6 ms·

WSJ has a target on Elon Musk's back. Every week they post something negative about him or his companies. I have a couple of conservative friends who have an ir

by dmode 11y ago

WSJ has a target on Elon Musk's back. Every week they post something negative about him or his companies. I have a couple of conservative friends who have an irrational hatred for Elon. They rail how everything Elon Musk does is a "scam". The WSJ comments are a reflection of that mindset. More broadly, I wonder why WSJ and some conservatives set a target on Elon. There are literally a gazillion subsidies, tax credits, offshore accounting going around. For example, Hollywood shoots their movies wherever they get tax credits. Texas has attracted large back office operations using tax credits. Data center locations are chosen based upon which state government throws in the most benefits. It seems odd that they would spent so much energy on Musk, whose subsidies are probably a rounding error. It makes me wonder if there are bigger things at stake. Are the WSJ overlords really scared that he is making material changes to energy and transportation that could hurt them ?

sremani 11y ago
LATimes, is also a bit skeptical of Elon Musk.
- niels_olson 11y ago
  LA Times is pretty conservative too. I have friends and family in LA who are, fairly liberal, and they pay for the New York Times rather than get local bias.
  - tosseraccount 11y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_United_States_presidential_election,_201 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_...
    - throwaway40483 11y ago
      Here' the correct link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_United_States_presidential_election,_2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_...
DigitalJack 11y ago
That's a horrible generalization of conservatives.
- dmode 11y ago
  Ha ! When did I generalize conservatives ? I said a couple of my conservative friends have this line of thought aligned with the comments. I was also just commenting on WSJ's motivation and not conservatives in general. Obviously not all conservatives are anti-Musk. I am not even sure that majority are. But there is no denying that there is a strain of conservatives who have strong anti-Musk sentiments.
  - hoorayimhelping 11y ago
    >Ha ! When did I generalize conservatives >I wonder why WSJ and conservatives set a target on Elon.
    - Diederich 11y ago
      This is what I see: > I wonder why WSJ and some conservatives set a target on Elon
  - DigitalJack 11y ago
    "More broadly, I wonder why WSJ and conservatives set a target on Elon."
    - jacoblambda 11y ago
      and some
    - dmode 11y ago
      Apologize, didn't mean to come across that way. Edited comment slightly to reflect that
  - hyperliner 11y ago
    Let's replace CONSERVATIVES by WHITES in your statement. You tell me if you generalized. "WSJ has a target on Elon Musk's back. Every week they post something negative about him or his companies. I have a couple of WHITE friends who have an irrational hatred for Elon. They rail how everything Elon Musk does is a "scam". The WSJ comments are a reflection of that mindset. More broadly, I wonder why WSJ and some WHITES set a target on Elon. There are literally a gazillion subsidies, tax credits, offshore accounting going around. For example, Hollywood shoots their movies wherever they get tax credits. Texas has attracted large back office operations using tax credits. Data center locations are chosen based upon which state government throws in the most benefits. It seems odd that they would spent so much energy on Musk, whose subsidies are probably a rounding error. It makes me wonder if there are bigger things at stake. Are the WSJ overlords really scared that he is making material changes to energy and transportation that could hurt them ?"
fmihaila 11y ago
>I wonder why WSJ and some conservatives set a target on Elon. Because he has made some very powerful enemies. SpaceX encroached on ULA's turf in the military satellite launch business with a vastly more cost-effective solution. SolarCity is making energy utilities across the country nervous because it threatens their monopoly (just read about the so far successful push from Buffett's NV Energy to stop the advance of distributed solar in the state of Nevada). Tesla just sent Detroit into catatonia with the Model 3 launch and their (almost sure to be a) half-million reservations for a car that will exist only in two or more years. None of these forces will go silently into the night. This feels like a deliberate, coordinated attack that hits Musk personally, and all three of his companies at once.
secfirstmd 11y ago
WSJ is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has done very little positive in his career other than sell trashy newspapers, diminished those media who once were decent, manipulate political power (Tony Blair, Thatcher etc) for his own commercial interests - including pushing UK away from the EU. His newspapers were shut down as they were involved in phone hacking dead children, amongst other things. Elon Musk wants to tackle climate change, build safe open artificial intelligence and go to Mars...
Trundle 11y ago
>I wonder why WSJ and some conservatives set a target on Elon. Conservation as a general concept is about preservation, tradition, limiting change. I'm sure there's plenty of people who align with conservative values for other reasons (as I'm sure most don't have a problem with Elon), but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of people are opposed to change in general. They like the way things have been and the way things are. They have a good thing going. They don't want to risk a future they might not like. They don't want to have to learn a new future. They don't want to have to worry or think about learning a new future. Hell, I get it and I consciously chose to go in to web dev! I can find out about a new tool that will make my life easier and still have an initial reaction of "damn it, not another one!". Elon Musk is the symbol for a lot of change.
cloudjacker 11y ago
It is actually really useful to understand that Elon Musk is $TSLA's one man plunge projection team. Or that if Tesla issues more shares for capital, Elon Musk is the primary buyer. Or that if there really WAS a costly issue that made the shares plummet, they will plummet further when he gets a margin call.
brainflake 11y ago
I've noticed that too with some friends. Tesla has been a really popular short position for traders over the past year and (you guessed it) they're all taking a bath right now. It'd be interesting to see what role WSJ coverage has in that.
prostoalex 11y ago
Is that true? The topic page linked in the article http://topics.wsj.com/person/E/Elon-Musk/1173 http://topics.wsj.com/person/E/Elon-Musk/1173 presents a variety of articles. Using SpaceX money to buy SCTY's unrated bonds is a fairly questionable maneuver - were investors from SpaceX's last round aware the money would be used this way, and if so, why didn't they just purchase SCTY bonds directly? WSJ was also super-negative on Theranos, just to throw it out there, as tech press was being busy singing accolades to yet another unicorn.
T-A 11y ago
It's not just the WSJ: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/08/13/2137334/this-is-tesla-when-does-musk-crash/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/08/13/2137334/this-is-tesla-...

by dmode 11y ago

sremani 11y ago

LATimes, is also a bit skeptical of Elon Musk.

niels_olson 11y ago
LA Times is pretty conservative too. I have friends and family in LA who are, fairly liberal, and they pay for the New York Times rather than get local bias.
- tosseraccount 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_United_States_presidential_election,_201 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_...
  - throwaway40483 11y ago
    Here' the correct link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_United_States_presidential_election,_2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_...

DigitalJack 11y ago

That's a horrible generalization of conservatives.

dmode 11y ago
Ha ! When did I generalize conservatives ? I said a couple of my conservative friends have this line of thought aligned with the comments. I was also just commenting on WSJ's motivation and not conservatives in general. Obviously not all conservatives are anti-Musk. I am not even sure that majority are. But there is no denying that there is a strain of conservatives who have strong anti-Musk sentiments.
- hoorayimhelping 11y ago
  >Ha ! When did I generalize conservatives >I wonder why WSJ and conservatives set a target on Elon.
  - Diederich 11y ago
    This is what I see: > I wonder why WSJ and some conservatives set a target on Elon
- DigitalJack 11y ago
  "More broadly, I wonder why WSJ and conservatives set a target on Elon."
  - jacoblambda 11y ago
    and some
  - dmode 11y ago
    Apologize, didn't mean to come across that way. Edited comment slightly to reflect that
- hyperliner 11y ago
  Let's replace CONSERVATIVES by WHITES in your statement. You tell me if you generalized. "WSJ has a target on Elon Musk's back. Every week they post something negative about him or his companies. I have a couple of WHITE friends who have an irrational hatred for Elon. They rail how everything Elon Musk does is a "scam". The WSJ comments are a reflection of that mindset. More broadly, I wonder why WSJ and some WHITES set a target on Elon. There are literally a gazillion subsidies, tax credits, offshore accounting going around. For example, Hollywood shoots their movies wherever they get tax credits. Texas has attracted large back office operations using tax credits. Data center locations are chosen based upon which state government throws in the most benefits. It seems odd that they would spent so much energy on Musk, whose subsidies are probably a rounding error. It makes me wonder if there are bigger things at stake. Are the WSJ overlords really scared that he is making material changes to energy and transportation that could hurt them ?"

fmihaila 11y ago

>I wonder why WSJ and some conservatives set a target on Elon. Because he has made some very powerful enemies. SpaceX encroached on ULA's turf in the military satellite launch business with a vastly more cost-effective solution. SolarCity is making energy utilities across the country nervous because it threatens their monopoly (just read about the so far successful push from Buffett's NV Energy to stop the advance of distributed solar in the state of Nevada). Tesla just sent Detroit into catatonia with the Model 3 launch and their (almost sure to be a) half-million reservations for a car that will exist only in two or more years. None of these forces will go silently into the night. This feels like a deliberate, coordinated attack that hits Musk personally, and all three of his companies at once.

secfirstmd 11y ago

WSJ is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has done very little positive in his career other than sell trashy newspapers, diminished those media who once were decent, manipulate political power (Tony Blair, Thatcher etc) for his own commercial interests - including pushing UK away from the EU. His newspapers were shut down as they were involved in phone hacking dead children, amongst other things. Elon Musk wants to tackle climate change, build safe open artificial intelligence and go to Mars...

Trundle 11y ago

>I wonder why WSJ and some conservatives set a target on Elon. Conservation as a general concept is about preservation, tradition, limiting change. I'm sure there's plenty of people who align with conservative values for other reasons (as I'm sure most don't have a problem with Elon), but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of people are opposed to change in general. They like the way things have been and the way things are. They have a good thing going. They don't want to risk a future they might not like. They don't want to have to learn a new future. They don't want to have to worry or think about learning a new future. Hell, I get it and I consciously chose to go in to web dev! I can find out about a new tool that will make my life easier and still have an initial reaction of "damn it, not another one!". Elon Musk is the symbol for a lot of change.

cloudjacker 11y ago

It is actually really useful to understand that Elon Musk is $TSLA's one man plunge projection team. Or that if Tesla issues more shares for capital, Elon Musk is the primary buyer. Or that if there really WAS a costly issue that made the shares plummet, they will plummet further when he gets a margin call.

brainflake 11y ago

I've noticed that too with some friends. Tesla has been a really popular short position for traders over the past year and (you guessed it) they're all taking a bath right now. It'd be interesting to see what role WSJ coverage has in that.

prostoalex 11y ago

Is that true? The topic page linked in the article http://topics.wsj.com/person/E/Elon-Musk/1173 http://topics.wsj.com/person/E/Elon-Musk/1173 presents a variety of articles. Using SpaceX money to buy SCTY's unrated bonds is a fairly questionable maneuver - were investors from SpaceX's last round aware the money would be used this way, and if so, why didn't they just purchase SCTY bonds directly? WSJ was also super-negative on Theranos, just to throw it out there, as tech press was being busy singing accolades to yet another unicorn.

T-A 11y ago

It's not just the WSJ: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/08/13/2137334/this-is-tesla-when-does-musk-crash/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/08/13/2137334/this-is-tesla-...