Tesla has gone bankrupt, Elon Musk tweets in apparent April Fool's joke

The fake post was painfully close to some projections about the electric car company

Elon Musk has tweeted that Tesla has gone bankrupt, in an apparently April Fool's.

The joke is painfully close to some projections about the troubled electric car company. While its products are widely praised, it is having trouble making its vehicles, and many analysts have suggested that it could fail if it doesn't increase its production soon.

Mr Musk had teased the joke earlier in the day. "Important news in a few hours…" he wrote in a post that has been shared more than 8,000 times.

As it turned out, he sent the joke long after the usual noon deadline for April Fool's jokes. Even in his local Palo Alto timezone, it was sent around 3pm.

He then went on to post a series of tweets claiming his company had gone bankrupt, the last of which included a picture of himself.

"Tesla Goes Bankrupt," he wrote in a message that copied the format of traditional press releases. "Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.

"There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*, including Chapter 14 and a half (the worst one).

"Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.

"This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what's the point? Happy New Month!"

Together, the posts have been shared thousands of times. While Mr Musk didn't explicitly indicate such, and the joke was mockingly close to predictions, it's not thought to be true.

Mr Musk has shown some interest in joke news recently. The entrepreneur has been rumoured to be looking to hire writers from The Onion for a similar publication – suggestions he appeared to confirm in a series of joking tweets sent from his account.