Elon Musk Faces a Turbulent Day: Cyberattacks on X & Tesla Stocks Plummet by $15 Billion

Amidst mounting challenges, Elon Musk is experiencing a particularly tough day as his social media platform "X" grapples with significant cyberattacks and as Tesla's stock prices tumble. These developments have not only affected the operations of X but have also taken a hefty toll on Musk's personal fortune. In this article, we will delve into the cyber issues confronting X and the financial impacts on Musk due to Tesla's share decline.

This morning, "X" (formerly Twitter) began experiencing intermittent outages, and Musk addressed the escalating situation with a tweet around 1:25 PM ET, stating, "There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved."

According to data from Downdetector, the issues began as early as 5:30 AM ET, with complaints from users skyrocketing from 5 to 21,191 within just 20 minutes. The complaints fluctuated throughout the day, peaking at over 38,000 by 10:05 AM, before seeing peaks again with 34,540 complaints registered by 12:50 PM. The inconsistent rise and fall of complaints suggest a coordinated cyberattack, aligning with Musk's concerns.

This unusual pattern of complaints is atypical compared to standard outages, indicating that this may indeed be part of a larger, targeted assault on the platform, possibly from foreign adversaries or domestic critics.

Some users of X reported receiving error messages from the content delivery service provider Cloudflare, stating, "Web server is returning an unknown error." While the origin of these attacks remains unclear, it raises questions about whether Musk is a specific target due to his influential role and his ties to the U.S. government.

In addition to challenges with X, Musk's financial portfolio suffered a blow as shares of Tesla fell by over 14%, translating to a loss of approximately $15 billion in net worth. Prior to this downturn, Musk’s wealth was estimated at over $342 billion, making this a significant financial hit for the billionaire.

The news comes on the heels of his controversial role in government committees, where Musk has faced backlash from both sides of the political spectrum, particularly regarding his efforts to streamline government operations by laying off thousands of employees.