Elon Musk's mom says Tesla shares manipulated by media, short sellers

Elon Musk’s mom, Maye Musk, blamed the media and short sellers on Thursday for manipulating Tesla stock, which fell nearly 4 percent during trading on Wednesday.  

"Short sellers and the media are manipulating Tesla stock," she wrote in a tweet. "[The Securities and Exchange Commission] must be very busy issuing fines."

Maye Musk, who at age 69 became the new face and ambassador of cosmetics giant CoverGirl, added in a subsequent tweet that the media does not want to share positive news that promotes the "clean energy" used by the electric cars.

The Tesla chief executive also has a history of calling out Wall Street short sellers. During a New York Times interview in August, when he was publicly mulling on Twitter taking the company private at $420 per share (for which the SEC eventually fined him $20 million), Musk said he blamed short sellers for much of his stress.

Short sellers are investors who bet that Tesla will lose value.

The billionaire investor said he was preparing for "at least a few months of extreme torture from the short-sellers, who are desperately pushing a narrative that will possibly result in Tesla’s destruction."

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"They’re not dumb guys, but they’re not supersmart. They’re O.K. They’re smartish," he added.