Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit • Hacker News Board

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#11

Post by kirillzubovsky » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:31 AM UTC

gok wrote: post #6

> They had passed on Thursday’s generous offer, and the S.E.C. felt compelled to extract greater concessions. The ban on Mr. Musk’s serving as chairman went from two years to three, and his fine doubled to $20 million. Tesla will also pay a $20 million fine, and Mr. Musk agreed to personally buy the same amount in Tesla stock. The extra year of not being chairman seems immaterial if threatening to quit got the board…

No, under the settlement he gets to claim perpetual innocence (ie. no intention of doing $420 on purpose). For him 10m is spare change, so long as it means he gets to maintain integrity.

Also, as reported in another article, this non-admission of guilt makes it much harder for the DOJ to go after him with a criminal case.

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#12

Post by zaroth » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:31 AM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #2

Is this him resigning in the same way Yukio Mishima committed suicide? Hyperbolic, sure, but the article has a Yale prof straight-up invoking Jonestown in describing this move.

I assume the “Common Sense” title at the top of the page is NYT-speak for ”Editorial”.

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#13

Post by rdl » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:32 AM UTC

I thought the original deal included a ban on being a public company officer/director, and the new one was restricted to Tesla. Matters for SpaceX, which might go public, and which I hope he cares a lot more about than a car company.

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#14

Post by dbt00 » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:35 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #13

I thought the original deal included a ban on being a public company officer/director, and the new one was restricted to Tesla. Matters for SpaceX, which might go public, and which I hope he cares a lot more about than a car company.

That was the threat the SEC put in their public filing after Elon/Tesla turned down the first offer.

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#15

Post by pvg » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:41 AM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #2

Is this him resigning in the same way Yukio Mishima committed suicide? Hyperbolic, sure, but the article has a Yale prof straight-up invoking Jonestown in describing this move.

No? Mishima committed actual suicide, this is a quote by someone metaphorically describing the 'strategic plan' of the board, rather than 'this move'.

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#16

Post by iamdbtoo » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:43 AM UTC

khazhou wrote: post #9

Apocryphon wrote: post #2

Is this him resigning in the same way Yukio Mishima committed suicide? Hyperbolic, sure, but the article has a Yale prof straight-up invoking Jonestown in describing this move.

> Is this him resigning in the same way Yukio Mishima committed suicide? This seems like an obscure reference (I am not Japanese). Care to explain?

There is also a very good movie about this.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089603/

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#17

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:44 AM UTC

kirillzubovsky wrote: post #8

These articles about Elon are interesting to me because Tesla could not have become such a valuable car company in such a short time if it wasn't for Elon, and that includes his personality. Yet, many couch investors would prefer to have a CEO who is stable, boring and predictable. People want to put their money in for steady long-term returns, and not worry. Tesla is doing wild things which are causing crazy growth,…

[deleted]

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#18

Post by Steel_Phoenix » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:47 AM UTC

kirillzubovsky wrote: post #8

These articles about Elon are interesting to me because Tesla could not have become such a valuable car company in such a short time if it wasn't for Elon, and that includes his personality. Yet, many couch investors would prefer to have a CEO who is stable, boring and predictable. People want to put their money in for steady long-term returns, and not worry. Tesla is doing wild things which are causing crazy growth,…

There is no shortage of boring automotive companies to invest in if that's what they want.

Invest in Musk if you believe the future won't happen fast enough if you don't. A corporate board making all the decisions would have been long ago crushed by big oil or bigger manufacturers, or their patents bought and buried to continue the status-quo.

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#19

Post by ubernostrum » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:50 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #13

I thought the original deal included a ban on being a public company officer/director, and the new one was restricted to Tesla. Matters for SpaceX, which might go public, and which I hope he cares a lot more about than a car company.

Both settlement offers included Musk stepping down as chairman for a period, but being able to remain as a director.

The suit filed after he rejected the first settlement included the threat of banning him from serving as a director.

Re: Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit

#20

Post by village-idiot » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 4:51 AM UTC

Let’s be extremely clear here:

That’s fucking crazy. Musk is acting like a crazy person.

Financial regulators are extremely dangerous. They’re vindictive when spurned, have unlimited resources to fight it out, and are absolutely willing to string you up to prove a point.

Rejecting a sweetheart deal and forcing your board to fight is nuts. Pride goeth before...