Lithium shares rose sharply on April 13 after netizens shared a press release on Twitter about Tesla's acquisition of US lithium mining company Lithium Corporation. The company's shares more than tripled to $1.09 near midday in New York. Later, the press release proved to be false, and the company's share price began to fall again.
Photo: Bloomberg
It is reported that the fake news was shared by Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt, who runs a Twitter account with 217000 followers to share news related to Tesla. In 30 minutes, the tweet was retweeted more than 400 times by Tesla fans and others who followed Merritt. The tweet was later removed by Merritt.
Photo Source: Twitter
Tom Lewis, chief executive of Lithium, said it was "fake news" and that the news did not come from his company, and he was not sure where the news came from. Lithium also issued a press release saying that it had not received "any intention from Tesla" and that no employees had moved to Tesla. "We would be happy to talk to Musk if he wants to, but there is no relationship between the two companies at the moment," Lithium said.
Pictures circulated on Twitter showed that the press release came from 5W Public Relations, a public relations company, but the company denied that it had been issued. "We don't know the source of the press release, nor do we know why our contact information is listed. We did not issue this press release, "said a spokesman for the company.
Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment. As of 01:16, Lithium shares were up about 25 per cent, while Tesla shares were up 3.1 per cent at $1017.19.
