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Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

latimes.com

111–120 of 225 posts

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#111
post #8

>Of more concern to Tesla investors: What if he knows something they don’t know about the company’s financial future — and is hoping to hang any failure on the nasty, overreaching regulators rather than his own dubious management skills? That seems very possible. I think the reality of scaling up Tesla to live up to its valuation might be too daunting for Elon to handle. It might even be impossible. EV sales as a % o…

This begs the question: does Elon Musk seem like the kind of person who isn't willing to fail in public? Whether it's for personality reasons or for the sake of keeping his other companies well respected, is he unwilling to let the public lose confidence in him and/or his projects? My guess is he doesn't care that much about our opinions of him, personally and professionally. He might be picking a fight with the SEC…

The events that will trigger Tesla's collapse all revolve around the solar city acquisition, which was an extremely bad move for Tesla. But it was done to save Musk. He is more important than the company, and he's got the keys.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#112
post #70

Maybe I'm naïve, but I'm actually buying the obliviousness of his behavior. I don't really believe in Tesla and would gladly buy the whole "suicide by SEC" thing, but reading what actually happened, this doesn't really sound like a big deal. Musk has been having emotional moments for a long time now, at this point it's really easy for me to just shrug off this as "he's always been like this". The last ten years of Mu…

He's not oblivious. He's being obstinate and bristling at their authority. He's been CEO of a public Tesla for 9 years now. Respecting the SEC and securities laws is just part of the CEO job. He's got great lawyers that remind him of this daily. And you'd think the $20 million fine and loss of the Chairman role would be enough of a wake up call. It's so frustrating to see, because I really want Tesla to succeed and I…

He can't. Those short sellers know that he's a fraud and he's scared to death of being exposed.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#113
post #2

Knowing nothing but chatter on the internet I'd say Musk goes through manic episodes.

I haven't thought about it in his case, but it is very plausible. I remember seeing it in Kanye when he was acting out before he talked about his bipolar.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#114
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If EV's do take off, it's likely to be the established car manufacturers who are good at making cars at scale who eventually capitalize on the opportunity. This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. I never even hear about the other EV's by themselves, only as the competition to Tesla. Anybody who watches the news would have known that the Model 3 was a colossal fa…

> every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound That's true, but I think it's because of bad marketing rather than bad technology. The Chevy Bolt has the specs to beat the Model 3, but it is being positioned as a low-end car, a competitor to the Honda Civic rather than the Model 3. Power seats, for example, are not even offered as an option. That is not a car a rich person is going to buy to impress thei…

> The Chevy Bolt has the specs to beat the Model 3

Really? What specifications? The Model 3 is better in pretty much every way in every comparison I've ever seen, including specs directly from the manufacturer websites.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#115
post #61

His behavior is not unusual for someone who is burned out and/or a pothead. Ignoring consequences is typical stoner behavior. We'll have to see how this plays out.

Ignoring consequences is closer to being drunk behavior than stoner behavior. Also weed is used medicinally as well, and it's no good demonizing all those medical users and labeling them as bums that ignore consequences. In general, I'd advise against senselessly judging and stereotyping people.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#116
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound That's true, but I think it's because of bad marketing rather than bad technology. The Chevy Bolt has the specs to beat the Model 3, but it is being positioned as a low-end car, a competitor to the Honda Civic rather than the Model 3. Power seats, for example, are not even offered as an option. That is not a car a rich person is going to buy to impress thei…

> The Chevy Bolt has the specs to beat the Model 3 Really? What specifications? The Model 3 is better in pretty much every way in every comparison I've ever seen, including specs directly from the manufacturer websites.

Let me rephrase that. The Bolt has the specs to be what the Model 3 promised to be but isn't: a practical all-electric car with reasonable range at a <$40k MSRP.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If EV's do take off, it's likely to be the established car manufacturers who are good at making cars at scale who eventually capitalize on the opportunity. This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. I never even hear about the other EV's by themselves, only as the competition to Tesla. Anybody who watches the news would have known that the Model 3 was a colossal fa…

> This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. The "Tesla killers" have been sleeping, but they are about to wake up. No doubt Tesla jump started the market, but the other manufacturers have decades of experience. On top of that, no other car maker has the problems that Tesla does due to its CEO and his inability to stop tweeting. Whilst Tesla had a start start, it fel…

Funny it took them so long to do so given the huge bankrolls behind these companies and that none of the tech is new whatsoever.

Good on them for changing their ingrained oil economy mindsets though. I'm sure it was entirely a moral choice by the hundreds of big auto execs worldwide.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#118

I don't see how he can reasonably defend himself in this situation. His tweet was both material and inaccurate. Tweeting material information without clearance is obviously against his settlement. What confuses me is that TSLA's price hasn't suffered. I have a hunch this isn't as serious of a matter as is being reported, but I'm not sure why.

It's easy of you consider he's just promoting facts as any normal CEO would.

He's not yet used to the idea he has to be hyper specific with some data.

He's a showman, a salesperson, he's always going to err on the positive.

Constantly pitching, selling.

It's the SEC etc. that care about very specific details that could affect the company.

So while you're right - as a CEO has has 'no excuse' - the fact he would do it makes perfect sense.

I don't think he's trolling anyone, he's the same as he ever was, probably under a lot of stress, a little manic, and avoiding what he probably thinks is the narrow confines of corporate culture and language.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#119
post #8

>Of more concern to Tesla investors: What if he knows something they don’t know about the company’s financial future — and is hoping to hang any failure on the nasty, overreaching regulators rather than his own dubious management skills? That seems very possible. I think the reality of scaling up Tesla to live up to its valuation might be too daunting for Elon to handle. It might even be impossible. EV sales as a % o…

> If EV's do take off, it's likely to be the established car manufacturers who are good at making cars at scale who eventually capitalize on the opportunity. This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. I never even hear about the other EV's by themselves, only as the competition to Tesla. Anybody who watches the news would have known that the Model 3 was a colossal fa…

Musk has already promised a $25k Model 3 in 3 years.

https://electrek.co/2018/08/17/tesla-cheaper-25000-electric-...

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not oblivious. He's being obstinate and bristling at their authority. He's been CEO of a public Tesla for 9 years now. Respecting the SEC and securities laws is just part of the CEO job. He's got great lawyers that remind him of this daily. And you'd think the $20 million fine and loss of the Chairman role would be enough of a wake up call. It's so frustrating to see, because I really want Tesla to succeed and I…

He can't. Those short sellers know that he's a fraud and he's scared to death of being exposed.

fraud? exposed?

You don't start two or rather three industries with those qualities

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