than $19 billion in Tesla stock this year, [$4 billion of which]() was used to finance his troubled acquisition of the social media company — [took to Twitter]() to make transphobic jokes, [lash out at former company executives](), and [spread COVID misinformation](). Understandably, Tesla investors aren't impressed by Musk's antics, and are blaming him for abandoning his role at the carmaker. "The market voted today that the $TSLA brand has been negatively impacted by the Twitter drama," Black [wrote](). "Where before EV buyers were proud to drive their Teslas to their friends or show off Teslas in their driveways, now the Twitter controversy is hurting Tesla’s brand equity." Ross Gerber, a longtime Tesla investor, also [blamed Musk]() for "working at another company," saying that "Tesla deserves a focused CEO." "It would be helpful to know what Elon's plans are," Gerber added. Tesla has had a rotten year independent of Musk's Twitter drama. Shares are down dramatically, marking its worst year on record. Meanwhile, [Musk claimed]() over the weekend that he continues "to oversee both Tesla and SpaceX, but the teams there are so good that often little is needed from me." That sentiment more or less coincides with NASA head and former astronaut Bill Nelson [sighing in relief]() this week after being reassured that SpaceX was actually being run by SpaceX's president and COO Gwynne Shotwell — and, pointedly, not Musk. In short, it's really starting to look like Musk, especially when it comes to his public image, is doing far more harm than good to his companies as of late. Whether Tesla will be able to shake the massive shadow he's cast over any of his companies at this point is anyone's guess. But we'll be watching. **READ MORE:** [Tesla Investors Voice Concern Over Elon Musk’s Focus on Twitter]() \[*The Wall Street Journal*\] **More on Musk:** *[Head of NASA Relieved to Hear Elon Musk Isn't REALLY Running SpaceX]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()