(Bloomberg) — The prospect that Elon Musk could lose his job as Tesla Inc. CEO over tweets may cost the carkmaker’s shareholders close to $20 billion.
Tesla plunged as much as 14 percent in early trading Friday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Musk committed fraud by tweeting last month that he’d secured funding to take the company private. The regulator is seeking to bar Musk from serving as an officer or director of a public company.
At $268.10 — the stock’s lowest price in the first few minutes of regular trading Friday — Tesla had a market capitalization of about $45.7 billion, down from $64.8 billion at the close of trading on Aug. 7, the day Musk sent his take-private tweets.
Read More on Musk Musk’s SEC Woes May Erase Half of Tesla’s Value, Barclays Says Suit Could Rob Tesla of Most-Valuable U.S. Carmaker Crown Tesla Board Backs Musk as SEC Sues, Seeks Ouster Over Tweets SEC Case Is ‘Early Christmas’ for Investor Suits Over Musk Tweet
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Why Trump’s Message Worked on Latino Men
- What Trump’s Win Could Mean for Housing
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- Sleep Doctors Share the 1 Tip That’s Changed Their Lives
- Column: Let’s Bring Back Romance
- What It’s Like to Have Long COVID As a Kid
- FX’s Say Nothing Is the Must-Watch Political Thriller of 2024
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Contact us at letters@time.com