News Every Day | 20 April 2024, 15:00

A Complete History of Elon Musk’s Fascination with the Magic Number 420

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It’s April 20, the unofficial holiday in cannabis culture dedicated to advocating for the legalization of marijuana. The date is strongly associated with Elon Musk, as the Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX CEO frequently made references to the number 420 in tweets and interviews in recent years—sometimes in a humorous manner but other times completely serious. Here is a look back at Musk’s well-documented fascination with the magic number over the years.

Proposing taking Tesla private at $420 a share

In August 2018, Musk famously tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share—a significant premium over Tesla’s stock price at the time—and claimed he had “funding secured.” This tweet eventually landed him in legal trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission for potential market manipulation, a charge he later settled.

During a trial of the case in January 2023, the Tesla CEO testified that his choice of the $420 price point was not a joke but a well thought-out business decision. “There is some karma around 420 although I should question if that is good or bad karma at this point,” he told the attorney representing a group of Tesla shareholders.

Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018

Joe Rogan Podcast appearance and Twitter bio update

A month after his controversial Tesla tweet rattled Wall Street, Musk was invited as a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. He got so comfortable in the setting that at one point he was seen puffing a joint on camera. For a brief period after the podcast aired, Musk changed his Twitter bio to read “420” before reverting it to its original state that read “Engineer.”

The incidents sparked widespread discussion about the significance of the number 420. Musk had previously expressed his views on marijuana legalization, suggesting that he’s not opposed to its use.

Embedding the number in Tesla products

Musk has displayed a tendency to incorporate the number 420 into his company’s products whenever he can. In October 2020, he announced on Twitter that Tesla would drop the price of its Model S sedan from about $72,000 to $69,420—a nod at another of his favorite numbers, 69.

Musk also initially targeted a 420-mile driving range for Tesla’s Model S Plaid, a high-end version of the Model S. But at the vehicle’s launch in June 2021, its window sticker said 405 miles, and the final EPA-rated range was slightly lower than 396 miles.

Last year, Musk suggested in a Twitter conversation that he wanted to name an important version of Tesla’s FSD (Full Self-Driving) software Beta 11.420.

The gauntlet has been thrown down!

The prophecy will be fulfilled.

Model S price changes to $69,420 tonight!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2020

They are actually much more than point releases, but the team is reserving 11.420 for the big one

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023

Pricing SpaceX at $420 a share during fundraising

In early 2021, SpaceX raised $850 million in a private equity funding round that valued the space company at $76 billion. The company reportedly sold shares at $419.99 apiece, just one cent below its CEO’s lucky number.

Launching Starship’s maiden test flight on 4/20

In Musk’s eye, April 20 is also a lucky date for rocket launches. On this day last year, Musk watched SpaceX test launch a prototype of Starship from the company’s test ground in Boca Chica, Texas. It was the first attempted orbital flight of Starship.

Acquiring Twitter for $54.20 a share

In October 2023, Musk acquired Twitter, now X, for $54.20 per share in a transaction that valued the social media company at $44 billion, about 25 percent higher than its market value at the time. Musk at one point attempted to walk away from the deal, but a federal judge eventually nudged him into going through with it eventually.

Random “420” tweets

Sometime Musk just appeared to want to compose 420-themed tweets for no obvious reasons. In April of last year, he posted that the “final date for removing [Twitter’s] legacy blue checks is 4/20.” Earlier this year, he replied to a post about Tesla’s EV market share being 4.20 percent at the end of 2023 by noting, “I was born 69 days after 4/20.” Here are a few other examples: