Elon Musk takes a break from Twitter ‘for a while’

• Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday that he was “away from Twitter for a while.”
• Gamestop, Etsy, and a Japanese video game maker have all seen share gains on Musk’s recent tweets.
• This isn’t the first time Musk has said he’s taking a break from Twitter. He also said he was stepping down in June 2020 – he returned two days later.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Billionaire Elon Musk, whose tweets impacted the stock market last week, announced on Tuesday that he was taking a Twitter hiatus.

“Off Twitter for a while,” Musk tweeted to its 44.8 million followers, but gave no further details.

This break may not last long. The last time Musk announced he was stepping down from Twitter was in June – he stayed away for two days. In 2019, he said he was leaving the social media site only to return three days later.

Read more: SpaceX completes a new round of massive funding. Here’s why investors are clamoring for one of the world’s most valuable startups.

Recent tweets from the CEOs of SpaceX and Tesla have had a big impact on the stock market. On Sunday, Musk tweeted that he was “on Clubhouse tonight at 10 p.m. Los Angeles time. Shares of Clubhouse Media Group soared and rallied around 45% on Monday – even though it wasn’t the company Musk tweeted about. He was referring to the private audio app Clubhouse, known to host Silicon-Valley leaders and celebrities.

Bitcoin jumped 15% on Friday after Musk added “#bitcoin” to his Twitter bio. Musk later posted a Tweeter saying, “In retrospect, it was inevitable.”

Gamestop shares soared 157% again on Wednesday, Jan.27, after the tech billionaire tweeted “Gamestonk !! in after-hours trade on Tuesday.

The Etsy online marketplace grew about 3.5% on January 26, minutes after Musk tweeted “Love Etsy,” adding that he bought a hand-knitted woolen “Marvin the Martian” helmet for his dog.

And on January 13, shares of Bandai Namco, a Japanese video game maker, jumped 4% after Musk tweeted a meme that included a character from one of his games. “Hey you … Yeah, Queen … You’ll get there!” he tweeted, adding heart emojis.