Tag: Elon Musk is huckster

A Genius, Alright

Guest Post by Eric Peters

Elon Musk is said – by some – to be a “genius.” Arguably, a more accurate honorific would be king, used in the Elvisian sense.

Elvis, of course, was the King – of rock n’ roll. There was no else like him, insofar as his persona especially. His jump-suited image has become an icon of Americana. Even people who don’t know his music know him – and that is what makes him the King.

Musk is like that in his own way. He has become synomous with the electric cars that bear another man’s name and riff off the legacy of the man who created what was arguably the very first volkswagen (lower case) or people’s car.

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IS THIS A JOKE?

When Bubbles Burst – Tesla, The Everything Cycle, & The End Of Global Warming

Authored by Tom Luongo,

As the center of the U.S. freezes this weekend, Elon Musk is trying to figure out how to save Tesla from going the way of Enron.

Religions die hard. It takes an orgy of evidence to change a person’s mind on a subject that is integral to their moral and ethical structure.

In the case of Tesla, the mania surrounding it over the past decade has been inextricably bound up with the hysteria of global warming.

For years investors ignored the obvious warning signs that Tesla would never be able to graduate from a boutique, hand-built car manufacturer and technology skunk works to a mass producer.

I’ve been very hard on Musk in the past, with good reason. But, as a guy with vision I applaud him getting Tesla off the ground and legitimizing the idea of the upscale electric car.

But it was never going to work as a mass production scheme because Musk isn’t that guy. He’s a dreamer and a schemer, not a builder. And, as I’ve said multiple times, he should have stepped down as CEO of Tesla ages ago.

Continue reading “When Bubbles Burst – Tesla, The Everything Cycle, & The End Of Global Warming”

Teslas Suddenly Get Pricier . . .

Guest Post by Eric Peters

Tesla announced the other day that it will no longer be producing the least-expensive version of its Model S sedan – which lines up with Tesla’s failure to produce many (f any) of the lower-priced versions of its constantly trumpeted Model 3.

It’s a hint about how one of the biggest problems with electric cars – their being too expensive for most people to consider, so long as their are less less expensive options available – will be handled.

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Musk Admits Tesla Was “Bleeding Money Like Crazy” And “Faced Severe Threat Of Death”

Via ZeroHedge

While Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the rest of the company’s board of directors were posturing as though everything was fine earlier this year – even as the company struggled with ramping its Model 3 production and its CEO became the target of both the SEC and the Department of Justice – the reality of the situation below the surface was far closer to what most skeptics had suggested, according to a bizarre new Axios interview with Musk that aired on HBO Sunday night.

Speaking to Axios, Musk admitted that Tesla “faced a severe threat of death” earlier this year and that it was “bleeding money like crazy” as it worked through its crucial Model 3 production ramp. In the interview, Musk admitted that the company “came within single-digit” weeks of death before it was able to meet its production goals.

“Tesla really faced a severe threat of death due to the Model 3 production ramp. Essentially, the company was bleeding money like crazy, and if we didn’t solve these problems in a very short period of time, we would die. And it was extremely difficult to solve them.”

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Fool me once, shame on Elon. Fool me twice. . .

Guest Post by Simon Black

There’s no doubt you know the story…

On August 7, in the middle of the trading day, Tesla founder Elon Musk surprised investors with a tweet saying he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share (a $72 billion valuation) with “funding secured.” He quickly followed up with “Investor support is confirmed.”

Shares of Tesla soared 13% to $387 on the cryptic social media update from Tesla’s exalted chief.

The news created a media frenzy around the already red-hot company (and prompted the SEC to investigate Musk and Tesla for potentially lying to investors about a takeover). A single tweet – while the market was still open, no less – was an odd and informal way to announce such a major event.

Did Musk consult Tesla’s board of directors before making this public? Did they even know of his plans to take the company private? Is any of this even true?

Continue reading “Fool me once, shame on Elon. Fool me twice. . .”