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

Post by anth_anm » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 5:42 PM UTC

newsbinator wrote: post #49

Despegar wrote: 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…

Post by anth_anm » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 5:47 PM UTC

rejschaap wrote: post #125

JauntTrooper wrote: post #85

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…

> Respecting the SEC and securities laws He should respect the law, as in abide the law. But should he really show respect, as in deep admiration to the law or the commission? I know America is not the land of the free it used to be, but it is not a totalitarian state yet.

Post by anth_anm » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 5:50 PM UTC

sonnyblarney wrote: post #118

smallgovt wrote: post #79

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…

Post by anth_anm » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 5:55 PM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #59

iamcreasy wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been following Elon for a very long time, and one of the reason I like him is that he sticks to what he says. So if today Elon says that he respects the justice dept, its very like that he really means it, and he will stick to it. I would not trust Matt Levine on this.

This... doesn't sound like you've been following him for a very long time. Compare the prior incident -- I'll use a summary from Matt Levine again: > Remember when Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk committed securities fraud by falsely claiming on Twitter that he had secured financing to take Tesla private? Remember how Musk and Tesla settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission by agreeing to pay f…

Post by anth_anm » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #88

It's pretty simple. Musk was hounded by short sellers who bet billions against Tesla and then spread patently false information about the company's activities and prospects[1]. Musk has one of those asymmetric senses of fairness (like the one that drove Gates to tears during Microsoft's anti-trust trials) that lost all faith in the SEC as it stood by and did nothing about what he felt was clearly illegal behavior. In…