Musk on sabotage

I saw this and was like, "finally." If you're going to claim to be a whistleblower, you should probably blow some whistles.

Not sure how he's going to prove his claims, though. I kind of doubt a battery with a hole would even function, since that would probably short it out. BUt anyway, guess we'll see.
 
This is interesting for a couple reasons. The Lawyer that took the case is no slouch, and certainly very experienced with this type of case, and also does not get paid if they do not win a settlement. Hmmm... He said he believes Tripp, which means to me that Tripp showed him some irrefutable evidence to get him to sign on to take the case. Time to bust out the popcorn, this one might be good... If he wins the SEC claim, then suing Elon for defamation is a cake walk as he would have already proven his motivation as a whistleblower. More interesting is that whatever evidence Tripp brings forward, will be used by the already escalating class action suit about Musk misleading about model 3 production capabilities late last year.
 
This will collect skeptics like a dark coat attracts white dog hair. But in another quarter, there should be ~100,000 Model 3 and approaching ~150-170,000 by the end of the year.

Bob Wilson
 
I'm not sure Tripp has much to bring forward besides that which he already gave to Business Insider. I'm more interested in seeing what Tesla has as evidence that he tampered with the MOS (manufacturing operating system), etc.

I predict a lot of money is going to be spent, that's for sure.
 
Domenick said:
I'm not sure Tripp has much to bring forward besides that which he already gave to Business Insider. I'm more interested in seeing what Tesla has as evidence that he tampered with the MOS (manufacturing operating system), etc.

I predict a lot of money is going to be spent, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Yes, thats the question... Lets see the evidence, on both sides. Yes, lots of money being spent that is really senseless, and distracting from BEV's.
 
Let me suggest we collect news reports of the SEC complaints. For example:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcol...e-tripped-up-by-a-whistleblower/#15f68df68660

No fundamental analyst could ever read Tesla’s SEC filings, bang out a spreadsheet, and then have the valuation cell read $61.7 billion. Yet, that is Tesla’s current enterprise value.
. . .
Musk is all over Twitter firing out specific figures that support the Tesla bull case, but those figures are rarely, if ever, reported to the SEC.
. . .
Tesla's first quarter 10-Q, filed on May 7th, is 138 pages long. Those 138 pages contain no specific information on:
  • Total units delivered
  • Total units produced
  • Model S deliveries
  • Model X deliveries
The document does mention, on page 37, that Tesla delivered 8,182 Model 3 units in the quarter, a figure that was within two units of the number mentioned in its April 3rd press release.
. . .​

The question remains 'what is the content of SEC filings supposed to be?' When I read the quarterly SEC filings, I found them to be pretty much like any others. Unless the SEC can find specific false statements, not the omission of statements, this will be a silly exercise.

Of course this begs the question of forum placement. If we're going to dive into corporate documents, should this be moved to a Tesla forum or even "Other?"

Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
Let me suggest we collect news reports of the SEC complaints. For example:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcol...e-tripped-up-by-a-whistleblower/#15f68df68660

No fundamental analyst could ever read Tesla’s SEC filings, bang out a spreadsheet, and then have the valuation cell read $61.7 billion. Yet, that is Tesla’s current enterprise value.
. . .
Musk is all over Twitter firing out specific figures that support the Tesla bull case, but those figures are rarely, if ever, reported to the SEC.
. . .
Tesla's first quarter 10-Q, filed on May 7th, is 138 pages long. Those 138 pages contain no specific information on:
  • Total units delivered
  • Total units produced
  • Model S deliveries
  • Model X deliveries
The document does mention, on page 37, that Tesla delivered 8,182 Model 3 units in the quarter, a figure that was within two units of the number mentioned in its April 3rd press release.
. . .​

The question remains 'what is the content of SEC filings supposed to be?' When I read the quarterly SEC filings, I found them to be pretty much like any others. Unless the SEC can find specific false statements, not the omission of statements, this will be a silly exercise.

Of course this begs the question of forum placement. If we're going to dive into corporate documents, should this be moved to a Tesla forum or even "Other?"

Bob Wilson
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Well Bob, again, you are not a securities attorney so I have to take anything you write on the subject with a grain of salt. The way I understand it from my wine drinking buddy who is the chief counsel for a fortune 25 company, the CEO's tweets can give legal exposure on anything he knows, or should have known. If there is any misinformation, without correction, this can create liability for the corporation. All of this is theory, but I suspect Elon has subjected Tesla to some liability in these situations. There are multiple lawsuits ongoing, including a few with class action against Tesla currently. Predicting the outcome of lawsuits is like predicting the winner of the World Series 10 years in advance, possible, but not likely.
 
David Green said:
Well Bob, again, you are not a securities attorney so I have to take anything you write on the subject with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...
This forum has an excellent 'Ignore User' option:
  1. Click on my avatar.
  2. Click on "Ignore"
You'll be much happier. Back to the thread subject.

Apparently the company is required to share news releases with the SEC: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000156459018016465/tsla-ex991_6.htm

In the last seven days of Q2, Tesla produced 5,031 Model 3 and 1,913 Model S and X vehicles.

Q2 production totaled 53,339 vehicles, a 55% increase from Q1, making it the most productive quarter in Tesla history by far. For the first time, Model 3 production (28,578) exceeded combined Model S and X production (24,761), and we produced almost three times the amount of Model 3s than we did in Q1. Our Model 3 weekly production rate also more than doubled during the quarter, and we did so without compromising quality.

GA4, our new General Assembly line for Model 3, was responsible for roughly 20% of Model 3s produced last week, with quality from that line being as good as our regular GA3 line. We expect that GA3 alone can reach a production rate of 5,000 Model 3s per week soon, but GA4 helped to get us there faster and will also help to exceed that rate.

Tesla expects to increase production to 6,000 Model 3s per week by late next month. We also reaffirm our guidance for positive GAAP net income and cash flow in Q3 and Q4, despite negative pressures from a weaker USD and likely higher tariffs for vehicles imported into China as well as components procured from China.
. . .​

Sounds good to me. But it also means the Forbes article was not so accurate:
bwilson4web said:
Musk is all over Twitter firing out specific figures that support the Tesla bull case, but those figures are rarely, if ever, reported to the SEC.
. . .
Click to expand...
As long as Tesla press releases are filed with the SEC, nothing else matters.

Bob Wilson
 
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The fake whistle blower (beyond ridiculous- whistle blowing is for entities that are harming the public or doing something that is seriously harming people) claims Tesla is doing grate harm to the world. In what delusions world does one live in to accept that statement. So there is nothing this guy has very clearly.

Lets also remember the oil exec that impersonated Musk trying to get info and got caught. In the above case the the BI shill mag was being used by its petrol employers as a cover. Tesla needs the FBI as there are also allegations of sabotage.
 
Interesting:
101101 said:
the oil exec that impersonated Musk
Click to expand...
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technol...-impersonator-tesla-secrets-todd-katz-lawsuit

An oil executive accused of impersonating Elon Musk in an email in an attempt to solicit company secrets from Tesla wants the lawsuit thrown out because he says his impersonation wasn’t credible.

Todd Katz was the former chief financial officer of Quest Integrity, which provides services to oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell.

In September, Tesla filed a lawsuit against Katz, claiming he set up the email address [email protected] to impersonate the company’s CEO and then used it to try and extract sensitive information from Tesla chief financial officer Jason Wheeler.

According to the lawsuit, Katz sent an email from the [email protected]account to Wheeler on 3 August 2016 requesting more detailed information about Tesla’s second-quarter financial results that were released on the same day.
. . .​

This was news to me. Let me suggest identify a source for such claims.

After a little searching, the case was closed: https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/C...rt/16CV299916/Tesla_Motors_Inc._vs_Todd_Katz/

8/31/2017 Hearing: Dismissal after settlement​

FYI, Katz is described as "unemployed" in one court pleading trying to get the case dismissed.
Source: https://dailykanban.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/KatzDemurrer.pdf
JUSTICE!

Bob Wilson
 
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bwilson4web said:
FYI, Katz is described as "unemployed" in one court pleading trying to get the case dismissed.
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Did he get fired when the company he was working for discovered he was engaging in fraud while attempting industrial espionage?

If so, then pleading for mercy on the basis of being unemployed is like the guy who murdered his parents, then made a plea for mercy on the basis of being an orphan!

Yes, occasionally JUSTICE does happen in the real world. :)
​
 
David Green said:
If he wins the SEC claim...
Click to expand...

Ummm... it's up to the SEC to decide whether to investigate any claim filed with them. It's not at all like suing someone. Nobody "wins" an SEC investigation except the SEC itself.

David Green said:
...which means to me that Tripp showed him some irrefutable evidence...
Click to expand...

Based on your posts in the approximately 13 threads you've created here specifically to attack Tesla, I very much doubt that most reasonable people would agree with your assessment of what's "irrefutable"!
 
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Domenick said:
I'm not sure Tripp has much to bring forward besides that which he already gave to Business Insider. I'm more interested in seeing what Tesla has as evidence that he tampered with the MOS (manufacturing operating system), etc.
Click to expand...

I think everyone except dedicated Tesla bashers will agree.

Elon Musk has a history of making exaggerated claims against people who attack Tesla and/or its products in articles published by the media. Witness the feud between Elon and New York Times reporter John Broder, over Broder's error-filled report as a first-time Model S driver on a road trip involving bitter cold and blizzards. Both of them wound up with a great deal of egg on their faces; both were shown to have made many statements contrary to the actual facts of the case, as you can see if you dive deeply into the details.

Tesla's accusation of "sabotage" was found nowhere in the suit Tesla filed against Tripp, is that correct? So I'm guessing that was just another case of Elon overreacting to a publicized attack on Tesla, rather than sticking to the facts.

Sometimes Elon is his own worst enemy.
 
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I'm fairly sanguine about the Tripp affair. Unless there is proof beyond a minor accounting error, Tripp is 'toast'.

The SEC is not going to award a million dollars for less than unit counts of 30,000 Model 3 units. His other claims have no standing if not mentioned in the SEC filings. The reason is these are not mandated reporting requirements because ordinary mitigation efforts can easily make null and void Tripp's claims.

Tripp has no 'deep pockets' supporters so he'll soon run out of legal paper. Worse, he has demonstrated disloyal behavior to his previous employer. I hope he enjoys cutting grass and manual labor.

Of course if someone wants to support him: https://www.gofundme.com/tripp-vs-tesla-help-fund-the-fight/donate

Bob Wilson
 
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bwilson4web said:
The SEC is not going to award a million dollars for less than unit counts of 30,000 Model 3 units.
Click to expand...

Oh, you're talking about the cash awards given by the government to genuine whistleblowers?

I'm not sure what you mean by "less than unit counts of 30,000 Model 3 units". Tripp is claiming Tesla over-reported its Model 3 production, is that right? And if so, by how much?

Anyway, I'll be at least mildly surprised if Tripp is given any "whistleblower" reward by the government. This appears to be a case of a disgruntled employee encouraged and bribed by a dishonest reporter with some sort of hidden agenda and/or grudge against Tesla; encouraged to make exaggerated or even wholly manufactured complaints about Tesla.

At least, that's what the Ars Technica article says or implies about the case.
​
 
If the SEC reported, Q2 production of 28,578 Model 3s is off by the least significant digits, sensible people in the SEC are not going to care. As for the other Tripp claims, Musk has already addressed them and his explanation appears reasonable.

Bob Wilson
 
Looking back near the beginning of this thread, I find:

TeslaInvestors said:
[Tripp] claims that Tesla inflated the number of Model 3's it made when it said it had built 2,020 of the cars in the seven days prior to a much anticipated April 3 report. Tripp said the actual number is closer to 1,900."
Click to expand...

Well that's rather vague. What does "closer to" mean? Is he claiming it's about 1900, or is he claiming it's ~1949?

Anyway, it reads like Tripp is claiming the number is off by some 50-120 units. Whether the SEC would think that is significant or not -- if there is any truth to it, and we haven't seen any actual evidence of that -- I have no idea.

I can also see that there might be some legitimate difference in opinion on the count. For example, if a unit rolled off the end of the production line but was sidelined because it had a quality issue that needed to be dealt with, is that unit "produced" because it has rolled off the line? Or is that unit "still in production" because it's not yet ready to be shipped out? I think the question in such a case could be settled by asking what the industry norm is. How do other auto makers handle cases of units which are sidelined for corrective work after they've rolled off the line? Are they counted as part of production or not?
​
 
Hi,

It got a little confusing because we need to know which quarterly report Tripp thinks there was a problem. Tripp was fired before Q2 came out.

I just checked the Q1 report and found:

. . .
Prior to taking a planned downtime in the third week of April 2018 to address several small, known constraints, our production of Model 3 exceeded 2,000 vehicles per week for three consecutive weeks.
. . .
8,182 deliveries of Model 3 vehicles
. . .​

There is a reference to "2,000" but over three separate production weeks.

Here is the court filing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WC4Y8sRtp1SgZkGA3HToA4fVeVEYXFjj/view

Hired in October 2017, Tripp would have had some access to Q4 2017 and all Q1 2018 data.

Bob Wilson
 
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This is going to be an interesting week in the Tesla world, not only is there the little Q2 earnings report on Wednesday, but it sounds like Martin Tripp's lawyers are going to show their first cards... I caught this on Staurt Meissner's Twitter.


"Interesting week coming up for $TSLA .Will be releasing golden nuggets of police reports showing shocking things inc the false report by Tesla regarding GigaGate evidencing the defaming of Mr. Tripp.& forceful Answer will be filed - tweety bird tells me @elonmusk will be sued"


Then in the comments I saw Meissner reply this to a comment...


"Yes and as you will see, it seems I am not the only one who takes guidance from a “tweety bird”. Food for thought. “They” are watching, and very worried in reading this tweet. Enjoy your Sunday @elonmusk"
 
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