Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is trying to dig himself out of a hole after angrily tweeting at a British diver involved in the rescue of the trapped boys in Thailand.
When diver Vern Unsworth referred to Musk’s offer of a mini-submarine as nothing but a publicity stunt, the CEO shot back and said he could prove via video that the submarine could work.
“Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it,” wrote Musk in a now-deleted tweet to his 22.3 million followers.
Unsworth said in an interview with the Guardian that he may consider legal action.
READ: Fur flies after Tesla CEO Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in Twitter tirade
With shares of the electric vehicle company sinking, Musk took to Twitter again to apologize.
Musk began by suggesting that Unsworth had said untrue and unsavory things about him as well but that the diver’s alleged comments did not justify what Musk said he tweeted out of anger.
Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2018
The high-profile CEO has used his Twitter previously to hit back against short-sellers and journalists covering the electric vehicle company.
Shares of the automaker were up slightly to US$324.40 in Wednesday morning trading.