Elon Musk has been selling off large amounts of shares of Tesla stock and now one of its biggest investors is calling for a new CEO. KoGuan Leo, Tesla’s third-largest individual shareholder, has been, ironically, tweeting about their dissatisfaction with Elon as he continues to put a greater focus on Twitter than Tesla.
Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO
— KoGuan Leo (@KoguanLeo) December 14, 2022
Tesla needs and deserves to have working full time CEO
What Tesla BOD should do, do nothing? Elon will find his own successor under BOD independent supervision https://t.co/AJSvij9ncP
Replies to KoGuan Leo have ranged from supportive to mocking, even suggesting that these tweets are unnecessary and that perhaps KoGuan should not have invested so much if concerned about losing money. To which the investor replied it doesn’t matter if Elon remains or not because they were a multi-billionaire before Tesla, and will be after.
I am multi-billionaire before I invested in Tesla, will continue to be if Tesla goes to zero.
— KoGuan Leo (@KoguanLeo) December 14, 2022
I plan to invest more bc Tesla will be the biggest company with or without Elon
As his fanboy, I invested bc of Elon. Of course, I prefer Elon to be CEO but he abandoned Tesla
Tesla’s stock has also been on a downward trend in 2022 seeing a 55% decline throughout the year. Market Insider reports that it has plunged from an all-time high of over $400 per share in 2021 to $157 (as of December 14, 2022). Dan Ives of Investment firm Wedbush issued the following statement following Elon’s ongoing selloffs.
A bullish outlook but with risks
“The Twitter nightmare continues as Musk uses Tesla as his own ATM machine to keep funding the red ink at Twitter which gets worse by the day as more advertisers flee the platform with controversy increasing driven by Musk,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “When does it end?”
Dan Ives continues by saying that the growing demand for electric vehicles will continue to support Tesla but Elon’s actions are of concern.
“While we remain bullish on the long-term thesis for Tesla and believe the stock is oversold, Musk continues to throw gasoline in the burning fire around the Tesla story by selling more stock and creating Tesla brand deterioration through his actions on Twitter,” said Ives.
“We believe it’s getting to the point that more activism and growing investor frustration will force the Board of Tesla to confront some of these issues head-on in the near-term,”
Despite the selling of almost $40 billion in shares, it has been said this is primarily covering the interest and other costs for Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter. Perhaps while Elon Musk has focused his attention on Twitter investors would prefer a CEO who might have a different vision than letting the company focus on turning its vehicles into moving gaming rigs. Regardless of whether or not those on Twitter agree with KoGuan Leo, it appears that Tesla’s board of directors may have to take action if its stock prices continue to drop. KoGuan Leo has even gone on to suggest the company needs someone more like Tim Cook to take over.
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn if Elon stays or leaves Tesla. Tesla is a great company and $160/shr is cheap,” Leo said, adding that he’d like to see an operational executive similar to Tim Cook to take over the company.”