Tesla chief Elon Musk said on Friday that he is going off Twitter. Firing off a tweet questioning the 'good of Twitter', he said he is disconnecting from the social networking platform, perhaps in favour of popular news and discussion platform Reddit.
"Not sure about good of Twitter," Musk told his more than 29 million followers in a series of rapid-fire tweets. "Reddit still seems good. Going offline," Musk wrote.
Not sure about good of Twitter
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2019
Reddit still seems good
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2019
Going offline
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2019
Musk's tweets had got him in trouble with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which accused him of misleading investors on the platform. In February 2018 he posted that Tesla would make 500,000 cars in 2019—up from the 400,000 that the company had estimated until then, an apparent increase on a benchmark tied to profitability, which elicited a rebuke from the SEC.
In a separate Twitter incident the following August, Musk claimed on the platform that he had secured funding to take Tesla private, which was quickly aborted, leading the SEC to accuse him of defrauding investors. The SEC subsequently required Musk to step down as chairman and pay USD 20 million to settle charges over the matter. The agreement set out clearer guidelines on topics Musk should avoid on Twitter or other social media.
Musk is known for his active use of Twitter and his account is one that is keenly watched.
