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If Tesla were a normal company, Musk would have been fired long ago. There was that conference call when he just stopped answering questions because he didn't l

by bodas 8y ago

If Tesla were a normal company, Musk would have been fired long ago. There was that conference call when he just stopped answering questions because he didn't like them. Or the "pedo" tweet last month when he decided to accuse that diver of being a pedophile because he's resident in Thailand. The only reason Musk was CEO long enough to potentially commit securities fraud is that he indispensable to the company, not because of his suitability for the role. Tesla should definitely fire him now, but you know what... I don't think they will.

dunpeal 8y ago
This appears to be the case. One of the articles about the possibility of Tesla going private mentioned most of Tesla's board members are Musk's longtime acquaintances and friends: > But it has to be a truly independent committee, with the ability to reject a deal, Mr. Cox said. “This becomes very problematic at Tesla” because many of the board members have longstanding relationships with Mr. Musk, he added. https://www.wsj.com/articles/musks-tweets-on-tesla-buyout-face-scrutiny-after-saudi-disclosure-1534244400 https://www.wsj.com/articles/musks-tweets-on-tesla-buyout-fa... The more I learn about this issue, the more it seems like a corruption of capitalism: a celebrity CEO running a public company like it was his own private playground. You can see how the fantasies of "taking Tesla private" figure into this puzzle.
- mrep 8y ago
  You all make fair points but I definitely don't think it is "corruption of capitalism". I doubt spacex or tesla would be worth nearly as much as they currently are without him because he is a master marketer. They got tens if not hundreds of thousands of people to line up to buy a car years off from production. They also get people to work for them doing 60 hour weeks because they love the mission that he is trying to achieve (source, my brother who worked for tesla and did 60 hour weeks). On "taking Tesla private", I don't blame him considering the mission each company is trying to achieve will take a long time and spacex doesn't really get much bad press much whereas tesla is constantly hammered which would be demoralizing if I worked there.
  - dunpeal 8y ago
    > I doubt spacex or tesla would be worth nearly as much as they currently are without him because he is a master marketer. Nobody said Musk wasn't a great entrepreneur. The problem is the way he runs his companies right now, as a chief executive and major stock holder. For example, the way he packed Tesla's board full of his longtime friends. Tesla is a public company. It has a board for a reason: the board is suppose to be loyal and beholden to the "public", i.e. the shareholders, not to Musk. The board is supposed to be independent of the CEO. Indeed, it is supposed to be able to independently assess and - when appropriate - supervise and terminate the role of the CEO. That is not happening because the current board is full of Musk's friends. Had the board been independent - as it should be - Musk would probably be more careful, or he'd risk being fired after previous infractions, and certainly after this current one - bringing the ire of the SEC + multiple civil lawsuits down upon Tesla and its shareholders for no apparent gain or reason. Musk seems to be a great entrepreneur. His present failings as a chief executive are unfortunate, and he is disappointing people who trusted him - notably, his investors and shareholders.
coatmatter 8y ago
> Or the "pedo" tweet last month when he decided to accuse that diver of being a pedophile because he's resident in Thailand. I don't mean to be annoying with this nitpick, but I feel it's important for details to be as precise as possible these days - my understanding is that Unsworth isn't a resident by any definition, but once-per-year visitor to Thailand (specifically because he's a cave enthusiast/specialist). I feel that this fact somehow makes Musk's unjustified attacks (ultimately retracted, but not before doubling down) all the (slightly) worse. Also, I realise that some continue to believe or justify that Musk was "right" in his escalated response, but as an outsider I can't help but notice that Unsworth's original video interview response was filled with normal British humour that Musk completely overlooked and subsequently went full thermonuclear on. Messy.

by bodas 8y ago

dunpeal 8y ago

This appears to be the case. One of the articles about the possibility of Tesla going private mentioned most of Tesla's board members are Musk's longtime acquaintances and friends: > But it has to be a truly independent committee, with the ability to reject a deal, Mr. Cox said. “This becomes very problematic at Tesla” because many of the board members have longstanding relationships with Mr. Musk, he added. https://www.wsj.com/articles/musks-tweets-on-tesla-buyout-face-scrutiny-after-saudi-disclosure-1534244400 https://www.wsj.com/articles/musks-tweets-on-tesla-buyout-fa... The more I learn about this issue, the more it seems like a corruption of capitalism: a celebrity CEO running a public company like it was his own private playground. You can see how the fantasies of "taking Tesla private" figure into this puzzle.

mrep 8y ago
You all make fair points but I definitely don't think it is "corruption of capitalism". I doubt spacex or tesla would be worth nearly as much as they currently are without him because he is a master marketer. They got tens if not hundreds of thousands of people to line up to buy a car years off from production. They also get people to work for them doing 60 hour weeks because they love the mission that he is trying to achieve (source, my brother who worked for tesla and did 60 hour weeks). On "taking Tesla private", I don't blame him considering the mission each company is trying to achieve will take a long time and spacex doesn't really get much bad press much whereas tesla is constantly hammered which would be demoralizing if I worked there.
- dunpeal 8y ago
  > I doubt spacex or tesla would be worth nearly as much as they currently are without him because he is a master marketer. Nobody said Musk wasn't a great entrepreneur. The problem is the way he runs his companies right now, as a chief executive and major stock holder. For example, the way he packed Tesla's board full of his longtime friends. Tesla is a public company. It has a board for a reason: the board is suppose to be loyal and beholden to the "public", i.e. the shareholders, not to Musk. The board is supposed to be independent of the CEO. Indeed, it is supposed to be able to independently assess and - when appropriate - supervise and terminate the role of the CEO. That is not happening because the current board is full of Musk's friends. Had the board been independent - as it should be - Musk would probably be more careful, or he'd risk being fired after previous infractions, and certainly after this current one - bringing the ire of the SEC + multiple civil lawsuits down upon Tesla and its shareholders for no apparent gain or reason. Musk seems to be a great entrepreneur. His present failings as a chief executive are unfortunate, and he is disappointing people who trusted him - notably, his investors and shareholders.

coatmatter 8y ago

> Or the "pedo" tweet last month when he decided to accuse that diver of being a pedophile because he's resident in Thailand. I don't mean to be annoying with this nitpick, but I feel it's important for details to be as precise as possible these days - my understanding is that Unsworth isn't a resident by any definition, but once-per-year visitor to Thailand (specifically because he's a cave enthusiast/specialist). I feel that this fact somehow makes Musk's unjustified attacks (ultimately retracted, but not before doubling down) all the (slightly) worse. Also, I realise that some continue to believe or justify that Musk was "right" in his escalated response, but as an outsider I can't help but notice that Unsworth's original video interview response was filled with normal British humour that Musk completely overlooked and subsequently went full thermonuclear on. Messy.