Even as billionaire Elon Musk denies sexual harassment allegations, Tesla’s shares nosedive

As Tesla CEO Elon Musk meets Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, the billionaire has separately denied allegations of sexually harassing a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016, media reports said. He has called a news report, which had levelled the allegations, "utterly untrue". Despite the remark, the shares of the electric carmaker Tesla nosedived by more than 10% on Friday. In 2018, $250,000 were paid by SpaceX to settle a sexual harassment claim, reported Business Insider citing sources on Thursday. The money was paid to an unnamed attendant of a private jet flight. She seems to have accused Musk of exposing himself to her.   

On Twitter, Musk wrote on Thursday, "I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me `exposed` – describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, …) that isn’t known by the public. She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened."    

Also Read: Elon Musk was accused of sexual misconduct and paid $250,000 to cover up: Report

In a luxurious resort in Sao Paulo state on Friday, SpaceX CEO Musk met Bolsonaro to discuss connectivity and other projects in the Amazon rainforest. The meeting was organised by Communications Minister Fábio Faria.   

In a tweet on Friday morning, Musk said, "Super excited to be in Brazil for launch of Starlink for 19,000 unconnected schools in rural areas & environmental monitoring of Amazon."   

Watch: Musk says 'Tesla is on my mind 24/7' as Tesla CEO trying to soothe investor worries

"We count on Elon Musk so that the Amazon is known by everyone in Brazil and in the world, to show the exuberance of this region, how we are preserving it, and how much harm those who spread lies about this region are doing to us," Bolsonaro said.   

During the event, Bolsonaro called the proposed takeover of Twitter by Musk as a "breath of hope".   

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(With inputs from agencies)