Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again used his Twitter account to ignite controversy. Only this time, no one knows why.
Musk on Monday morning posted a tweet to his Twitter account, saying that he “just deleted my Twitter account.” Musk also changed his profile picture to a black circle and changed his name to Daddy DotCom. He hasn’t posted since, but as of this writing, his Twitter account is still active.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1140481957341495296
Tesla did not immediately respond to a Fortune request for comment on Musk’s tweet.
The strange tweet on Monday has prompted far more questions than answers. It’s unclear whether Musk actually tweeted or his account was hacked. It’s also unclear when he will actually take down his account, if the tweet was meant to be truthful. But if he does take his account down, some people might actually like it. As of this writing, the tweet has 125,000 likes—far more than the number of likes he normally gets on other tweets.
Musk’s Twitter account has a decidedly controversial corner of his world. After he tweeted in August that he was “considering taking Tesla private,” the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took notice. Musk, the SEC said, violated SEC protocol on how to make material announcements that affect public company shareholders. After a bitter debate and plenty of complaining from Musk, he agreed to settle the case for $20 million. He also agreed to step down as Tesla’s chairman and seek approval before tweeting material information.
However, when Musk said earlier this year that Tesla would produce 500,000 vehicles in 2019, the SEC said that he violated their agreement because he didn’t seek permission before publishing. The Tesla chief and the SEC quietly resolved that problem soon after.
In addition, last year Musk baselessly tweeted that a diver who helped rescue children trapped in a cave in Thailand was a “pedo,” a reference to being a pedophile. After facing intense criticism, Musk once again used the term. Musk eventually apologized and deleted the tweets, but not before the damage was done. The diver, who denied Musk’s accusations, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. against Musk last year. The diver is seeking $75,000, plus punitive damages and a court order preventing Musk from further defamatory comments. The case is set to go to trial in October.
Musk’s apparent decision to close his account on Monday came just days after he came under fire on Saturday for publishing artwork of Nier:Automata‘s 2B without crediting the artist Meli Melo. After fans requested he credit the artist, Musk defiantly tweeted back to them that he wouldn’t. He went on to say that “no one should be credited with anything, ever.” He has since deleted the offending tweets.
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