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CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing “Cyber Rodeo” grand opening party in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022.

Suzanne Cordeiro | AFP | Getty Images

Shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla have fallen 28% since October 27, when CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter and appointed himself “Chief Twit,” or CEO, of the social media business.

By way of comparison, other major automakers like Ford, GM and Volkswagen are slightly up since Oct. 27, as is BYD, a Chinese company that makes electric vehicles and batteries. U.S. electric truck maker Rivian has fallen by 27% over that period.

On Tuesday, Tesla shares closed at $160.95, down more than 4% for the day. It was a rare exception among growth-oriented tech stocks, which mostly rose after cooler-than-expected inflation data came out early in the morning.

Tesla’s 2022 selloff

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The decline in Tesla stock price has prompted the company’s largest retail shareholder Leo Koguan, who is a billionaire and founder of the IT services firm SHI International, to call for the company’s board to “perform shock therapy to resuscitate stock price,” namely by way of a share buyback.

Musk sold billions of dollars’ worth of his Tesla holdings to finance the Twitter takeover. Since he took over the company, Musk has been regularly posting incendiary tweets, especially aimed at people who hold center-to-left political values, and whom Musk often paints as enemies with a “woke mind virus.”

For example, Musk took aim at Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, and trans people, tweeting over the weekend: “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.”

The offensive tweet drew over 1 million “likes” on Twitter, where Musk has over 120 million listed followers, as well as criticism from the White House, and from former CIA director John O. Brennan. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Musk’s tweets about Fauci “incredibly dangerous” personal attacks.

Kristin Hull, Nia Impact Capital founder and a Tesla shareholder, wrote on Twitter following that: “So many issues with the Tesla brand, when the board can’t rein in the CEO.”

Economic conditions and an aging product lineup have also contributed to pressure on Tesla’s share price. Tesla has delayed mass production of its sci-fi-inspired, trapezoidal pickup truck, the Cybertruck. Tesla originally showed off the Cybertruck design in 2019, at which time the company expected to start production in 2021.

The company held an event at its Nevada battery factory to mark the start of deliveries of its fully electric, heavy-duty Semi truck last month. At the event, Tesla execs including Elon Musk made no mention of previously touted self-driving tech, a million-mile warranty they had previously teased, a price for the Semi, nor any anticipated production numbers.

Tesla is also facing backlash over a years-long delay in delivering self-driving technology through software updates to its customers’ cars. Customers are increasingly suing Tesla in the U.S. to attain refunds for self-driving systems they paid for and expected to be delivered already.

Tesla markets its driver assistance systems as Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving capability in the U.S. None of these systems make its cars safe to drive without a human behind the steering wheel, attentive to the road and driving task at all times.

The California DMV is investigating Tesla and has formally complained that it has engaged in false advertising around these systems.

Some Tesla fans see the plummeting stock price as a buying opportunity, despite Musk’s new distraction with Twitter.

The company is ramping up production at a new vehicle assembly plant in Austin, Texas, and another one outside of Berlin. The company has brought Shanghai Manufacturing leader Tom Zhu to the states to help mature the Austin operation.

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Anne Wojcicki has a new offer to take 23andMe private, this time for $74.7 million

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Anne Wojcicki has a new offer to take 23andMe private, this time for .7 million

Anne Wojcicki attends the WSJ Magazine Style & Tech Dinner in Atherton, California, on March 15, 2023.

Kelly Sullivan | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki and New Mountain Capital have submitted a proposal to take the embattled genetic testing company private, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wojcicki and New Mountain have offered to acquire all of 23andMe’s outstanding shares in cash for $2.53 per share, or an equity value of approximately $74.7 million. The company’s stock closed at $2.42 on Friday with a market cap of about $65 million.

The offer comes after a turbulent year for 23andMe, with the stock losing more than 80% of its value in 2024. In January, the company announced plans to explore strategic alternatives, which could include a sale of the company or its assets, a restructuring or a business combination. 

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23andMe has a special committee of independent directors in place to evaluate potential paths forward. The company appointed three new independent directors to its board in October after all seven of its previous directors abruptly resigned the prior month. The special committee has to approve Wojcicki and New Mountain’s proposal.

“We believe that our Proposal provides compelling value and immediate liquidity to the Company’s public stockholders,” Wojcicki and Matthew Holt, managing director and president of private equity at New Mountain, wrote in a letter to the special committee on Thursday.

Wojcicki previously submitted a proposal to take the company private for 40 cents per share in July, but it was rejected by the special committee, in part because the members said it lacked committed financing and did not provide a premium to the closing price at the time.

Wojcicki and New Mountain are willing to provide secured debt financing to fund 23andMe’s operations through the transaction’s closing, the filing said. New Mountain is based in New York and has $55 billion of assets under management, according to its website.

23andMe declined to comment.

WATCH: The rise and fall of 23andMe

The rise and fall of 23andMe

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Shares of Hims & Hers tumble 23% after FDA says semaglutide is no longer in shortage

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Shares of Hims & Hers tumble 23% after FDA says semaglutide is no longer in shortage

Hims & Hers

Shares of Hims & Hers Health tumbled more than 23% on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that the shortage of semaglutide injection products has been resolved.

Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk‘s blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. Those medications are part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s, and demand for the treatments has exploded in recent years. As a result, digital health companies such as Hims & Hers have been prescribing compounded semaglutide as an alternative for patients who are navigating volatile supply hurdles and insurance obstacles.

Compounded drugs are custom-made alternatives to brand-name drugs designed to meet a specific patient’s needs, and compounders are allowed to produce them when brand-name treatments are in shortage. The FDA doesn’t review the safety and efficacy of compounded products.

Hims & Hers began offering compounded semaglutide to patients in May, and it owns compounding pharmacies that produce the medications.

Compounded medications are typically much cheaper than their branded counterparts. Hims & Hers sells compounded semaglutide for less than $200 per month, while Ozempic and Wegovy both cost around $1,000 per month without insurance.

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The FDA said Friday that it will start taking action against compounders for violations in the next 60 to 90 days, depending on the type of facility, in order to “avoid unnecessary disruption to patient treatment.”

“Now that the FDA has determined the drug shortage for semaglutide has been resolved, we will continue to offer access to personalized treatments as allowed by law to meet patient needs,” Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum posted Friday on X. “We’re also closely monitoring potential future shortages, as Novo Nordisk stated two weeks ago that it would continue to have ‘capacity limitations’ and ‘expected continued periodic supply constraints and related drug shortage notifications.'”

Him & Hers’ weight loss offerings have been a massive hit with investors. Shares of the company climbed more than 200% last year, and the stock is already up more than 100% this year despite Friday’s move.

Even before it added compounded GLP-1s to its portfolio, the company said in its 2023 fourth-quarter earnings call that it expects its weight loss program to bring in more than $100 million in revenue by the end of 2025.

Despite the turbulent regulatory landscape, Hims & Hers has showed no signs of slowing down.

On Friday, the company announced it has acquired a U.S.-based peptide facility that will “further verticalize the company’s long-term ability to deliver personalized medications.” Hims & Hers will explore advances across metabolic optimization, recovery science, biological resistances, cognitive performance and preventative health through the acquisition, the company said.

That move comes just days after Hims & Hers also bought Trybe Labs, the New Jersey-based at-home lab testing facility. Trybe Labs will allow Hims & Hers to perform at-home blood draws and more comprehensive pretreatment testing.

Hims & Hers did not disclose the terms of either deal.

WATCH: Hims & Hers Super Bowl ad sparks controversy

Hims & Hers Super Bowl ad sparks controversy

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Tesla recalls more than 375,000 vehicles in U.S. due to failing power-assisted steering systems

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Tesla recalls more than 375,000 vehicles in U.S. due to failing power-assisted steering systems

Tesla models Y and 3 are displayed at a Tesla dealership in Corte Madera, California, on Dec. 20, 2024.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Tesla is voluntarily recalling 376,241vehicles in the U.S. to correct an issue with failing power-assisted steering systems, according to records posted to the website of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In a safety recall report posted on the NHTSA website, Tesla said the recall includes Model 3 and Model Y vehicles that were manufactured for sale in the U.S. from Feb. 28, 2023, to October 11, 2023, and that were equipped with a certain older software release.

The records said printed circuit boards in the steering systems in affected vehicles could become overstressed, causing the power-assist steering to fail in some cases when a Tesla vehicle rolled to a stop and then accelerated.

When electronic power-assist steering systems fail in a Tesla, drivers need to exert more force to steer their cars, which can increase the risk of a collision.

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Tesla told the vehicle safety regulator that it was not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths related to the power steering failures, and that it was offering an over-the-air software update as a remedy.

The recall follows an earlier related probe and voluntary recall in China concerning the same systems.

President Donald Trump has appointed Tesla CEO Elon Musk to lead a team that is slashing the federal government workforce, and in some cases, regulations and entire agencies. Those cuts already affected the NHTSA, an agency Musk has long seen as standing in the way of some of his ambitions at Tesla.

The regulator has been engaged in a yearslong investigation into safety defects in the systems that Tesla markets currently as its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) options. The features do not make Tesla cars into robotaxis. They require a human driver ready to steer or brake at any time.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Musk’s team has led mass firings at the NHTSA, reducing the agency’s workforce and capacity to investigate companies including Tesla by about 10%.

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment.

WATCH: Tesla stock hinges on new vehicles being introduced

Tesla stock hinges on new vehicles being introduced, says Canaccord's  George Gianarikas

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