Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Twitter account was locked for several hours Monday, accomplishing what many couldn't: stopping him from tweeting.
Twitter did something that many Tesla aficionados – and perhaps a few of the company’s board members – haven’t been able to convince the company’s CEO Elon Musk to do: stop tweeting.
The social media company, thinking someone else had gotten into outspoken executive’s account, locked it down for several hours yesterday.
“Twitter thought I got hacked & locked my account haha,” Musk tweeted late Monday.
At the time the tweet did not clarify the reason or the duration for which the account was locked, but after further inspection by many folks it is believed that it was two tweets that caused the company to put the clamps on the EV chief — at least temporarily.
(Musk under fire again, this time from supporters. Click Here for the story.)
He declared his love of Japanese cartoon art, proclaiming ‘i love anime’, then later adding that he owns a Chibi Wolverine.
Musk slammed the SEC in this tweet, calling the agency the Shortseller Enrichment Commission, earning criticism from friend and foe.
Musk explained his brief absence to his 23.1 million followers late Monday night. The founder and current leader of the Palo Alto, California-based EV company, as well as SpaceX and The Boring Company, has come under fire in recent months over his tweets.
Perhaps most notably, he called one of the divers leading the rescue efforts of the boys soccer team trapped in an underwater cave in Thailand a “pedo guy,” slang for pedophile during a heated exchange with the man. He later sued in both Great Britain and the U.S. The case is still pending.
(Musk settles: Pays SEC $20 million, resigns as chairman. Click Here for the story.)
He’s also gotten himself fined $20 million and forced from the chairman’s role at Tesla after taking to Twitter to announced that he was considering taking the company private and had “funding secured.” Those last two words send the stock soaring, drawing the ire of those shorting the stock and an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission, leading to fraud charges.
After proclaiming he’d come out on top, the next day agreed to a settlement that included the fine and his removal as chairman within 45 days. He’s still searching for his replacement. He’s been allowed to remain as CEO.
After initially making nice with the SEC about the agreement, he later took to Twitter again to criticize the agency, much to the chagrin of many supporters.
(To see more about Tesla meeting its Q3 production goal, Click Here.)
“Just want to (sic) that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work,” Musk, a frequent critic of investors betting against the electric car company said in the tweet. “And the name change is so on point!”