Elon Musk: A market mover and a shaker
By Dorothy Gambrell
(Bloomberg Businessweek) – When Elon Musk tweeted "use Signal," earlier this year, he was talking about the messaging app made by a nonprofit organisation. But soon, the stock price of Signal Advance, a tiny and entirely unrelated medical device company in Texas, was up 5,100%. Such is the power of Musk, the world's richest person, and his more than 46 million Twitter followers.
In recent weeks Musk's tweets have added billions to the market value of publicly traded companies. And after saying he would be off Twitter "for a while" last week, he was back within a day, promoting cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Musk's tweets – with some assistance from rapper Snoop Dogg and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons – have lifted the shiba inu-themed cryptocurrency by more than 1,500% since the start of 2021. On Wednesday, Musk said he even bought some Dogecoin for his toddler – boosting the coin another 15% in 20 minutes.
Read also: Elon Musk: The man, the myth, the influencer
Here, a sampling of dispatches from the most powerful Twitter account in finance:
Jan. 7 ▷ Musk tweeted "Use Signal," referencing a chat app, and sent shares of unrelated biotech Signal Advance skyward.
Jan. 26 ▷ After Musk professed his love for Etsy, the company's value jumped by more than $2bn
Jan. 26 ▷ Musk propelled GameStop mania with one word: "Gamestonk!!" Shares that day closed up 92%
Jan. 31 ▷ A tweet announcing Musk would be on social app Clubhouse boosted shares of Clubhouse Media Group—no relation to the app.
Feb. 4 ▷ Sandstorm Gold stock spiked when Musk tweeted "Sandstorm is a masterpiece." (He probably meant the song by Darude.)
Feb. 10 ▷ A vocal Dogecoin fan in 2021, Musk even bought some for his son. The cryptocurrency is up 1,500%
Feb. 8 ▷ Musk's Tesla said it bought $1.5bn in Bitcoin and might accept it as payment, launching the cryptocurrency to new record highs.