A favorite among some libertarians, Tesla founder Elon Musk is threatening to fire his overseas executives becasue of near zero sales.
This is a developing story.
UPDATE
From Reuters:
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is prepared to fire overseas executives, people with knowledge of the matter said, after weak Chinese sales of the company's luxury electric cars cast doubt on his ambitious global expansion plans...
Musk, in an internal email to managers in late January, threatened to fire or demote country managers if they are "not on a clear path to positive long-term cash flow,'' according to sources who have seen the email.
Ok, I'm going by memory now so if someone has more to add or tweak feel free:
ReplyDeleteI think the reason he's flipping out is because if I remember correctly Musk acknowledged in IBD or similar media that Tesla sales in the US had flattened(and I read that as topped out...) and HIS ENTIRE MODEL was now based on overseas growth.
That is supposed to be Tesla's whole focus now, which is why it makes sense that he would be flipping out as it was an investor oriented pitch if I remember correctly.
The scenario reminds me a Bitcoin a little bit....early adopters, initial sales surge/hit, promises of paradigm shifts, etc.
The only difference I see is that I'm sure the price of oil has impacted him as an external factor in terms of speeding up the top out, even if his cars are Federally subsidized play toys for the wealthy.
When you factor in the taxpayer subsidizing toys for the wealthy via Tesla, and Space X revenue being significantly government contract driven(and gov't booster rockets being used), it's quite apparent that Musk has become a crony capitalist.
Along those lines, the next question is, how soon until he runs back to gov't again for more money to keep his companies afloat?
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ReplyDelete--" Musk [...] threatened to fire or demote country managers if they are 'not on a clear path to positive long-term cash flow,' "--
ReplyDeleteSo he's becoming a capitalist, finally. Good for him!
Socialist/Capitalism is thriving in Nevada, where our Governor happily put up 1 Billion in taxpayer subsidies & credits to help Elon construct the " Giga" battery plant which, if all goes well? Will provide for jobs in 2020 while creating Eco-garbage in the desert. Maybe we should open YUCCA Mountain for Tesla byproduct?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand we may be viewing another historical Nevada phenomenon: " development to dust, in less than 5 years"