Is Tesla’s Future Up in Smoke?

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 11, 6:16PM EST · Published Sep 7, 11:20AM EDT

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Is Tesla’s Future Up in Smoke? — © Thinkstock

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares tumbled on Friday after a couple of developments calling into question its executive leadership. First, Chair and CEO Elon Musk smoked weed on a podcast released Thursday evening. Then it was announced that the company’s chief accounting officer would be resigning after only one month in this role.

Musk smoking weed on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast comes after what many consider to be a circus of a summer. In August, Musk proposed a buyout price for Tesla of $420 per share — the price point makes more sense now. This tweet brought up many questions of whether it deserved an SEC investigation and if this was market manipulation. Musk would later state that he plans to keep the company public in the best interest of its investors.

Later this turned into a discussion of Musk’s sleeping habits and the fact that he spends an inordinate amount of time working. The pressure clearly got to him after what happened next.

Musk gave an interview with the New York Times during which he appeared to cry, though he would later tweet that he did not do so, only that his voice cracked once during the interview.

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With all of this happening in the span of roughly a month, there’s no doubt that investors may be on edge about having Musk as the CEO of Tesla.

Separately, Tesla’s chief accounting officer, Dave Morton, has announced that he will resign after having spent only a month on the job. Morton said that he had no disagreements with Tesla’s leadership or its financial reporting, and that he still believes in Tesla’s mission and prospects.

Overall this is a lot to take in for Tesla investors. The stock is down 26% in the past month, compared to 10% lower year to date.

Shares of Tesla were last seen down about 6.5% at $262.65, with a consensus analyst price target of $322.38 and a 52-week trading range of $244.59 to $389.61.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.