- Tesla share price drop wipes out $114 BILLION in value: Electric car giant's stocks plunge 12% to $876 after Elon Musk seized Twitter for $44billion... as Dogecoin soars 40% as he's is 'set to ax ads for subscriptions using crypto'
- The 'meme coin' rose from 12 cents Monday morning to 16.7 cents that afternoon
- The cryptocurrency was created as a 'joke' in 2013 and features a dog as its logo
- It was valued at less than one cent at the start of 2021, until people - including Musk himself - began buying it, promoting it and driving up the price
- The interest happened last spring, months after a similar effort with GameStop
- In January, Musk said he would accept Dogecoin as payment for Tesla merch
Tesla shares have plunged a day after CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44billion - wiping $114billion off the carmaker's market capitalization.
Stocks plummeted by up to 12 per cent on Tuesday to $876, marking a 28 per cent drop from its highest ever valuation in November.
It also erased $25billion from the billionaire's finances, which had already taken a hit by forking out for the social media giant.
It comes as the price of Dogecoin shot up nearly 40 percent amid expectation Musk will incorporate the 'joke' cryptocurrency into the site.
The so-called 'meme coin' rose to 16.7 cents after the purchase was announced on Monday, up from 12 cents that morning.
Musk had previously floated the idea that users could pay for Twitter's premium service with the coin.
Oanda analyst Edward Moya warned Tesla shareholders must be concerned by the nosediving share price.
He told Forbes: 'Tesla shareholders can't be happy that Musk will have to divert even more attention away from winning the electric-vehicle race.'
Meanwhile Dogecoin investors would have been thrilled by it being worth 15 cents as of Tuesday morning after Musk bought out Twitter.
The cryptocurrency was created as a 'joke' in 2013. Its mascot is a Shiba Inu dog.
It was valued at less than one cent at the start of 2021, until the SpaceX founder and others started promoting it on social media, hyping it up and driving up the price.
The billionaire's mere mention of the coin caused it to fluctuate. It plunged when he joked about it on air on Saturday Night Live last May. In December, it went up when he said Tesla would accept the coin as payment for merchandise.
The 'joke' crypto that started as a meme... what is Dogecoin?
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency created as a 'joke' in 2013.
Its mascot is a Shiba Inu dog, made popular from the 'doge' meme featuring photos of the canine overlaid with text written in broken English.
It can be bought or sold on crypto exchanges like Coinbase or on trading apps like Robinhood and Webull.
One Dogecoin is worth 16 cents as of Tuesday morning. It's never been worth more than 64 cents.
Creator Billy Markus said last year that he invented the coin as a joke.
'I'm half detached, but it's weird that something I made in a few hours is now part of internet culture,' he said. 'It's amusing to see Elon Musk talk about it. It feels silly, but there's this huge upwelling behind it.'
Musk and Twitter reached a deal shortly before 3pm Monday afternoon.
The Tesla magnate agreed to pay shareholders $54.20 in cash for each share of common stock before the bombshell deal was struck.
The move shifts control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world's richest person.
Musk vowed to protect free speech on Twitter, 'defeat the spam bots' and 'authenticate all humans' as he welcomed the acquisition.
He previously proposed a series of changes to the company's fledgling premium service.
'Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should get an authentication checkmark,' he tweeted.
'Price should probably be ~$2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn't get checkmark for 60 days (watch for CC chargebacks) & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam,' he said.
'And no ads. The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive,' he added.
'Maybe even an option to pay in Doge?'
Some Twitter users are worried about the future of the company at the hands of Musk, who is known to use the platform to post inflammatory messages and tease his followers, sometimes with the idea of using Dogecoin legitimately.
In January, he tweeted: 'Tesla merch buyable with Dogecoin.'
The stock went up by more than 15 percent that same day, CNBC reports.
Last May, Musk played a financial expert trying to explain crypto on SNL's Weekend Update segment.
'They're a type of digital money but instead of being controlled by a central Government, they're decentralized using blockchain technology,' he explained, letting out a nervous giggle.
In a bit about how difficult it is to explain, the segment's host repeatedly asked him, 'What is dogecoin?'
'I keep telling you, it's a cryptocurrency you can trade for conventional money.'
'Oh, so it's a hustle,' Michael Che finally said.
'Yeah, it's a hustle,' Musk replied.
The stock dived by 22 percent while the show was airing.
Dogecoin creator Billy Markus told Bloomberg last year that he invented the coin as a joke.
The coin was being traded a lot early last year, reaching a high of 64 cents in May, months after amateur investors managed to send shares of video game retailer GameStop soaring.
Tuesday's slump notwithstanding, Twitter stock is up by more than 9 percent since April 19, when Musk made his offer to buy the company entirely. Tesla shares, meanwhile, fell by about 0.7 percent in the same time.
Inside Twitter, employees are reportedly dismayed at the realization that Musk is now their boss.
'I feel like im going to throw up..I rly don't wanna work for a company that is owned by Elon Musk,' one employee told a New York Times reporter.
Some raised concerns about whether Musk, a staunch opponent of labor unions who is worth a reported $266 billion, would push the price of shares down as he seeks to take the company private, hitting employees who are partly paid in stock especially hard.
The unidentified Twitter employee added: 'I don't rly know what I'm supposed to do…oh my god, my phone's been blowing up…We have a meeting about it at 5pm…the CEO is going to address everyone about it
'I hate him, why does he even want this?
'I feel like he's this petulant little boy and that he's doing this to troll…he doesn't know anything about our policies and what we do…his statement about our algo was f****** insane…
'Were just gonna let everyone run amok?…nobody knows.'
Earlier, the 50-year-old tycoon called for his 'worst critics' to remain on the platform because 'that is what free speech means.'
Still, employees are worried about the SpaceX founder's plans for the company.
Musk is known for using Twitter to post inflammatory messages, much like former President Donald Trump.
Parag Agrawal, the CEO, said on Monday that it was up to Musk to decide whether to readmit Trump.
Trump on Monday said he would not be rejoining the site if Musk allowed him to - instead saying he would continue to use his own TRUTH Social.
Some experts are pointing to a tough road ahead for Twitter if Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, gets his way.
'We expect advertisers will be less willing to spend on Twitter if Elon Musk removes content moderation in order to promote free speech,' MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson said.
The 16-year old company, which has emerged as one of the world's most influential online public squares with about over 200 million users, reported $4.51 billion in ad revenue for 2021, accounting for about 89% of its overall sales.
'The challenge (for Twitter) will be maintaining and building revenue given that the controversial opinions (Musk) hopes to give more of a free rein to are often unpalatable to advertisers,' Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter said.
Tesla tycoon versus Big Tech: How swashbuckling billionaire Elon Musk fought off 'poison pill', lawsuits and hostile board of directors before $44bn Twitter takeover
It has been one of the most dramatic takeover attempts in history, seeing a swashbuckling billionaire pitted against one of the largest tech giants in the world.
But Elon Musk's seizing of Twitter has been a months-long pursuit that has seen him send shockwaves through the world of business.
The Tesla magnate started hoarding shares in the social media firm at the start of the year in an apparent bid to preserve free speech online.
He quickly rocketed to the top of its shareholders' list, acquiring a huge 9% stake in the tech giant.
But then he hit choppy waters, accepting a place on the board then rejecting it, getting embroiled in lawsuits and seeing rival companies circle to buy Twitter.
Meanwhile bosses at the social media firm appeared to do all they could to ensure he could not not seize it - even launching a 'poison pill' strategy to sink his chances.
Yet Musk brazenly blasted through all the obstacles, punting a $43 billion offer earlier this month and showing how he would finance it.
The two sides were reportedly working into the early morning on Monday to finalize the 'fast-moving' negotiations.
It saw Twitter shares in the US soar by four percent as the markets opened to $50.84 a share.
On Monday, Musk called for his 'worst critics' to remain on the platform because 'that is what free speech means'.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10755035/Dogecoin-jumped-40-Elon-Musk-sealed-44-billion-Twitter-deal.html
