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Tesla goes bankrupt in Elon Musk April Fools' Day gag

Elon Musk pokes fun at Tesla bankruptcy speculation with a series of tweets and a comical photo of himself passed out against a Model 3.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser

On April 1, we're bound to take every news tidbit with several shakes of salt, especially when they're coming from notorious jokester Elon Musk

Musk built up anticipation earlier today with a mysterious tweet promising big news.

He then delivered with a series of tweets declaring that , his electric car company, had gone bankrupt despite "a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs." Musk seems to be playing on recent news reports speculating about a possible bankruptcy in the company's future.

Musk's April Fools' Day timing combined with a quip about Tesla having "Chapter 14 and a half" bankruptcy should have your prank alarm bells clanging loudly. 

And in case you were still wondering if Tesla might actually be trying to slip a bankruptcy announcement out on April 1, then Musk sealed the joke deal with his final tweet. This one comes with a photo of Musk passed out against a Tesla Model 3 with a sign reading "Bankwupt!" on his chest.

Despite all this evidence pointing to an April Fools' gag, we have to remember Musk once joked about Boring Company flamethrowers and then actually sold them. So just in case, we dropped a line to Tesla, but haven't received a response yet. 

You can catch CNET's roundup of the best and weirdest April Fools' gags right here.

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