More than a year after Musk’s notorious 420 tweet, Tesla actually reached his stated marijuana-friendly goal.
Elon Musk got in trouble a year ago for suggesting he had a buyer that could take Tesla private at $420 a share. The mysterious buyer never materialized, but Tesla stock did rise 3.8% this morning to hit the smoking target — $420 a share.
The joke, however, was not lost on Musk.
“Whoa … the stock is so high lol,” he tweeted.
Whoa … the stock is so high lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2019
Last August, Musk found himself in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission and investors for a different tweet he’d sent. “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420,” Musk tweeted Aug. 7. 2018. “Funding secured.”
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At the time, Tesla’s shares were valued at $379.57. That price increased by $16 a share within several minutes of Musk’s tweet. Accusations were directed at Musk, stating that he was manipulating the value of Tesla stock, as he had not actually secured the appropriate funding to take the company private, court proceedings found.
Tesla’s head of investor relations at the time even texted Musk to ask, “Was this legit?”
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018
Musk had reached the potential $420 figure, he says, by taking the closing value of the stock that day and adding a 20% premium to a potential buyer. But the exact figure following that calculation was $419.
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“Musk stated that he rounded the price up to $420 because he had recently learned about the number’s significance in marijuana culture,” a lawsuit filed by the SEC reads. Musk “though his girlfriend ‘would find it funny,’” the lawsuit adds. Page Six reported in August that Musk and his pop musician girlfriend Grimes were still going strong.