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

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

#761
post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Apple's long been a proponent of doing things wirelessly; the main problem is that both power and displays aren't yet wireless. I wouldn't mind if Apple came out with a new display or 'docking station', I think they would need only one cable to connect the screen + provide power. USB-C is really versatile like that.

A shame they got rid of the SD card slot though, and I will be very upset if they get rid of the 3.5mm as well.

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

#762
post #615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I give you a 3 billion dollar investment, it's not hard to create a billion dollar company with that.

That's the whole problems isn't it. Nobody gives you $3 billion to do anything. You generally have to earn that from $0.

Unless you have personal wealth already - which was the case with both SpaceX and Tesla.

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

#763
TLDR; According to article, SEC did do the "swift" investigation and it seems they were convinced Musk had no hard evidence to back up his $420 claim. They even drafted settlement agreement that was supposed to be signed which I'm guessing involved removing Musk from exec position. However at last minute Musk's lawyers decided not to go for settlement and now they are going to fight the case. I'm thinking they probably cooked something with Saudi to corroborate the claims - may be in exchange for some future deal. For whatever reason, Musk lawyers have figured things out so at this point Tesla is buy for me.

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

#764

The book The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth, details Musk's time at Paypal and pretty much describes him as an eventual hindrance rather than a help. He was eventually ousted from the company. Peter Thiel was the one that was able to nurse the company to success. He was vital to get the company started but eventually, he was difficult to work with. Looks to me that…

I can only think of Elon as the only person to create THREE multi billion dollar companies in wildly different industries. Elon is a fantastic CEO AND visionary. I personally know people who could be making double specifically work at spacex because they believe in his vision. Elon is able to get Supreme talent and productivity for pennies on the dollar. He’s able to market Tesla and spaceX to billions with such a po…

Unless you have worked with Musk you shouldn't be making these claims. I personally haven't but I know people who have and they tell me its mixed bag. Very passionate but if he gets a bad idea then you are screwed. Many of his various blunders include the way he insisted Tesla self driving stack should look like and how entire factory should be human-free. Both of those decisions have cost in range of 100s of millions of dollars. This is not to say he hasn't made decisions that has brought in billions of dollars.

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

#765

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazingly, Musk apparently had reached a settlement with the SEC over this, then blew it up : https://twitter.com/tomgara/status/1045472592595996672 I don't understand people who defend him as head of a public company.

Just taking a shot in the dark here. Perhaps, just perhaps, he had more information to base his decisions on than is available to you from a 'Tweet' and a couple of lines in a media article.

Musk-ites will be saying the same thing even if he's eventually ousted from Tesla and banned from running another public company --- an outcome that is now explicitly on the table thanks to how he managed Tesla over the past 3 months.

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

#766
post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So US interests could be harmed by damage to an important US company, itself entirely due to backwards US drug policies? I don't think Musk is the problem in that case...

You overestimate SpaceX's importance.

No, he is not.

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

#767
post #538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the guy literally built a fucking reusable rocket company, most popular payment service, an electric car company that now all of the huge car monopolies are trying to mimic and replicate and still can’t catch, and he did all of that during 20 years, 99.9% of people sit on a couch for 20 years without doing anything. But experts on hacker news still think he is a terrible ceo. I am pretty sure most of those experts…

I suggest you re-read the headline. Elon is fantastic in some ways and terrible in others. He really needs to - quickly - get some self control or it will end badly. What do you think are the chances of Gwynne Shotwell tweeting SpaceX into the gutter or wrecking its reputation by getting into a tiff with a guy trying to rescue a bunch of kids?

> What do you think are the chances of Gwynne Shotwell tweeting SpaceX into the gutter or wrecking its reputation by getting into a tiff with a guy trying to rescue a bunch of kids?

This comparison is an excellent point illustrating just how far off of the baseline Musk has already drifted.

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

#768

He definitely lost it. And it's going to cost him. This is an open and shut case against Musk. He definitely sent out that tweet. Yes, maybe just not enough sleep and too many drugs. Not a good excuse. Tesla might do better with a new CEO. They're past the vision stage. Tesla's problems today are all those of running a big auto plant. Musk might do better focusing on Space-X.

Nobody of any importance should have the confidence to write and publish teams of their own. Shareholders for public companies should be very clear about this, that neither they nor the CEO nor any senior executive is allowed to make any statements regarding the company without going through a legal team and / or advisors.

This also applies to world leaders.

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

#769

He definitely lost it. And it's going to cost him. This is an open and shut case against Musk. He definitely sent out that tweet. Yes, maybe just not enough sleep and too many drugs. Not a good excuse. Tesla might do better with a new CEO. They're past the vision stage. Tesla's problems today are all those of running a big auto plant. Musk might do better focusing on Space-X.

Elon Musk has always had a disdain for the responsibility of running a public company, it seems perfectly reasonable that he tweet, in exasperation, that he wishes to make the company private. Why do so many people in this thread want the only guy making (rockets && green cars && batteries && solar && ...) to fail so badly? The guy smokes weed once on camera, now he's a witch and needs to be hunted down? We care abou…

> The guy smokes weed once on camera, now he's a witch and needs to be hunted down?

He sent out a tweet that had a major effect on the shares of a major company, representing billions of dollars to be lost and gained by a lot of people. That's a serious offense and there are laws about that.

It's not about weed, it's about stock price manipulation at the highest levels.

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

#770
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

>A strong operator to handle traditional car company problems will make TSLA sky rocket

I think that being able to cheat through environmental regulations will not be helpful in an electric vehicle company.

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