Tesla just had its worst month in more than seven years, but Elon Musk isn’t letting that keep him from his fun.
On Sunday Musk tweeted an April Fools joke indicating Tesla (TSLA) had gone bankrupt.
Tesla Goes Bankrupt
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 — Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018
Hours earlier he had teased the “news” saying on Twitter that there would be an “important announcement in a few hours. He later followed up by tweeting an image of himself “passed out against a Tesla Model 3”, apparently using Tesla packaging as a blanket.
Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.
This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what's the point?
Happy New Month! pic.twitter.com/YcouvFz6Y1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018
But regulators and shareholders don’t think late deliveries, the recall of 123,000 Model S sedans, or the death of Model X driver are any laughing matter. March saw a 22% decline in Tesla’s stock price in the wake of these crises, leading Moody’s to cut Tesla’s rating further into junk status.
On Sunday, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was “unhappy” with the details Tesla disclosed about the death of a Model X driver in a car crash. Following the incident, in which the car maker’s “Autopilot” feature reportedly played a role, Elon Musk said in a blog post that computer logs showed the driver didn’t have his hands on the wheel of the car for six seconds prior to the collision, even though the same computer logs reportedly showed he would have had five seconds to respond. The NTSB said the public discussion of details of the crash was “premature” on Tesla’s part.
Autopilot has played a role in other Tesla crashes leading to questions about whether drivers understand its intended purpose; it is not meant to act as a fully self-driving system.
