Tesla Q1 2020 Update • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#221

Post by wilg » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:24 AM UTC

Melting_Harps wrote: post #217

wilg wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it so much to ask for him to tweet responsibly so we can enjoy the fun future stuff without all the bullshit?

> Is it so much to ask for him to tweet responsibly so we can enjoy the fun future stuff without all the bullshit? I don't know, that rave cave in Berlin sounds pretty awesome, and that was from a tweet. The Pedo thing was in poor taste, sure, but they got Tesla guys working on a sub to get some kids out of the cave, so you have to see the positive outweighing the negative. Besides, he won that case and no one here c…

I didn't say he shouldn't tweet about having a dance club, try to save kids, smoke weed, or be weird.

He just shouldn't do irresponsible things like spread misinformation about a global pandemic or lie.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#222

Post by justaguy88 » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:25 AM UTC

Engineer2Throw wrote: post #209

wfbarks wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bonus probably goes straight to spacex

A military contactor? Not sure if you are aware but the money goes from corruption to private individual, not the other way around.

It's his personal toy, that just happens to take some military contracts

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#223

Post by BurningFrog » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:27 AM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #103

adventured wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. He's worth $38.5 billion; $26b of that is in Tesla. He can shave off hundreds of millions of dollars from that any day of the week - if he cared to do so. The compensation package is relatively small compared to his existing wealth already contained in Tesla. Wanting the company to succeed is what most likely motivates him, not the compensation package (which is aligned with his existing interests, even i…

Musk is worth $38.5 billion based on his current Tesla stock holdings at their current valuation. If he hits the trigger in his compensation package, he gets even more Tesla stock which will vastly increase his net worth on paper Also, Musk is loaded with debt because he leveraged his stock holdings to live a very lavish lifestyle, including multiple residential properties, vehicles, and very expensive dining choices…

This might make sense for $38.5 million.

For $38.5 billion, no lifestyle choice in the world has any impact on that money.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#224

Post by jkachmar » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:27 AM UTC

wonderwonder wrote: post #199

Barrin92 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the OP. I don't think his motivation is greed in a strictly financial sense but he's a complete narcissist. When a government guy comes and shuts his factory down due to a pandemic he apparently can't live with the fact that he's a non-essential business and needs to lay low for a while. It's the same thing with the mini-submarine paedophile fiasco. Some regular dude who has experience in what he's actually talki…

He has lofty goals that require massive resources. Each also requires a long timeline. Specifically he is attempting to populate another planet, link computers to brains and turn transportation green. Each is an earth shattering accomplishment on their own. He is trying to do all 3 and in his mind at least he is driven by saving humanity not greed. He feels the current restrictions are going to have severe impact on…

Along the lines of what others have said elsewhere in this thread:

No one reasonable is criticizing Musk for being a visionary CEO, someone who is interested in taking risks that overcome historically difficult challenges.

They're criticizing him going completely off the handle; calling someone a pedophile on Twitter when they disagree with him, talking completely out of his ass about "taking the company private", or trying to play armchair epidemiologist when he _clearly_ has a vested interest in a potentially risky avenue of behavior.

I'm very happy to see the things that SpaceX has achieved [0] and I'm also happy that Tesla has done such a good job popularizing EVs [1], but I'm blown the fuck away whenever I see people responding to _entirely justified_ criticisms of Elon's character by pointing out what he's accomplished and how lofty the rest of his goals are.

Do we just not have standards for people in Musk's position? Do folks really think it's reasonable for someone to comport themselves the way he _routinely_ does?

[0] Although let's be honest, the company treats its employees pretty damn badly.

[1] Accurately representing the self-driving capabilities of their vehicles, on the other hand, leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#225

Post by GhostVII » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:30 AM UTC

vgchh wrote: post #186

Serious question: I am confused as to why do we see so many comments lamenting, what is essentially freedom of speech of EM? I mean, it's not like he is conclusively wrong about "Free America Now" comment. He may be proven wrong over time or even right.

I think that it is a valid opinion to think that we should lift the lockdown - there is a huge cost to the shutdown, and flattening the curve was originally just to keep the hospitals below capacity, which they seem to be. However in the context of his other tweets, it seems irresponsible. He is retweeting conspiracy theories that hospitals are reporting cases of COVID for profit, and even made predictions they by the end of April we would have 0 cases (which has obviously not happened). He retweeted a YouTube video that was later removed for violating TOS, presumably because it was spreading false info about COVID (I disagree with that particular policy but it still indicates the video isn't something he should be retweeting).

He is not conclusively wrong to say that we should lift the lockdown. However the other things he is saying show that he is conclusively wrong about other aspects of the virus, and is spreading misinformation about it. Given how poor his predictions about it have been, his opinion is useless and dangerous given how many people listen and believe what he says.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#226

Post by wonderwonder » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:31 AM UTC

mullingitover wrote: post #208

wonderwonder wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the current disaster that many states have for an unemployment system, dwindling funds and ramping job loss I think that is going to shift. People are actively running out of money, they are waiting in food lines for hours by the hundreds. The federal government has indicated it has no inclination to resolve this. People need money to eat. I think that sentiment is going to change soon. We should have implemente…

Fate is a cruel mistress. Republicans are facing a decision between implementing leftist basic income policies or being decimated at the polls. They're trying to fight it by astroturfing resistance to wildly popular public health measures, but it's a bad look for them to be advocating the thing they smeared universal health care for in 2008: death panels.

This comment is going to get very down voted (mine not yours). The thing though, they don't care about hypocrisy. The democrats are made up of a wide coalition and are generally advocating for an increase in equality, wider access to voting, more equitable income distribution. Essentially they are all on some scale of democratic socialistic polices geared towards helping as many people as possible. Republicans are united in moving more wealth and power to the very top and owning the libs.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#227

Post by wonderwonder » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:35 AM UTC

jkachmar wrote: post #224

wonderwonder wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has lofty goals that require massive resources. Each also requires a long timeline. Specifically he is attempting to populate another planet, link computers to brains and turn transportation green. Each is an earth shattering accomplishment on their own. He is trying to do all 3 and in his mind at least he is driven by saving humanity not greed. He feels the current restrictions are going to have severe impact on…

Along the lines of what others have said elsewhere in this thread: No one reasonable is criticizing Musk for being a visionary CEO, someone who is interested in taking risks that overcome historically difficult challenges. They're criticizing him going completely off the handle; calling someone a pedophile on Twitter when they disagree with him, talking completely out of his ass about "taking the company private", or…

I mean at least 45% of the country things its totally fine for the president of the united states to 'comport themselves the way he _routinely_ does' so I have to think that many people are willing to overlook how Musk acts. For the most part I am too (in regards to Musk), I don't expect perfection from business leaders. He is a flawed person as are we all. Unfortunately for him he chooses to amplify his flaws to a massive twitter following.

I think the guy is a once in a life time visionary. With that said I would never want to work for him but I hope he succeeds.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#228

Post by nostrebored » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:37 AM UTC

renewiltord wrote: post #191

Obi_Juan_Kenobi wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't lose sight of reality; business closings left and right, layoffs, pay cuts, etc. Don't let the zero-hedge crowd turn you off to arguments about funny-money from the fed. This is a fairly predictable result. Fed supplies money. Money has to be put to use. Where is productive capital? Interest rates are itty bitty. Stocks look high but .. what else to do? Risk buying high now or inflation later. But this can only…

When do your shorts expire?

When does your argument show up?

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#229

Post by alasdair_ » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:38 AM UTC

clouddrover wrote: post #201

tigershark wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t really think that any other automaker has a 25.5% margin on their mass produced electric vehicles.

Maybe the Porsche Taycan. The Porsche 911 was the most profitable car in 2019 with a 47% margin: https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/porsche-911-most-prof... Porsche is Volkswagen's most profitable brand.

>Porsche is Volkswagen's most profitable brand.

Which is pretty ironic, given the whole mess involved with Porsche trying to buy Volkswagen a few years ago.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#230

Post by trianglem » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:38 AM UTC

rtsil wrote: post #211

Reedx wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Will Elon stop with tweets that hurt Tesla? Appoint a CEO, or COO to run things People have been saying that for years and years. It's beyond stale. Meanwhile Tesla and SpaceX have continued to succeed beyond expectations for over a decade now. If there's occasional twitter volatility in-between simultaneously landing two rockets returning from space... so be it. Besides, if it bothers you that much, you don't have…

> Meanwhile Tesla and SpaceX have continued to succeed beyond expectations for over a decade now. I think people underestimate how essential Gwynne Shotwell is to SpaceX.

Yeah for process but there’s no spacex without Elon.