The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk has been known for his wit and charm. He is a guy known for his humor and this year on April Fool’s day, he posted on Twitter that Tesla had gone bankrupt. His initial tweet said that despite their best and desperate efforts, Tesla could not be saved from bankruptcy and was totally broke.
Tesla Goes Bankrupt
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 — Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018
In a follow-up tweet, a picture showed Elon Musk passed out next to a Tesla, holding a card saying “Bankwupt”. Even though it was a joke, it might have fooled some people because Tesla is not doing so well these days and has been followed by a string of bad press.
Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.
This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what's the point?
Happy New Month! pic.twitter.com/YcouvFz6Y1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018
Tesla shares have shed their value in the month of March. Despite the widely accepted cars from the company, the company just can’t seem to come up with a profitable model. In other rough news for the company, they have confirmed that the vehicle involved in a fatal crash last week was in autopilot mode at the moment of collision. “The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel for six seconds prior to the collision,” the company said in a statement.
Sadly, the bad news does not end there and the company has announced its biggest recall to date. It issued a statement recalling the 123,000 Model S vehicles built before April 2016 saying that they were taking preemptive measures due to a power steering problem.
Even though no crashes have been reported due to this fault as claimed by the company. Tesla said it had “observed excessive corrosion in the power steering bolts,” in an email to the affected customers. This problem was found to be more common in cold climates where salt is used to melt snow on the road.
The recalled vehicles will be given a parts retrofit and the upgrade will not take more than an hour. The company urges the drivers to keep using the vehicles if they haven’t experienced any problems but all this bad press is causing problems for Tesla and makes us wonder what Elon Musk was actually trying to convey through this joke.