Slashdot Mirror


Tesla Is Facing US Criminal Probe Over Elon Musk Statements (bloomberg.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Tesla is under investigation by the Justice Department over public statements made by the company and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk. The criminal probe is running alongside a previously reported civil inquiry by securities regulators. Federal prosecutors opened a fraud investigation after Musk tweeted last month that he was contemplating taking Tesla private and had "funding secured" for the deal. The tweet initially sent the company's shares higher. Tesla confirmed it has been contacted by the Justice Department. The investigation by the U.S. attorney's office in the Northern District of California follows a subpoena issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking information from the electric-car maker about Musk's plans to go private, which he has since abandoned. Tesla said in a statement following Bloomberg's report: "Last month, following Elon's announcement that he was considering taking the company private, Tesla received a voluntary request for documents from the DOJ and has been cooperative in responding to it. We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process. We respect the DOJ's desire to get information about this and believe that the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received."

13 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Elon, don't make announcements while high by mykepredko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a simple rule. Many people follow it and avoid being investigated by the DOJ.

    1. Re:Elon, don't make announcements while high by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's a simple rule. Many people follow it and avoid being investigated by the DOJ.

      I think Musk should counter by citing blatant racism, as he is indeed an African-American.

    2. Re:Elon, don't make announcements while high by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured."

      420, just a coincidence, eh. He was stoned as a motherfucker

    3. Re:Elon, don't make announcements while high by sexconker · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Pretty sure he made this statement before going on Joe Rogan's podcast. Also if you'd listened you'd know that he took one puff and said he didn't like Marijuana because it stopped him from getting things done.

      If YOU had listened, you'd know that regardless of how little he inhaled, the dude was either high out of his mind or just out of his mind.
      He was going on about "love is the answer" and other vapid, meaningless shit.

      Before that video, I had never subjected myself to listening to anything the clown has to say for more than a few seconds. If he's like this all the time than he's a complete and total nutjob. If he was like that just that once, than he was mentally incapacitated in some way.

  2. don't make /. comments while simplistic and trite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually if he were smoking marijuana he'd probably be able to de-stress and get needed rest, get better control of his emotions. It would be a strong net positive in his case compared to his stress-meth lashing out on Twitter.

  3. I tole you by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    I'm not one to say I told you so, but everybody made fun of me a few weeks ago when I said that Elon was going to face some serious consequences for his phony tweet about taking Tesla public.

    https://youtu.be/lTXoA-QTbJw

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:I tole you by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      He can just say it was a joke. It always works for POTUS.

      Considering the events we are watching unfold before the world, I can say definitively that it doesn't always work for TWEETUS.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  4. Re:"Nazi faggot makes joke, other nazis impressed" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sadly they were brutally raped to death by large black inmates in Federal prison just like Trump, the end.

    Having actually been to Africa, Musk is more of an "African American" than almost every American black person.

    If they deny him African-American status because he is white, that would be discrimination based on skin color which should be illegal.

  5. Re:World war I stated from a sandwich... by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 2

    World war III will start with a tweet.

    They wish. That would really take the focus off the Mueller investigation.

  6. Tesla showed what a no compromise EV would be like by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2, Insightful
    It is unfortunate Musk gets the company into trouble.

    He was prescient enough to see a Moore's law for batteries, with a 7 year period for power density and price. His prediction is coming exactly. He was charismatic enough to persuade enough VCs to fund a company that can make a no-compromise EV, not some compliance vehicle. But the company is stable now. The production hell has been debugged out. Now they are going through the delivery hell, and are talking about parts and repairs etc like a regular car company. At this point Elon is hurting more than helping Tesla.

    Tesla Model 3 is the fifth best selling car by volume and the number one car by revenue in August.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  7. Re:Tesla is irrelevant to EVs by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Come on, Tesla Model 3 is the fifth best selling car by units and the number 1 selling car by revenue in August. Just Civic, Accord, Corolla and Camry sold more in August, but Model 3 raked in 900 million dollars, more than any one of them.

    These are not ZEV credit market numbers. These are what a no-compromise EV can do. There is no special technology or patents with Tesla. All it needs is a will to let the ICEV sales by cannibalized by the EV divisions, the traditional car makers can all make cars like the Tesla.

    Tesla is not selling Model 3 in negative gross margin and survives by ZEV credits. Three independent tear downs estimated positive gross margin for both the high end Model 3 above 50K and for the low end 35 K model. The most negative report came from UBS, that first gagged Monroe who did the teardown with a law suite, conceded 50 K model 3 has a gross margin of 9000$, then switched to net margin while talking about the 35 K version, while giving the impression it is still talking about gross margin. The German teardown priced it 28K per unit for the 50K car at 10,000 cars a week. Monroe admitted he is going eat crow and estimated 18% gross margin for the model 3.

    Tesla is NOT selling cars at a loss hoping to sell ZEV credits.

    I don't think there is a big conspiracy against Tesla, but it is an unfortunate confluence of click bait journalism, negative stories about Musk having better ratings play etc. And Musk shooting his mouth off and smoking pot on tv helps them a lot too.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  8. Re: sad... by Jeremi · · Score: 2

    Burn coal
    [...]
    Shitpost on slashdot with retardisms

    Surely, pretending that coal is the only way electricity can be made, is also a form of shitposting? Deliberately ignoring the entire other half of the equation (the societal shift away from fossil fuels as an energy source, Trump notwithstanding) in order to "win" an argument on Slashdot definitely qualifies as a retardism (as does using words like "retardism", of which I am hereby twice guilty)

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  9. Re:Not a big surprise by AC-x · · Score: 2

    When did twitter become the equivalent of a PR release to a financial magazine?

    How about "when the CEO of a company reveals plans for that company"? Doesn't really matter what medium the announcement is made on does it?