Four days after Tesla’s fourth-largest shareholder urged a “time of quiet and peace,” chief executive Elon Musk accused an organizer of the Thailand cave rescue of being a “pedophile.” Vernon Unsworth, a British cave explorer who played a key role in the saving of 12 boys trapped in a flooded cave, said that Musk’s attempt to dispatch a mini-submarine was a “PR stunt” and it had “absolutely no chance of working.” Musk responded, saying that Unsworth was a pedophile who “really did ask for it.” And when pressed to explain the accusation, Musk instead doubled down and said, “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true,” according to The Washington Post.
This rattled investors and sent Tesla shares tumbling three percent on Monday. This extended a losing streak for the company that was at one point America’s most valuable automaker. Tesla stock has plunged more than 16 percent since last month. It lost $2 billion last year and has never earned an annual profit.
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