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Musk sounded exhausted. If Smith & Wesson launched a consumer flamethrower there would be outrage...Musk has been able to distract with lots of shiny objects but the clock is ticking, even amongst his niche fan base...I hope all the people who are working so hard in Musk's various companies come out of this ok...
Tesla is clearly flying close to the sun, and Musk is not incorrect to suggest that investors who can't take that kind of risk should not be along for the ride; however, it probably would have been more prudent to hold back on that pronouncement, given that many investors seem to have taken the hint and exited the stock... Tesla is a giant confidence game - as are most high growth opportunities.
If by "flying close to it" you mean flailing end over end into it then yes.
Felt very reminiscent to Skilling's infamous earnings call. I'd have to imagine any TSLA investors are very concerned after that performance.
I’m not too worried. The earnings themselves were better than expected. Elon said this in a tweet but its reiterated in the earnings - projecting positive cash flow in Q3 and Q4. And such dismissive behavior (as much as I am not a fan of it) is not uncommon among stressed-out CEOs - Jobs, Gates..
I was just wondering if Jobs had ever had an episode like this during a quarterly call. I mean, he was obviously known to be abrasive on other occasions. But in his final decade, Apple's business was in a much more solid position than where Tesla is at now.
Perhaps a buying opportunity. Sounds like investors are being spiteful.
Asking how he is going to reign in capital expenses, when their burn rate will drain them of cash in 8 months is not being spiteful. It's called being an investor. Refusing to answer that question, is either being spiteful, or disingenuous. It's a bit of a red flag.
Musk sounded exhausted. If Smith & Wesson launched a consumer flamethrower there would be outrage...Musk has been able to distract with lots of shiny objects but the clock is ticking, even amongst his niche fan base...I hope all the people who are working so hard in Musk's various companies come out of this ok...
The Flamethrowers aren't a Tesla fundraiser. He's "getting away with it" because The Boring Company is private.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair, he's not entirely wrong. I guess people just don't expect this type of response. But then, acting within the confines of normality isn't really the trait that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity. Interestingly though, markets are reaction to this response emotionally.
But then, acting within the confines of normality isn't really the trait that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity. Truly, this sounds divorced from the reality of anything Elon Musk is involved in. He’s making electric cars, rockets, and solar panels, not fusion power or immortality pills. Let’s be realistic! I think it’s important to separate what he actually does from what you desperately hope he may someda…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair, he's not entirely wrong. I guess people just don't expect this type of response. But then, acting within the confines of normality isn't really the trait that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity. Interestingly though, markets are reaction to this response emotionally.
Er, why is asking for something fundamental to running a business (i.e. "How much money do you have/need?") a partly boring/boneheaded/uncool question?
No matter what he does he'll more than likely be fine on the money side.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But then, acting within the confines of normality isn't really the trait that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity. Truly, this sounds divorced from the reality of anything Elon Musk is involved in. He’s making electric cars, rockets, and solar panels, not fusion power or immortality pills. Let’s be realistic! I think it’s important to separate what he actually does from what you desperately hope he may someda…
If colonizing a new planet isn't a new era of humanity, I'm not sure what is...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Sacconaghi pressed ahead with another query about Tesla lowering its 2018 capital expenditure projection to $3 billion, from $3.4 billion. Ahuja said the carmaker would spend less by simplifying its approach to automation and curtailing infrastructure outlays. 'And so where specifically will you be in terms of capital requirements?' Sacconaghi said. 'Excuse me. Next. Next,' Musk said to the call operator. 'Boring, b…
I'm not defending Elon's behavior here, but speaking more generally: if you're in a place where you need to maintain maximum productivity for a while, because a deadline has slipped for example, meetings can turn into a massive time sink if you don't act like a total nazi during them. In so many meetings, people just want to hear themselves talk, whether to offer some opinion, reiterate some point, or ask some useles…
Which would explain Elon ending the conference call. Instead he spent 15-20 minutes taking open-ended questions from a youtuber with a TSLA position of 56 shares.
>If your goal is, "end this meeting as quickly as possible so I can start fixing the things that need fixing"
For Elon the 'things that need fixing' are exactly what the investors he cut off were asking about. If he is so focused on fixing those things he should have been able to give easy answers. The dodge is illustrative of how well he's handling those problems.
As well it seems ridiculous that the CEO of a ~$50B company can't spare an hour or two every quarter to explain his own company. Even Elon Musk isn't that busy.
I don't know if this carries the same weight in a public company, but setting expectations with investors is super important in a startup and prevents a ton of wasted time wrangling investors who don't get the true cost/benefit ratio of what you're doing.