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Tesla Stock Plunges After Senior Execs Leave, Musk Smokes Weed During Interview (arstechnica.com)
Today, we have learned that two executives have left Tesla. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla's newly hired chief accounting officer Dave Morton decided to resign because "the level of public attention placed on the company as well as the pace within the company have exceeded [his] expectations." He added: "I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission, and its future prospects, and I have no disagreements with Tesla's leadership or financial reporting." Tesla's human resources chief Gaby Toledano also announced that should would be leaving the company after taking a leave of absence last month. CEO Elon Musk wrote that Toledo "has been on leave for a few months to spend more time with her family and has decided to continue doing so for personal reasons. She's been amazing and I'm very grateful for everything she's done for Tesla."
These departures certainly have had an impact on Tesla's stock, which is down more than six percent to $262, but an interview Elon Musk conducted with Joe Rogan may have caused the most damage. While discussing a wide range of topics including his tweeting behavior, his Boring Company's flamethrowers, and "neuralink" devices, the Tesla CEO openly smoked a mixed tobacco and marijuana cigarette, sending the internet into a frenzy. Ars Technica reports: Morton joined Tesla on August 6, one day before Musk's infamous tweet claiming that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private. Musk was forced to abandon the plan a couple of weeks later. Not only did Musk not have any kind of written funding deal, many Tesla investors saw little upside in approving a deal that would reduce Tesla's transparency and the liquidity of Tesla stock. Morton didn't explicitly mention last month's buyout saga in his statement explaining his departure. But a lot of the "public attention" Tesla received during Morton's brief tenure was focused on the possibility of Tesla going private. It's safe to assume that members of Tesla's finance team were working overtime on issues related to the proposal during Morton's month at Tesla. It's worth noting that marijuana is legal in California (and several other states) if you are 21 or older, but the federal government still strictly prohibits the Schedule 1 substance.
UPDATE: You can watch/listen to the nearly three-hour-long interview here. Rogan manages to pick Musk's brain in great detail and in a refreshingly laid-back manner. We highly recommend a listen if you want to learn more about Musk's ambitions and thought process.
These departures certainly have had an impact on Tesla's stock, which is down more than six percent to $262, but an interview Elon Musk conducted with Joe Rogan may have caused the most damage. While discussing a wide range of topics including his tweeting behavior, his Boring Company's flamethrowers, and "neuralink" devices, the Tesla CEO openly smoked a mixed tobacco and marijuana cigarette, sending the internet into a frenzy. Ars Technica reports: Morton joined Tesla on August 6, one day before Musk's infamous tweet claiming that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private. Musk was forced to abandon the plan a couple of weeks later. Not only did Musk not have any kind of written funding deal, many Tesla investors saw little upside in approving a deal that would reduce Tesla's transparency and the liquidity of Tesla stock. Morton didn't explicitly mention last month's buyout saga in his statement explaining his departure. But a lot of the "public attention" Tesla received during Morton's brief tenure was focused on the possibility of Tesla going private. It's safe to assume that members of Tesla's finance team were working overtime on issues related to the proposal during Morton's month at Tesla. It's worth noting that marijuana is legal in California (and several other states) if you are 21 or older, but the federal government still strictly prohibits the Schedule 1 substance.
UPDATE: You can watch/listen to the nearly three-hour-long interview here. Rogan manages to pick Musk's brain in great detail and in a refreshingly laid-back manner. We highly recommend a listen if you want to learn more about Musk's ambitions and thought process.
Watch the stock sink even quicker for Telsa and go bust by the end of this year?
Or watch the stock dive 'way down, watch Elon buy much of it up with the money he's already cashed out, and end up with a LOT less of the company owned by others.
Is he crazy like The Mad Hatter, or like a fox?
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Still a good interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Agreed.
It must be very difficult for Elon to deal with the pressures of the business side of his genius; especially since he seems to be cursed with control issues, making it difficult for him to delegate tasks, including the appointment of another CEO or two at his flagship companies.
Has he made some miscalculations recently? Sure. Can he rebound from this? Certainly. It's simply clear he has to prioritize time for what he's great at (inspiration and innovation) and learn to hand off to others what he can afford to delegate (daily business stress and decisions).
Personally, I hope he gets it together... there is a worldwide scarcity of visionaries who stand to make the earth a better place.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
"No matter how gifted you are, do yourself a gigantic favor, and resist the temptation to surround yourself with yes-men... everyone benefits from a critical viewpoint now and then."
Well, from a cynical point of view, I'm not so sure it benefits "everyone"...
On one hand, the other "yes-men": they are there usually because they lack other talents, so having someone different on board *and* having the leader listening to him, most probably would end the other ones' career in the company or, at least, their ability to stay with the "grown-ups". Yes, in the long term the company folds, so they go to the unemployment queue, but in the meantime...
On the other hand, the leader himself, he's usually the sociopathic and narcissitic kind that always land on his feet, so he takes pleasure from their current yes-men and will just take the hit and start again with a different idea and a different group of yes-men to support him.
I've been there... twice, specially one of them it was so exemplary it could make into an encyclopedia entry. Both times I was fired because not being "a team guy", both times I went out telling others when exactly the company would fold within a three months margin and both times I was right. The only advantage? Since I was fired relatively early in the going nowhere process, I took all my benefits; the others that stayed to the bitter end, not so much.