Fact Check

Did Tweets from Elon Musk Cause Anheuser-Busch to Lose $1B?

It wouldn't be the first time Musk's Twitter use sent ripples through the stock market.

Published Oct 18, 2023

 ( Nathan Stirk / Getty Images)
Image Via Nathan Stirk / Getty Images
Claim:
In July 2023, tweets from Elon Musk criticizing Bud Light caused Anheuser-Busch to lose over $1 billion.

On July 6, 2023, SpaceXMania published an article suggesting that the parent company of Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, lost over $1 billion in stock valuation because of tweets from Elon Musk. The article said:

Breaking: Budweiser Suffers A Loss Of $1 Billion Due To Elon Musk

A tumultuous time in the beer industry has just become more dramatic. Budweiser, the beer giant, has reportedly taken a massive hit of $1 billion, and surprisingly, this blow comes from an unlikely source: Elon Musk.

The claim also appeared on the SpaceX Lovers Facebook page, which is associated with the site. Most of the comments under the Facebook post suggest that people largely believed the headline.

But the headline was not a factual recounting of real-life events, as the Facebook post made no mention of the original satire tag applied to the post on SpaceXMania.com. Almost all content on SpaceXMania, like this particular claim, is marked as satire. On the site's disclaimer page, the publication notes that none of their articles marked as satire should be read as attempting to be truthful:

Please note that the article under the category “SATIRE” are satirical in nature and are not meant to be taken seriously. These articles are meant to be humorous and are often entirely made up. We make no claim that the information presented in these articles is true or accurate.

While it is true that Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, had seen a large drop in stock price around the time the article was published, this was largely due to the Bud Light boycott that began in early April 2023. SpaceXMania published a similar article on April 8 making an almost identical claim to the one that appeared on the site in July. It, too, was marked as satire.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.

Sources

Breaking: Budweiser Suffers A Loss Of $1 Billion Due To Elon Musk. 6 July 2023, https://spacexmania.com/breaking-budweiser-suffers-a-loss-of-1-billion-due-to-elon-musk12/.

Budweiser Takes an $800 Million Hit Thanks To Elon Musk. 8 Apr. 2023, https://spacexmania.com/budweiser-takes-an-800-million-hit-thanks-to-elon-musk/.

Jack Izzo is a Chicago-based journalist and two-time "Jeopardy!" alumnus.

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