Tesla Shares Fall as Musk Reassesses His Life

Tesla shares dropped more than 9% Friday morning after CEO Elon Musk posted a series of tweets saying that he plans to sell nearly all his possessions, including his houses, and that he thought the stock price is "too high." Most of his other many tweets were about his life: Musk announced that he and his girlfriend, Grimes, are expecting a child—due Monday. He hadn't confirmed the pregnancy before, Business Insider reports. At another point, Musk tweeted that Grimes, a musician, "is mad at me," though he didn't elaborate. They've been a couple since 2018, and their child will be Musk's sixth and Grimes' first. It's not clear where any of them will live, given Musk's tweet about selling his possessions, which he did elaborate on by adding, "will own no house." He has at least seven houses now, per Business Insider. But possessions, he explained, "just weigh you down."

With one of his houses, it's complicated. Musk said he owns the late Gene Wilder's house, which "cannot be torn down or lose any of its soul." His tweets Friday carried on with his campaign against the pandemic shutdown orders, per Newsweek. "Give people their freedom back!" he posted, along with a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on lockdowns. A stay-at-home order in northern California has forced the closing of his Fremont factory. In support of his call, Musk also posted a series of tweets with the words of The Star-Spangled Banner. In a settlement with the SEC, Musk agreed to have his tweets clear a legal review before posting if they could affect the stock price of the electric car maker. The Wall Street Journal asked Musk if the stock tweet Friday was a joke, or was vetted, and Musk sent an email back saying just, "No." (More Elon Musk stories.)