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Elon Musk Calls Boss of Tesla Troll Who's Heavily Invested In Oil Industry (electrek.co)

Posted by BeauHD on from the I'm-telling-your-mother dept.

Okian Warrior shares a report from Electrek, written by Fred Lambert: One of Tesla's biggest anonymous trolls/shorts has been doxxed as an investment manager heavily invested in the oil industry. He has now deleted his Twitter account, which he used to promote his blog posts about Tesla and attack anyone saying anything that could be perceived as positive on Tesla, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly called his boss to complain about his behavior.

We are talking about "Montana Skeptic" who has been using Seeking Alpha, a financial blog aggregator, and Twitter to push the bear case on Tesla for the past 3 years. Hiding behind his anonymous persona on social media, Montana Skeptic went beyond just pushing the bear case. He also used the platforms to send insults and attacks to Tesla bulls, bloggers, YouTubers, and reporters discussing anything that he saw as potentially being positive for Tesla, including [this author] on numerous occasions to the point where I had to block him. But now that his real identity has been revealed to be Larry Fossi, a managing director at Rahr Enterprise, which is reportedly heavily invested in oil, we learn that his motivations could have originated from other reasons.

10 of 445 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Always . . . by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Mmmhmm.

    There are plenty of legitimate complaints. Personally I really dislike all of the electronic crap that they've built in to the Model 3. Electrically-opening doors because that was the solution to avoid damaging the weatherstripping by lowering the window a centimeter prior to actuating the door mechanism? Stupid. Removing basically the entire traditional behind-steeringwheel dash cluster and removing basically all non-touchscreen driver controls? Really stupid. Designing and building a seemingly successful car whose use of petroleum products is at-most limited to lubricants and possibly cabin refrigeration gases? Not so stupid.

    I really wish that Tesla had considered the Model 3 as an S with most of the unnecessary electronics removed, rather than going exactly the opposite in removing the traditional controls. I won't buy a car that requires me to take my eyes off of the road to operate a touchscreen in order to use basic features.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  2. Got my Model 3 on 7/2. . . by Idou · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It really is an amazing car. . . I feel like a requirement to short the stock is one of the following:
    1) You have never test driven a Model 3
    2) You are a shill for some competing industry/company
    Yes, I am sure there is some kind of "rational" intrinsic valuation argument out there for shorting the stock, but, at the end of the day, Tesla makes cash from selling cars, not stock. . . and their latest car is amazing. They will sell as many as they can make at the current price point. If they manage to get the price down (which tends to happen at high volume), no army of Montana Skeptic shills will be able to save the oil industry from having to write-off huge portions of their fixed assets. . . Buckle-up and get ready for a crazy ride. . .

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    Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
    1. Re:Got my Model 3 on 7/2. . . by rahvin112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      SG&A isn't the problem, it's CapEX, Captial expenditures for automotive are huge. GM and Toyota routinely spend a billion dollars ramping up for a new model, and that new model only changes at most about 30% of an existing design. Tesla is having to build from scratch, and each of their models is segmented so there is very little part sharing between them. Fortunately electric cars have very few parts so it's not that bad but the CapEx is the killer.

      It's also why the regular car companies have been fighting electric tooth and nail, the capex for them to convert is going to about the same as it has been for Tesla, and it could even be more because they'll have to expend dollars to shutdown existing part production for the gas parts. The car industry is terrified of electric, not just the capex and not just the potential to wipe out margins as the electric can be far cheaper to produce, but the fact that a huge part of the cost for parts is the batteries that no car manufacturer produces. GM, Toyota and FCA make their own engines, but in an electric the electric motor is a nothing part, the bulk of the money is the battery that they won't be producing. So they will be sending the bulk of the margin out of house to a battery producer.

      This scares the traditional manufacturers, they are being dragged kicking and screaming into electric and will fight it as long as they can. BMW and Mercedes and the other luxury brands laughed at Tesla right up until their sales dropped 30%. The model S has destroyed Mercedes sales, as a result all their top end models very soon will be electric because they have no choice, either they go electric or they go out of business as Tesla has been eating their lunch.

  3. Re:Clarifications: by sjames · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is a significant difference between expressing one's opinion and trolling someone off of Twitter and endless ad hominem attacks on anyone who dares to disagree.

  4. Re: Not good by WindBourne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Interesting. But it is ok for somebody to lie and cheat in an effort to destroy your company, but it is bad to tell has boss AND the SEC about said individual's action?

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    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  5. Re: Clarifications: by WindBourne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Uh no. He was purposely trying to manipulate the stock market by libel. Hopefully, SEC goes after him.

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    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  6. Re:Shorts are running scared... by Smidge204 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Gotta disagree with that point; If you're going to comment, you gotta commit!

    Not being able to delete or edit a post is a great incentive to think about what you're about to put up on the internet for all the world to see, and how it will reflect on you/your internet persona for years and years to come. :)
    =Smidge=

  7. Re: My disclosure by ScienceofSpock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nobody gives a fuck about what you have to say.

    Actually, I found it quite informative. You don't speak for anyone, AC. You aren't even speaking for yourself.

  8. Re: Not good by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And Musk will pay for that stupid outburst. That's accountability. Hiding behind an anonymous account, not revealing the conflict that arises from your business interests when attacking another company, that is the opposite of accountability.

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    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  9. Re: Clarifications: by youngone · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I have nothing against Elon Musk really, but he is as you say, an egomaniac billionaire.
    I think he got so angry about being called out because the stupid submarine idea was so obviously just a PR stunt.

    Also, there is a certain don't-give-a-fuck type of Englishman that is just not impressed by money, and is quite happy to call a spade a spade.