A Reuters report that quoted Elon Musk's internal memo to employees regarding a 10% job cut at Tesla, Inc. TSLA sent the company's shares sharply lower on Friday. A subsequent report from Reuters, citing another email from Musk, said the electric vehicle maker is looking to cut only salaried jobs and hourly jobs are set to increase.
Reuters followed these up with a third story based on a reply tweet by Musk that suggested Tesla's headcount will increase over the next 12 months, but salaried jobs should be fairly flat.
Related Link: Why This Analyst Thinks Tesla's June Quarter Deliveries Will Be Better Than Feared
When a Tesla influencer shared a screenshot of the two Reuters stories showing Musk's different takes on employment plans, the Tesla chief executive officer's mom chimed in with a scathing attack on the media outlet.
"Reuters is particularly bad at accurate Tesla reporting," Maye Musk said. She also suggested she had "reprimanded" Reuters a few times. "Who is paying them to be anti-Tesla and anti-climate action?" she asked.
Reuters cannot necessarily be faulted for the contradictory stories it carried.
Musk's Twitter communication, especially about Tesla, has recently received a lot of flak. Even Tesla backers have begun discussing the company needing a proper PR department, which can handle communications effectively, which in turn can avert gyrations in its stock.
Tesla closed Friday's session down 9.22% to $703.55, according to Benzinga Pro.
Photo: Created with images from j-No on Flickr
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