Scrolling through Elon Musk’s Twitter, you’ll find plenty of Tesla and SpaceX updates, various memes, and even a few weed jokes. But you’ll also find several questionable, and occasionally concerning tweets. Let’s take a look at five of Musk’s most regrettable tweets of all time:
Funding was, in fact, not secured. And this tweet sparked a lengthy legal battle between Musk and the SEC.
In August 2018, Musk tweeted about the company’s plans to go private. Later that day, he stated, “investor support is confirmed.” However, the CEO had no real source of funding.
The SEC then sued Musk for tweeting “false and misleading statements.” The two parties settled, resulting in Musk and Tesla each paying a $20 million fine without admitting guilt. Musk also stepped down as chairman of the Tesla board and agreed to allow a committee to review his social media posts.
You would think the CEO would have learned his lesson after the Tesla stock price suffered following the 2018 SEC fiasco. But you’d be wrong.
In May, Musk tweeted his opinions on Tesla stock price: that it was set too high. Unsurprisingly, this caused the stock to drop as much as 12%.
The Wall Street Journal asked Musk if the tweet was a joke, or had been vetted prior, as was part of the agreement with the SEC. He simply emailed back with, “No.”
Musk is no stranger to Twitter when it comes to speaking about crises. In 2018, when twelve boys and their football coach were trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand, Musk suggested a submarine to rescue them. British diver Vern Unsworth called this a “PR stunt.” Musk, in a since-deleted tweet, lashed out, calling Unsworth “pedo guy.” This resulted in yet another lawsuit.
In this instance, though, Musk went after self-isolation and social distancing. After stating the panic is “dumb,” he later tweeted “FREE AMERICA NOW.”
He also shared articles against staying at home and about Texas’s plan to reopen, paired with the words “Bravo Texas.”
For Musk, staying at home equates to “de facto house arrest” and a lack of freedom.
When Kanye West announced his plans to run for president earlier this month, Musk tweeted “You have my full support.”
But a mere three days later, West stated he believes Planned Parenthoods are run by white supremacists to do “the Devil’s work.” He also said vaccinations are “the mark of the beast.”
This interview prompted Musk to rescind his initial support. In a now-deleted tweet, Musk stated: “We may have more differences of opinion than I anticipated.”
Last week, Musk found himself in the spotlight again. Many took Musk’s comment to be transphobic. To many Twitter users, it appeared as though Musk is against gender-neutral pronouns, which many non-conforming individuals feel more comfortable using.
His girlfriend and co-parent, Grimes, then tweeted a reply. “I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a dall [sic]. I cannot support this hate. Please stop this. I know this is not your heart.” she wrote. She later deleted her response.
That did not stop other users from flaming Musk. “Who else cringes more and more often every time they see Elon tweet lately?” one user wrote. “Close ya mouth,” another user stated, “a whole lot of nonsense is spilling out.”
All this comes after Grimes said she will raise their child, X Æ A-12, gender neutral. Musk, however, took it upon himself to tell Twitter they had a baby boy.
If you’re curious about what Elon is up to outside of the Twitter-verse, check out this microchip he’s working on!
