By Hyunjoo Jin

SAN FRANCISCO, (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s decision to purchase Twitter (NYSE:) at $44 Billion has caused concern about his ability to hire top executives for Tesla (NASDAQ.) Inc. In case his attention gets diverted by social media,

Musk announced the agreement on Monday and called Twitter the “digital square of the world” and spoke about protecting freedom of speech. However, he also raised concerns that Musk, who has previously admitted to sleeping on the factory floor at the launch of Model 3 and spoke last year of only having so much energy, may not be able to protect free speech.

Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki, a wealth management firm chief executive and Tesla investor said “Tesla still feels like it’s a startup” despite the fact that it has a billion-dollar business. It’s bigger or more than some of the largest companies around the globe, but doesn’t have as much management infrastructure as other businesses.

Tesla also wants to speed up production at Texas and Berlin plants amid rising raw material prices and supply-chain disruptions. Also, it is trying to get work in its Shanghai factory, which was hit hard by the increase in COVID-19 case numbers. Musk stated in January that Tesla has too many things on its plates and will not be introducing new models such as Cybertruck.

Tesla is able to overcome its difficulties, however, investors are concerned by the heavier pull that Twitter has on his attention.

A Tesla fund manager said that he fears this distraction will occur. He asked to remain anonymous. “He is juggling factory delays and supply chain issues, as well as expanding his energy storage business. This doesn’t make sense.”

Tesla shares fell 8% after Musk announced his initial stake via Twitter.

Tesla could not reach out for comment. But, one company insider who requested not to be named said investors concerns were “overdone” while Musk is still deeply involved in the company.

Musk is also the leader of SpaceX rocket company, along with brain-chip startup Neuralink as well as tunneling venture The Boring Company.

Tesla was the first company to experience executive turnover with JB Straubel, cofounder and CEO in 2019, as well as Jerome Guillen, president last year.

Tesla (founded in 2003) has been the most successful automaker, but only two of its executives are listed on the website. This compares to the 17 employees at General Motors and the 11 at Volkswagen ETR:.

Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn, and Senior Vice President Andrew Baglino are the most prominent leaders at Tesla outside Musk. Baglino handles powertrain development. They are both well-known to investors because of their participation in the quarterly earnings conference calls.

Robert Pavlik is a senior portfolio manager with Dakota Wealth, Fairfield, Connecticut. He has a small number of Tesla shares and accounts that he oversees. Pavlik wondered if Musk might simply choose someone to run Twitter.

He stated, “It seems that this would be the most logic thing,” It seems that he is very busy with SpaceX, Tesla, and other companies.

Gerber stated that Musk might need to have a strong No. He has a strong No. 2 executive at SpaceX, as he did with President Gwynne shotwell.

Chief strategy officer of AMCI auto consulting, Ian Beavis worries that Musk’s acquisition of Twitter with all its controversy around social and political issues could cause damage to the Tesla brand.

Still, some investors remain worried about Musk’s plan to fund the Twitter deal. Forbes estimates that Musk is worth $268billion. Twitter reported that Musk had secured $25.5 billion in margin and debt financing. It also provided a $21 million equity commitment. To help finance the deal, it is not clear if Musk will make Tesla stock sales.

According to Tesla filings, Musk has 172.6 million Tesla shares and has borrowed about half his stock. According to Reuters calculations, Musk could have 30 million shares unpaid if he pledges more shares to help secure $12.5 billion in margin loans.