TL;DR
- A glitch made it look like Warren Buffett’s company’s stock price crashed (it didn’t).
- Elon Musk joked about it on social media, joining crypto fans who poked fun at Buffett.
- The glitch highlights the need for human checks alongside AI in financial markets.
Elon Musk, the outspoken CEO of Tesla and X platform, has joined the online chatter by the crypto community surrounding a recent tech glitch that caused a temporary plunge in the share price of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Musk Fuels Crypto Jokes with “Hodl” Tweet
The incident began on Monday when a technical error made it appear that Berkshire Hathaway’s A-class shares had plummeted from their usual price of around $624,400 to a mere $185.10. This dramatic drop, thankfully fictional, caused a stir in the market.
Musk took to the X platform to share a humorous screenshot of a tweet supposedly from Buffett himself. The fabricated tweet read “hodl,” a misspelling of “hold” popularized by the cryptocurrency community and signifying a strategy of holding onto assets despite market volatility. Musk’s response? A simple emoji expressing amusement.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 3, 2024
The crypto community, aware of Buffett’s well-documented skepticism towards cryptocurrency, reveled in the situation. Many pointed out the humor of the situation, with some even questioning the authenticity of the “hodl” tweet.
AI Reporting Glitch Raises Concerns
Musk also shared a post by Zerohedge, a financial news outlet, that highlighted the role of potentially faulty AI in the glitch. The post referenced a screenshot displaying the dramatic price drop on a Bloomberg Terminal and questioned the wisdom of relying on AI to report on every market movement.
Reality Bites: A Glitch, Not a Crash
Thankfully, for Berkshire Hathaway investors, the dramatic price drop was nothing more than a technical hiccup. The New York Stock Exchange clarified that the issue stemmed from faulty price bands published by the Consolidated Tape Association, a data organization used by many trading platforms.
Trading of Berkshire Hathaway A-class shares was paused while the issue was resolved. The incident serves as a reminder of the potential pitfalls of relying solely on automated systems in the financial world. While AI can be a powerful tool, human oversight remains crucial to ensure accuracy and prevent panic in the market.
