So Elon Musk was a guest on Joe Rogan and it's 2-1/2 hours long. Let's try, if we can, to keep the discussion in this thread only on things within the podcast. The only thing making the rounds this morning is the pot smoking part (initiated by Rogan), so there's a screenshot of that below. It happens at the 2-hour, 10-minute mark if you want to jump right to it.
Reminds me: “Well, I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals.” - Abraham Lincoln Elon is brilliant inspite of a drink and puff, not because of it . . . 23 days to Q3 reporting. Personally, I suspect Elon will buy another chunk of TSLA. The reason is the shorts will drive the stock down faster and Elon can increase his ownership. Call it 'back door' privatization. FYI: Notice of a brokerage order execution Dear Robert Wilson, The following order executed on 09/07/2018 at 9:31 AM, Eastern time: Account: ****** Transaction type: Buy Order type: Limit Security: TESLA INC (TSLA) Bob Wilson
I don't know about you guys, but I am concerned about Tesla the company and things like this that Elon does not help me or the investors feel better about him and the company. I love Elon and I think he is a visionary that comes along once in a generation, I want him to continue to lead the company but being CEO means not doing things like this in public. I have always told my friends that the biggest risk to buying a Tesla is not the car, or the technology, but the Company itself and its viability. We need Tesla and Elon to succeed but things like this really damage it
I didn't look like he inhaled the smoke into his lungs, although there seems to be a bit of second hand smoke. It looked like the smoke stayed inside his mouth the open time.
I had similar concerns, but if you watch it in context, it's pretty tame. Certainly better press than angry emails and unfounded accusations about spelunker dude.
Tame or not he needs to stop doing these things. Perception is reality. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
What I enjoy most will be the likely 'stock chaser' lawyers. There are already multiple 'class action' lawsuits because of Elon's earlier musings about going private. Trying to expand that nonsense by citing a 3d party, tweet of an e-mail or this YouTube will be interesting cases. The problem is the law would have to state that anything but perfect behavior of a corporate officer is a deliberate act to unfairly affect the stock price. Now if a false statement is made that would be actionable. But I don't see that in this 'social media', holier than though, nonsense. Bob Wilson
We'll have to agree to disagree about this. Would you have him locked up in an abby with Franciscan monks? As long as he doesn't lie about the Q3 financial returns, I'm happy. Bob Wilson
Agree to disagree. Love it. We don't do enough of that in this country. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
There are all types of CEO's. The CEO's that no one really hears about unless you are in that business or follow the company. There are CEO's who are public figures due to something they did or some set of circumstances (Meg Whitman for example who ran for Governor). Then there are celebrity CEO's who have gained public attention and are household names. (Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs etc). They usually have a reputation for innovation or a high level of skill. Most CEO's are expected to behave in a certain way (decorum) and do things a certain way. Celebrity CEO's may get a pass for a period of time if the violate the rules (imagine what would happen if it was Jamie Damion of JP Morgan Chase smoking weed on TV). Elon Musk will get a pass for a period of time, but at the end of the day if Tesla does not perform, the past will catch up with him. If Tesla really performs, that all this noise about his behavior will be forgotten. If Tesla does not perform, these antics will haunt him. Some great person said, "You can fool all the people some of the time.........You cannot fool all the people all of the time". Only time will tell if Elon was not just a great visionary but also a great executor, or if he was good with smoke and mirrors.
So, Tesla stock plunged this morning. Besides the Rogan appearance, Dave Morton, who just joined a month ago, and HR head Gabrielle Toledano are leaving the company. I think this mostly has to do with Morton leaving (if it's about one hit off a lousy joint, I'm disappointed in people), but his statement is very reassuring with regards as to whether there are fundamental financial or accounting problems at Tesla. I'll include his statement here, even if it is a bit divorced from the show appearance.
We were just talking about results being all that matters., Elon emailed his employees today... https://www.tesla.com/blog/company-update Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
The whining Americans sue people on everything anyway...including their constipation medicine company cuz they can’t sht well. The Tesla shorts will have heck of the day when they try to drive stock price down. I’m waiting for the right time to jump in TSLA. Remember not long ago when idiotic Wall Street did the same to Apple even when Apple beat the earnings every single quarter. They drove AAPL down to $90ish...guess what Apple proved WS’ ignorance with all their “after-hour nonsense”. Tesla will be the same. Can’t wait until the day Tesla put all conventional auto makers out of business! Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
The best thing about Elon’s media appearances like this is he comes across as a real person with vision and passion, not a stiff bean counter in a suit.
These staff changes are a great response to some of the changes in executives. I'm hoping Guillen can take some of the load off Musk.
No specifics, a generic type of announcement I see a lot in many organization's, the rah rah note. As Domenick points out, the staff announcements may give some confidence to the outsider. However, no details on results, production plans, volumes etc. The reference to Model T is irrelevant. Model T invented the automobile mass production era. There was no model for Henry Ford to follow. Today, there is over a hundred years of learning that a manufacturer can use including those pioneered by Ford.
According to CNBC, Dave Morton felt sidelined from day 1. The tweet on going private happened right after he took up the job. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/07/tesla-cao-dave-morton-quit-after-concluding-musk-wasnt-listening.html ..... Morton, who left his role as Seagate's CFO to join Tesla, was not flustered by the tweet and met with Musk to go over various details that would make a take-private difficult. He brought up specific details such as equity change of control provisions and potential step-ups in the value of Tesla's debt associated with a new controlling shareholder. Musk and other executives didn't seem to care about the various financial obstacles, which concerned Morton, said the people. When Morton offered advice about capitalizing the company through other means rather than going private, he was ignored, said the people. After two weeks or so at the company, Morton concluded he wasn't being heard or understood....... Again, clear indications that that Elon should leave the operational aspects to a seasoned executive and concentrate on innovation and technology evangelism. Bill Gates tried to do that, become the Chief Software Architect and leave the operations to Steve Balmer, even though it did not turn exactly they way it was anticipated.
Why? The whole point of going private wasn’t to secure more funding. It was to remove the financial incentive for people to manipulate the stock price by attacking Tesla publically. If Morton didn’t understand that, then it sounds like he wasn’t listening either.
[I strongly disagree with your comment.] It is true that the population was smaller and there wasn't really mass media nor real mass production nor same ability quick mass distribution of product or supplies but this is the full span of history from the Model T to the present. Also true that the pre-order was part of the pop. But the true context is that Model T might as well have been a flying car relative to what came before- it was radically different, the Model 3 is simply a radically superior vehicle but the surge in demand shows its the true successor to the Model 3. And as we know the Model T about replaced the horse and buggy in America in about 13 years. That was a rocket launch. This is an even steeper launch. What comes next, the next leap will have to be said to be the successor to the 3 not the T. I think this will be in clearer focus when version 9 with track mode shows up on the 3 real soon. That was there car that Tesla was founded to make. You see its not a quite an 18K car but it will see the bottom and top of the market across all vehicle segments. The Semi is just as important as it will set it for industry. The Roadster will kill the petrol edge cases. Something also very special about the Model 3 is that it will eliminate the BS of the glad handed chasing of increased aerodynamic, weight and rolling resistance foot prints and tariffs that that allow the big 3 to tell the American people that there is something intrinsic that has them buying pig boat trucks to increase useless petrol rent seeking even if these seem safer in crashes due to bulk and pr. That BS will come down quick because the crumbling financials of the big 3 (even with all their hidden subsidies) won't allow them to perpetuate that BS anymore. Tesla pick up will put the nails in that coffin. Won't be paying any SEAL to disappear this time to derail things, its all solid at this point.
Who knows exactly went on. Possibly, the concern expressed by Morton was that plan could backfire, and that he had a way out and they did not listen to him. Today, about a month later, share price is less than where it all started, there is a SEC investigation as well as a law suit by the shorts. I am not a finance guy but not sure that it achieved the purpose. The shorts have not gone away, some may have been burnt, but there are still out there.