The catch is that Tesla has a bunch of problems that might cause the company to be in serious trouble soon, and if musk leaves before the company starts tanking then we'll have to hear endless bullshit from people about how musk was so great that he single handedly was what kept the company going.
Whilst Elon was playing dumbass with that cyber truck monstrosity that can only be sold in a select few countries because it's so fucking dangerous, Tesla lost the entire headstart it had. It has a very limited set of older models for sale that only really are interesting for people with money. Meanwhile China is here now with loads of cheap EV cars. Then there are fraud investigations that will turn bad as musk has for years been promising lies. See Theranos for an example on how that would work.
I could go on for a long time, but suffice to say, Tesla will be bankrupt within 3 years and so will musk.
When I was using that failed platform Reddit, I got permabanned from a Elon Musk sub because the mods read some anti-Musk comments I made IN OTHER SUBS. Talk about a clusterfuck. Hey hey ho ho, Phony Starck has got to go!!!!
The reason he's able to make this ask and not immediately be laughed out of the room is that Tesla's value is massively inflated based largely on the personality cult surrounding Musk himself. If Tesla starts being valued as a car company rather than a speculative tech company with a "genius" leader at the help (quotes doing a lot of work there) , the stock price will be a fraction of what it is now.
That's what shareholders stand to lose, and it's why Musk has any leverage to make this ridiculous ask in the first place.
If he left, the stock would bounce up 20%. Put an engineer at the head and start producing decent model 3, Y. Work on reaching 25k MSRP. I'm sure there's bottlenecks and inefficiencies that could get them there.
Tesla stock is worth more than most other car companies combined. Musk's genius is knowing how to pump stock. The company would do much better without Musk, but the stock would tank. No one else is willing to lie, cheat and sacrifice safety like Musk to keep the stock high.
I can certainly see that argument, but I'd counter that eventually the Musk bubble will pop and that day is coming like a freight train. Better to ditch him now while they can than suffer the cost of keeping him.
They could also abandon the cybertruck and focus on building cheap easy to repair shit boxes. Theyd corner the market by simply being affordable. Especially if they abandoned the BS futurism crap.
2 years ago I was certain a long range Model 3 would be our family’s first electric vehicle. I am now certain that a Rivian R2 will be that vehicle instead. As long as Musk is in the pipeline, making terrible decisions I have no interest in Tesla.
Model Y is the best car I've ever had. I suppose in spite of, not thanks to the ketamine man. Probably not my next car if Tesla doesn't do something smart about Musk.
The Cybertruck is a fail on so many levels that I wonder why anyone wants one. It's not a good EV, it's not a good truck, falls short on price & range, is prone to corrosion, looks stupid, is totally impractical, and lethal to pedestrians & cyclists. The thing violates so many EU regulations that it will NEVER be on sale there and anywhere else that doesn't like murder machines.
They're still worth a lot more than almost any other car manufacturer. Without Musk and his pie in the sky promises, what else is left to justify that?
Well theres 56 Billion dollars to invest into the company and make a better product. Fix the many issues with the company and get back building something people cant wait to get.
I dont think most people who wanted teslas really cared about self driving, that was just inventive and marketing. Its neat...if it worked without the problems, but i think ive said in an old post that tesla will be a much better company long after musk is out of the picture. I didnt expect it to happen now but ide be delighted if this company that like it or not is the one that kicked off the EV race would actually become a company forcing other manufacturers into a better world.sooner than they otherwise would do on their own.
EVs were inevitable is exactly what musk predicted was going to happen. He saw it as unavoidable and so he bought his way into tesla and spent a lot of time money(much more of other people than his own) and effort into building the Tesla brand
Maybe musk is just good at picking a horse, but i think its better for him to get out of the way of the real work of building the product and not just a brand.
I want Tesla to be so much more successful, and more importantly more respected, without musk than with him. That would be the best version of this brand
The reason he's able to make this ask and not immediately be laughed out of the room is that Tesla's value is massively inflated based largely on the personality cult surrounding Musk himself. If Tesla starts being valued as a car company rather than a speculative tech company with a "genius" leader at the help (quotes doing a lot of work there) , the stock price will be a fraction of what it is now.
That's what shareholders stand to lose, and it's why Musk has any leverage to make this ridiculous ask in the first place.
He's gotta pay back the Saudis for Twitter or else he'll be Khashoggi'd, so I imagine he's quite desperate to be asking this in the first place. I wonder how many people invested in Tesla as a way to raise funds for him personally, eg millionaire friends propping up the stock for him as a favor.
Macrotrends.net says Tesla profits over the last year were $16.8B. So is this jack-hole really worth three years worth of profits? Seems like a bad financial decision to me.
Sounds to me like shareholders should call his bluff and be rid of him. Maybe then the company won't be wasting money on boneheaded vehicles like the Cybertruck.
Would be excellent for Tesla if Musk leaves. They might finally make cars that have standards and quality to existing luxury brands like Mercedes, BMW etc
Quality is a spectrum. Sure, Mercedes isn't Rolls-Royce. Mercedes makes cars as their main business and turns a profit from that, Rolls-Royce is a company that makes aircraft engines and produces cars sometimes as publicity stunts (because a car built to the tolerances of an aircraft engine is, shockingly, going to be very precise and well-made).
But Mercedes is definitely a higher quality of build than like. Fiat or Ford. To an average person, you buy something like Toyota if you want reliability and a long-lived vehicle, or Mercedes for a smoother drive full of tiny little expensive gadgets that will probably develop a fault after 3 years.
(No idea why they've listed BMW here though lol, those things just love perpetually breaking down, because the systems they use to get that unique tactile feedback while driving that some people crave are absolute dogshit when it comes to life expectancy. They use a fucking chain for a timing belt instead of rubber. Don't ever buy one unless your idea of luxury is constantly having to shell out on repairs and tow trucks. If you have to experience one, just like. Get one as a hire car so you don't have to own the fucking thing.)
Like most CEOs, Musk's job isn't really to do things. His job is to weedle tax incentives, private investment, and low interest loans out of his network of rich friends.
He's been incredibly successful at it. And that's what makes Tesla valuable as a brand. The US government will pay you a cool $7500 to buy a brand new $80k cybertruck. Meanwhile, Chinese EVs are taxed at 100% of their sticker price.
And let's not forget politics. When you're golf buddies with the right politicians, winning those extremely lucrative public tenders will become a cakewalk.
Musk is abso-fucking-lutely NOT responsible for the tax incentives, private investment or low interest loans that Tesla got, he's only been good as an eccentric personality to convince investors that he's the best and full self driving will be a thing the following year... For the past 7 years.
The stock will go through the roof if he goes....It'll drop at first as the fanboys bail, but then institution's will have faith again and invest and it will pop off when he stops kneecapping the company.
I don’t know enough to have my own solid thoughts on this, but people I trust and know more than me have all said that Tesla is wildly over valued compared with any other auto makers and considering their P to E. Considering that, I’ve been thinking that once the Musk distortion field goes away, the price may just drop down to where it “should be” by normal standards.
My heart agrees with what you’ve said, implying that musk is actually holding back the price at this point, but my brain says that might not actually be true.
Man, Tesla and the shareholders should take this opportunity to tell Phony Starck to not the the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Tesla would be so much better off without this spoiled nepobaby.
The best thing for Tesla would be to dump Elon and move its headquarters back to CA. It needs to rekindle the love with its customers. Also Apple could buy Tesla and the world would go nuts.
Yeah but apple has iBags that deploy in an accident to protect the passengers, and the patented iWheel allows the front tires to turn 35 degrees in either direction.
Latest update. You won't be able to adjust seats, mirrors or steering wheel. Apple knows best how they should be set. Customers are too stupid to do it apparently.
Apple buying Tesla would be kinda crazy, might turn out good since Teslas are basically computers with wheels. But the two companies design way differently than each other, I doubt Tesla is as good of craftsmanship as what Apple typically does, and may sully their brand unless they can find a cost effective way to turn out a better product for similar pricing
I could see Microsoft making more sense between it or Apple. Tesla could give them that "sexy" edge they've literally never had before and that Apple's always had going for them. But there are tons of legal issues and regulations with the automotive industry, idk if they will want to.
Other interesting options would be NVIDIA or Alphabet, they have the spare capital for it but again, weird industry for them to get into. Likely Toyota or Ford etc would buy before a tech company imo.
He’s clearly too distracted by his new found social troll celebrity. He’s not been doing Tesla any favors in recent years. Better he get removed at this point.
Lol Im sure some of the Shareholders would be glad to see him move on, given his recent self-destructive behavior. He fired his most successful department at Tesla for...no reason?
Well it worked when he whined and moved Tesla to Texas because he couldn’t get what he wanted. Maybe he’ll leave Tesla now. Problem is a billionaire like him at loose ends could send him into politics.
If all he does is leave, that will be fantastic. More likely he'll just cripple the company in his rage. That's the real reason a lot will vote to pay him.
It's true, we do have a lot of thankless work to do (I moderate a bunch of communities), but we also, or at least I do, try to promote community growth and discussion. I sort of view my jobs as much as an ambassador for the community as I am someone who enforces rules.
Maybe for the rest of us, but his sycophant making this plea to the board thinks he's invaluable and they must keep him around. That's an awful lot of money to make working a part time job.