Elon Musk’s ‘Insane Mode’ Quarter, Captured in One Tesla Chart

Tesla Inc. just capped off a quarter as ludicrous and insane as its high-performance electric cars. The oft-erratic Elon Musk spent the last three months making one unforced error after another, the most costly being his problematic tweets about taking Tesla private. He limited the damage in the end by settling fraud charges with U.S. securities regulators, and all the while his company managed to significantly increase production and deliveries of the all-important Model 3 sedan.

Tesla’s Q3 share price, daily close

1
July 16—Tesla’s stock drops after Musk calls British cave diver a pedophile; the diver sues two months later

2
Aug. 7—Musk tweets he has “funding secured” to take Tesla private, and the SEC begins questioning the company over Musk’s tweets within a day

3
Aug. 17—Stock plunges after NYT publishes tearful interview with Musk in which he admits no one reviewed his go-private tweet beforehand

4
Aug. 24—Musk announces he’s decided to keep Tesla public

5
Sept. 7—Musk smokes marijuana during a podcast interview; Tesla’s chief accounting officer and and head of human resources leave the company; Musk announces a series of promotions to rebuild his senior management team

6
Sept. 18—Bloomberg reports Tesla faces DOJ investigation over Musk’s take-private statements

7
Sept. 27SEC sues Musk, seeking to ban him from being chairman or CEO; Tesla falls the most in almost five years the next day; Musk and Tesla settle with SEC within two days