Tesla Falls Below $1 Trillion Valuation After Elon Musk Tweets

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) saw a sharp decline Monday after a weekly loss last week ended an 11-week winning streak for the electric carmaker. The drop means the company’s market cap is now below $1 trillion.

As of 12:25 p.m. ET, shares of Tesla were trading at $987.12, down $46.30, or 4.48%.

The selloff comes after CEO Elon Musk last week sold nearly $7 billion in stock

Tesla reached a $1 trillion valuation on Oct. 25, then reached its highest valuation of $1.229 trillion on Nov. 4. The company’s current market cap sits just above $990 billion.

After sharing a poll on Twitter, Musk sold $6.9 billion in shares at the request of his followers, which lowered Tesla’s share price. Over the weekend, he revealed he might sell more in response to a tweet by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Sanders posted on Twitter: “We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period.” To which Musk responded in a two-part tweet, “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive. Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word …”

Musk's tweets have been volatile recently, attacking not just Sanders but President Joe Biden, over suggestions that billionaires should pay more taxes. His tweets have also been important to the crypto universe, as crypto momentum investors try to interpret Musk’s vague and riddle-like tweets about cryptocurrencies.

His confusing tweets about the Hertz-Telsa-Uber deal indicated that a deal had not been signed yet despite earlier reports. Musk also indicated via Twitter that he would be willing to give a portion of his wealth to mitigate world hunger if the U.N. revealed to the public where exactly the money would go.

Tesla shares have been down over 15.4% during the last five sessions.