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SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

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741–750 of 884 posts

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#741

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps some of what makes him capable of making these mistakes is also part of why he has multiple revolutionary companies.

Being unconstrained by reality? You might actually be onto something there; I know a few people who are similarly unconstrained and they end up bringing just the right mix of crazy and sweat together to make something novel. It also has a serious downside in this particular case, however.

Not wanting to make this political, but one could say the same about the current US president. Based on his social media output it seemed he was downright batshit insane when he got elected (some might say even still, although he seems to have calmed down a bit). He seems to be achieving things though and we didn't end up with WW3 as a lot of people predicted.

Perhaps the world needs these crazy people occasionally to come in and stir up the pot?

(Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the guy and not being from the US my opinion doesn't really matter, but thought I'd give me $0.02 so to speak)

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#742
post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just revisionist history and completely wrong. Steve Jobs pretty much set Apple on the premium goods track when he returned. The iMac, iPod, iPad, iPhone were all developed under his watch and all were premium priced. Apple has pushed the margins higher but that's only because the market can absorb it. Computing is more central to people's lives and they are willing to pay a premium for a good experience.

I've started to think Apple is more competitive on laptops than it looks from the price. Every time I've priced out a laptop with similar configuration to my MBP (including a good-quality display, NvME SSD, good battery life), it always ends up costing about the same as an MBP. And then Apple's customer service definitely tips in their favor (I've been spoiled by fast, convenient, competent repair service at the Appl…

I like Apple too - writing this on a 2013 rMBP. Works flawlessly (touch wood).

But the new Pro series is just not pro enough for me. Why the hell should I buy a dongle for everything? It's supposed to be pro - you shouldn't have to basically carry a whole bunch of dongles to get stuff done. I don't know, maybe I am technophobe, but sometimes taking away the stuff which works and useful to shave a mm in height is just stupid from my perspective. If I want a super light laptop without the need for ports etc. I would go for an Air.

Dunno what's going to happen but will stick to my 2013 till it literally won't work anymore.

/end of rant

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#743

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep saying this, and it makes very little sense. The Tesla that he "didn't found" was a boutique outfit formed to modify another company's obscure sports car to make it run on batteries. That company no longer exists in any sense beyond the name on the business license. The Tesla that exists now is indisputably there because of Musk's ambition, willpower, and engineering instincts, for better or worse.

I'm actually confused. By "another company's obscure sports car " I assume you're referring to the Lotus Elise - arguably one of the world's better known and more successful sports cars.

I'm British so I also take offense to this (how very dare you!) but I'm assuming this was written from a US-centric point of view. The Elise and Exige may have been fairly common this side of the pond but I get the impression they're very rare outside of the UK.

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#744
post #627

I think there's a bit of overexcitement going on in this thread; it doesn't look to me like Musk is going to jail on this one. This part is interesting: > The SEC had crafted a settlement with Musk that it was preparing to file Thursday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Musk’s lawyers called SEC lawyers to say they were no longer interested in proceeding w…

Part of the deal was that he step down as CEO. I think that was not acceptable to him. Ultimately, I believe he will lose. A strong operator to handle traditional car company problems will make TSLA sky rocket

Source pls?

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#745

This comment I made a few weeks ago is coming alot closer to the truth than I would have expected. I hope for Space X and Tesla's sake that the reports of a directory and Executive ban don't come true. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18016250#18016292 SpaceX is doing well, Tesla has pulled itself back from the brink and may actually become a profitable car company. All Elon had to do was keep his head down and n…

> I hope for Space X and Tesla's sake that the reports of a directory and Executive ban don't come true. Why? Because Elon is a special snowflake and deserves a different treatment than other white-collar criminals?

With the US's record on white collar crime, charging him and actually punishing him would make him the "special snowflake".

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#746

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say the shorts don't have any power to hurt tesla, but much of tesla's and elon musk's personal debt is backed by Tesla shares. If the price dips too low, it's potentially catastrophic for the company and him.

What exactly did the shorts do here? Musk has brought on all this scrutiny himself. The shorts didn't bail out Solar City, miss nearly every production target, use TSLA as a way to personally finance a lavish lifestyle, or commit securities fraud. The shorts are all over this stock because of issues like the above. They were not the cause of those issues.

> use TSLA as a way to personally finance a lavish lifestyle

The others I get but this seems like an odd personal attack. What CEO of a huge public company doesn't live a "lavish lifestyle"? Or is this just supposed to make us hate him more because he's rich and we're not?

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#747
post #597

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like this clip from the 1990s Batman cartoon regarding the Joker's view on the IRS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G56VgsLfKY4 Securities crime is almost always prosecuted in the US because of how much of our economy depends on it being free of outside manipulation. This is why all stock trades are tracked so intensely. A crook may be able to systemically deprive people of health insurance and get away with it,…

I believe it, but it's kind of stupid that GS or JPM "analysts" can "downgrade" a stock and move it by 4%, and this happens literally every day, but some guy who is going to put humans on Mars and fly them around the moon is going to get shit for a tweet that was obviously a joke to anyone who isn't a total moron.

A tweet that moved the stock by >4%.

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#748

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm posting this from a Macbook Pro I bought in November 2008. My family uses it daily. My daily work computer is a 2012 Macbook Air which I dropped from a standing height 4 years ago. It has one bent corner but still runs great.

Yep, I'm still using a 2008 MacBook Pro daily - I only replaced the HDD with an SSD and it runs great.

i am still using my t420 think pad from 2008

runs perfect

just saying...

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#749
post #738

This comment I made a few weeks ago is coming alot closer to the truth than I would have expected. I hope for Space X and Tesla's sake that the reports of a directory and Executive ban don't come true. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18016250#18016292 SpaceX is doing well, Tesla has pulled itself back from the brink and may actually become a profitable car company. All Elon had to do was keep his head down and n…

Why do you say for SpaceX's sake? Would it not be great news for SpaceX that their CEO would be forced out of the other companies he's running, and thus almost has to focus most of his time on SpaceX?

When the sec bans you from running a company, you’re banned from running -any- company

Re: SEC Sues Musk and Seeks Ban for His Tweets on Go-Private Deal

#750

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference with him is he is trying to move humanity forward and truly improve things and helping to secure our long term survival. Those short sellers don't care about any of that, they only care about making money and it's understandable that Musk is trying to find ways to ruin their game. Musk should have run this type of tweet by his close business friends / counsel. I hope he will only get a slap on the wris…

You shouldn't be allowed to share this opinion, as you have never owned a single share of stock. Why don't you buy some, wait till you lose some money, then come back and tell us you feel good because, you know, the company pushes humanity forward. Musk wasn't raising money for humanity sake; he was raising money to found his company and doing so he agreed to be bound by the rules that such market created. You don't…

I have shares and you only lose money if you decide to sell the shares now - price might recover if you hold on to them and if you believe in Tesla's mission and value you might even think it's a good time to buy some more. (This is not financial advice)

But like I mentioned, I said he shouldn't have tweeted that message and should have consulted with his business partners first. I think he just wasn't thinking clearly of the consequences along with his other rather eratic tweets. I blame his lack of sleep and taking stuff like ambien...

I don't think he is a scammer and is all about making money. If you follow his history - he's an engineer and he wants to solve tough problems and wants to add value (see recent interview with Joe Rogan). What I would have liked to see more though is him mentioning his team and the brilliant people working at his companies.

To your last point (paraphrased):

> How is space technology moving humanity forward?

SpaceX is about space technology and that technology can improve life here on Earth - see:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technolo...

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/167752main_FS_Spino...

And there is nothing wrong with trying to find or create outer space habitats. We can improve life on Earth and build rockets at the same time, i.e. we have enough resources and minds to work on all these problems.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/7935505/Steph...

Edit: typos

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