If you ever questioned the power of 140 characters thrown out on Twitter, look at the fallout from this week’s tweet by Tesla founder Elon Musk.

A clarifying tweet by Mr Musk this week managed to wipe almost $780 million off the value of Samsung SDI, an affiliate company of Samsung Electronics.

USA Today reported that Mr Musk tweeted that Tesla was dealing exclusively with Panasonic as the supplier of batteries on its upcoming model of car, not Samsung.

• Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton
• AmazonFresh to launch grocery delivery in Oz
• ‘My deficit is bigger than yours’

The billionaire Tesla founder clarified the matter of the supplier for its upcoming Model 3, Model S sedan and Model X SUV, to hose down rumours that Samsung SDI might also supply batteries for the Model 3.

“Would like to clarify that Tesla is working exclusively with Panasonic for Model 3 cells. News articles claiming otherwise are incorrect,” Mr Musk tweeted.

Samsung SDI’s shares plunged 8 per cent after the tweet. Conversely, Panasonic’s share leapt price 4 per cent, adding more than $1 billion to its market value.

Mr Musk later added that Tesla might source batteries from Samsung SDI Co for its residential and industrial systems, rather than for its electric cars. Asked in a tweet whether Samsung batteries might be used in Tesla Energy, he responded, “yes”.

Shares of Samsung SDI rebounded by as much as 4 per cent after that. A Samsung SDI spokesman declined to comment, USA Today reported.

– with USA Today.