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> Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has approached me multiple times about taking Tesla private. Interesting to see countries most dependent economically on

> Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has approached me multiple times about taking Tesla private. Interesting to see countries most dependent economically on fossil fuels heavily investing in their energy nemesis. Curious about the ramifications that might emanate out of partly giving away control of a large American automobile manufacturer to a foreign entity -- a potentially hostile one no less -- given how sensitive Tesla vehicles' proprietary technologies are from a safety/security standpoint.

garmaine 8y ago
It's called hedging.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> Interesting to see countries most dependent on fossil fuels heavily investing in their energy nemesis. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been hedging against fossil fuels massively for many decades. It's been a driving force behind major regional conflicts with global participation, so it's kind of one of those things that people should generally be aware of. > Curious about the ramifications that might emanate out of partly giving away control of a large American automobile manufacturer to a foreign entity You mean like when Chrysler got taken over by Fiat?
- toyg 8y ago
  To be fair, FIAT was hardly ever under the sort of nation-state influence that a sovereign fund is. They occasionally made business that "pleased", let's say, the Italian government, but it was decades before the Chrysler deal, and it was pretty rare anyway. Usually the relationship was the other way around, with the state making moves for the company to profit from, which is expected for any company. Sovereign funds are direct emanations of nation-states, which is different. When they buy a somewhat-strategic industrial asset, it is significant. The question is whether the US (and particularly this fossil-fuel-friendly administration) actually see Tesla as strategic at all - my guess is that the guys currently in charge wouldn't care one bit.
jacknews 8y ago
Are there any notable technologies? Are any of them a security issue? Or do you mean that a "foreign power" will gain knowledge of all the Tesla bugs, and therefore be able to unleash carnage on American roads, etc?

garmaine 8y ago

It's called hedging.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> Interesting to see countries most dependent on fossil fuels heavily investing in their energy nemesis. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been hedging against fossil fuels massively for many decades. It's been a driving force behind major regional conflicts with global participation, so it's kind of one of those things that people should generally be aware of. > Curious about the ramifications that might emanate out of partly giving away control of a large American automobile manufacturer to a foreign entity You mean like when Chrysler got taken over by Fiat?

toyg 8y ago
To be fair, FIAT was hardly ever under the sort of nation-state influence that a sovereign fund is. They occasionally made business that "pleased", let's say, the Italian government, but it was decades before the Chrysler deal, and it was pretty rare anyway. Usually the relationship was the other way around, with the state making moves for the company to profit from, which is expected for any company. Sovereign funds are direct emanations of nation-states, which is different. When they buy a somewhat-strategic industrial asset, it is significant. The question is whether the US (and particularly this fossil-fuel-friendly administration) actually see Tesla as strategic at all - my guess is that the guys currently in charge wouldn't care one bit.

jacknews 8y ago

Are there any notable technologies? Are any of them a security issue? Or do you mean that a "foreign power" will gain knowledge of all the Tesla bugs, and therefore be able to unleash carnage on American roads, etc?