Tesla stock waffles as Musk weathers ongoing turmoil

Tesla’s stock continued to tumble early Monday before rallying as the embattled Elon Musk doubled down on his leadership of his multibillion-dollar empire.

The electric car company’s stock was down nearly 3 percent in early morning trading but finished the day up almost 1 percent. The stock has trended downward after Musk’s Aug. 7 tweet suggesting he would push to take Tesla private.

Since then, Musk has faced questions from federal investigators and shareholders, as well as mounting concern over Tesla’s production issues, debt and his own erratic behavior and leadership style.

On Monday, J.P. Morgan said Tesla shares would continue to fall for the rest of 2018 following Musk’s announcement about taking Tesla private, according to CNBC. An analyst note said that an “interpretation of subsequent events” after Musk’s Aug. 7 tweet “leads us to believe that funding was not secured ... nor was there any formal proposal.”

Last week, Musk gave some insight into the extremes of his work and personal life, detailing to the New York Times — at times crying and laughing — their tolls on his physical health and relationships.

He said he had been working up to 120 hours per week and had not taken more than a week off in 17 years. Sometimes he wouldn’t leave the Tesla factory for three or four days, he told The Times.

On Friday, Arianna Huffington — who collapsed from exhaustion in 2007 and has since become a crusader for the importance of sleep — penned an open letter to Musk asking him to “apply that same passion for science not just to your products but to yourself. People are not machines.”

Just after 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Musk responded: “I just got home from the factory,” he wrote. “You think this is an option. It is not.”