Tesla shares fell on Friday after Elon Musk appointed a new head of Twitter, Investors Business Daily reports. The CEO tweeted Friday that he has hired Linda Iaccarino, head of NBCUniversal’s advertising department, as Twitter’s new CEO. Musk also added that Iaccarino will focus on business operations while he will work on product design and new technologies.
“Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app,”
Musk wrote Friday.
Tesla shares, which rose early Friday, fell in afternoon trading. Twitter’s new CEO will begin his duties in about six weeks. Musk added that his role at Twitter will transition into the role of executive chairman and chief technology officer of the company.
Musk took over as CEO of Twitter on October 28 last year, buying the social media platform for $44 billion. The purchase was partially funded by Musk, who sold some of his shares in Tesla. That, along with his focus on Twitter, has alarmed some longtime Tesla stock bulls, as they believe the negative attention is weighing on Tesla stock.
The EV giant is up around 67% from a January low, but has retreated considerably since the end of March. Tesla stock remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
Tesla ranks fourth in IBD’s Auto-Manufacturers industry group. TSLA has a 59 Composite Rating out of 99. The stock also has a 20 Relative Strength Rating. The EPS Rating is 93 out of 99.