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Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

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Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#391
post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but proving intent is the easy part of this, what with Musk's propensity to trash-talk short-sellers.

Disliking short sellers is not the same as intent to defraud the public. Every CEO dislikes short sellers. Intent to commit fraud is absolutely the hardest part of this to prove.

Cool, now we can retread the part where I expressed skepticism that personal optimism is carte blanche to represent any "secured" investment terms to the public.

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#392
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "lied on twitter" part is now clear. He said he had funding secured for a buyout at $420 which he has now basically admitted was not true. The "cause financial harm to people shorting Tesla stock" is a bit of speculation but it seems basically obvious to all observers.

> but it seems basically obvious to all observers. It doesn't seem obvious to me. It seems like one of a few interpretations, not limited to: - Elon was overly stressed (as has been documented recently) and didn't think before posting such an impactful statement - He considers twitter to be an official outlet for Tesla and just continued with his tendency to publicise his decisions and thought process constantly. - H…

I've read every tweet he posted in the last year or so. He hates the short sellers passionately. He tried to cause a short squeeze two times before the funding secured tweet. The likelihood that causing harm to short sellers was not part of his motivation is approximately zero.

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? He's succeeded against all odds in making a fantastic car, that's not in dispute, and they'll be profitable almost in q3 and definitely in q4.

Just making profitability is irrelevant if they can't pay back the enormous loans coming due over the next year. (Also I don't think they'll be profitable)

Nothing is guaranteed, but can you explain why they won't be? Selling lots more cars, they cost less than they sell them for, that should at the very least greatly reduce their loss,they think it will be enough to make them profitable.

So what's your take?

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#394
Suprising to see here that the majority seem to be anti-Musk. "He's guilty, send him to jail" without allowing evidence to come forward that these statements were false.

>"the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received."

If anything the public statement says the opposite. I actually believe there may have been some email, or conversations about a buyout of Tesla. Wouldn't be the first time, Google almost bought Tesla in 2008 during the financial crisis.

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#395
post #248
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the middle ground here? Are all public figures supposed to completely hold back all views and follow some unspoken social rules? It's one thing not to make dumb mistakes that hurt your company but the end result of this outrage/apology tour culture we're developing and forever expanding the scope of is going to create a completely risk averse, milquetoast, and boring culture where honesty from public figures…

> What is the middle ground here? Are all public figures supposed to completely hold back all views and follow some unspoken social rules? If you're a major public figure, try to hold back on accusing someone who has just shown themselves to be pretty heroic by rescuing stuck children, a pedo.

Everyone makes mistakes. That's part of being human. The answer doesn't have to be total control and aversion to personality and honesty in media. Which is what people seem to be pushing as the end goal, where no one ever says anything dumb or bad ever.

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#396
post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^ Jefro118 is correct. This is the a significant phrase in financial and regulatory circles.

How about on Twitter?

Either the Twitter account is a financial venue covered by the regulations at issue, or making the announcement there was illegal independent of its truth.

So, either way...

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did they ask the Saudi crown?

Yes they did. PIF, the sovereign fund, stated that they had no intention to go beyond their initial 5% investment. Last week they invested $1b in a Tesla rival, Lucid.

Thanks

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just making profitability is irrelevant if they can't pay back the enormous loans coming due over the next year. (Also I don't think they'll be profitable)

Nothing is guaranteed, but can you explain why they won't be? Selling lots more cars, they cost less than they sell them for, that should at the very least greatly reduce their loss,they think it will be enough to make them profitable. So what's your take?

I don't think they will be profitable enough to pay back the staggering loans coming due.

Even if they manage, I fail to see why they should be priced much differently than GM, Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota as far as long-term stock valuation goes. The "synergy" promised from SolarCity and Powerwall and so on doesn't seem to be a thing any longer.

Re: Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

#399

I'm curious - supposing HN had the power to decide, would you replace Elon Musk as CEO of Tesla? What kind of future does the company have without its founder? Personally, I think I would be much more confident in Tesla, and much more likely to buy a Tesla product, if he were not in charge.

No. Use the Apple model. Steve Jobs was needed until the IPhone was really established (not to mention the IPod.) Only then should you bring in a guy like Cook.

Completely different scenarios, completely different companies. Steve Jobs was never the technical guy, he was more the visionary. He could get away with that, because he had really smart engineers and producing phones and computers is a lot simpler than producing cars. Elon Musk is a genius, but what does he really know about production or getting the cost down for an electric car more than any other CEO of a major auto company? Elon Musk is a visionary, but a visionary for an auto company is not as vital as a visionary for a tech or computer company. They need a guy in tesla who can increase production and lower cost, or sell at a different price point and change target market for their cars. They don't need someone who is going to tweet out a lot of reckless things while hemorrhaging money for the company.
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