The price of shares in Lithium Corp, a Nevada-based mining company shot up and then fell back down this week following the distribution of an inauthentic press release on social media and websites (like this now deleted page) claiming that the company had been bought out by Tesla.
The mining company’s shares rose to $1.09, more than three times what they had been worth ahead of the distribution of a false press release that was shared on Twitter, reports Bloomberg. Tesla‘s shares were also up about 3.1 percent following the news.
As reported by Elektrek, which managed to pull some screenshots, the release was shared widely on Twitter, including by well-known fans of the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, and some news outlets. Lithium Corp., though, later released a statement saying that it had not been bought by Tesla nor had it even been approached by the company.
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Tesla fan Sawyer Merritt shared the release on his account before deleting it (Screenshot credits Electrek)
Lithium Corporation issued a statement writing that it “wishes to inform shareholders that, contrary to a press release issued by unknown parties on the 12th of April and rumors circulating on social media, we have not received so much as an expression of interest from Tesla, Inc. and no employees have left Lithium Corporation to take up employment with Tesla. We would be happy to chat with Elon if he was inclined, but presently there is no relationship between the two companies.”
The source of the fake press release remains unknown as even 5W Public Relations, the company whose name appeared on it, denied distributing it. Tesla does not operate a press relations department, making it difficult to get an official statement out of the company.
Whoever is responsible, since discovering the release was false, Lithium Corp.’s values have fallen precipitously, though they were still trading at 28.73 percent higher on April 13 than they were on April 11, per a Bloomberg chart.
Lithium is an important mineral in the composition of automotive batteries, making it an important resource for automakers manufacturing electric vehicles.
