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I very much hate to see this. Not for Musk's sake, as he has been pretty much asking for something like this to happen. I hate it because of the damage it will
by Rooster61 8y ago
I very much hate to see this. Not for Musk's sake, as he has been pretty much asking for something like this to happen. I hate it because of the damage it will do to Tesla and SpaceX when he's likely banned from leading a company.
Tesla's not exactly lighting the world on fire in terms of potential long term success, but SpaceX really has been doing well in recent years. The fact that they are already refurbishing solid rocket boosters is a BIG deal. Losing a CEO is a very turbulent thing, and this will only set back their progress towards affordable space flight. I hope both companies are already grooming a suitable replacement.
- smt88 8y agoGet a new, non-founding CEO has worked wonders for lots of companies. There are very few (possibly zero) people who are "the only person for the job".
- Rooster61 8y agoMusk wasn't a founding member of Tesla. In fact, not all of the founders of Tesla were big fans of Musk's hire. Your point is valid though, and I do think someone could go in there and take over his job effectively. That doesn't mean there won't be a period of relative instability while that transition takes place.
- monocasa 8y agoEverywhere I've seen says that he's a co-founder of Tesla.
- plorkyeran 8y agoMartin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla. Elon Musk joined the board as part of their Series A a year later, and then became the CEO a few years after that.
- memmcgee 8y agoThat's because his PR team has pushed that narrative for years. He wasn't a founder however.
- dragonwriter 8y agoThat's because after he took over complete control he retroactively titled himself a “founder” even though he was not, in fact, involved in founding the company (he was the leading funder of their Series A, and has been the main stockholder since then, but “funder” and “founder” aren't the same thing.) Musk may be brilliant, but he's got a long history of a slippery relationship with the truth.
- monocasa 8y agoIt's also tanked more than a few companies.
- ble 8y agoSpaceX is not a public company so I don't see how a ban would affect Musk w/ r.t. SpaceX. also, otoh: think about the good things that could happen to $TSLA when Elon is removed from being a CEO.
- Rooster61 8y agoAhh, my mistake. I was unaware that the SEC does not have pull over privately held companies, or at least their employees. Still, the wave of litigation headed Musk's way can't help matters. He's going to be very busy.
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago> the SEC does not have pull over privately held companies I'm not sure this is accurate. The SEC could try to bar someone from serving as CEO or a director of any corporation. It's just never attempted that. The SEC regulates everyone who touches securities, and private companies issue securities. This ban, however, specifically restricts itself to public companies. The issue is therefore moot.
- dwighttk 8y agoIf he's banned from leading Tesla, perhaps he'll start mucking SpaceX up with his newly available attention.
- ble 8y agoI'd like to think Shotwell et. al already have a pretty well established convention as to how much Musk is allowed to intervene directly in operation and decision-making. He can pretend that he knows better than automotive engineers but I think his self-awareness is better calibrated when it comes to rocketry.
- jacquesm 8y agoHe can take the CEO slot anytime he wants, but he should not.
- dragonwriter 8y ago> I hate it because of the damage it will do to Tesla and SpaceX when he's likely banned from leading a company. He would only be banned from leading a public company; SpaceX is still private (and, heck, maybe he could realize his plan of taking Tesla private, too.) So, SpaceX wouldn't be directly effected.
- MPSimmons 8y agoWell, the stock is definitely on sale compared to where it was when he made that statement, so maybe!
- tempestn 8y agoCould affect their ability to get government contracts if he's convicted.
- jaggederest 8y agoI was surprised to see someone dealing with export restricted technology and secret clearance launch missions smoke mj on the podcast. I know for a fact they're still relatively zero tolerance about that.
- cma 8y agoSpaceX could be affected by him losing his security clearance for illegal drug use though.
- Barrin92 8y ago>I hate it because of the damage it will do to Tesla The day Tesla hires someone who can actually run a car company will be a good day for Tesla.
- fosco 8y agoTesla is not without challenges, but I am very happy with the products they have delivered thus far, and if I could afford them I would have a model x and s. I see this sentiment a lot but the reality is not only are the cars that they have delivered good but I think their safety ratings are top notch. I am not sure I want a 'regular car company ceo' I do not think they would have delivered in the way Tesla as a company has.
- MBCook 8y agoFrom all the stories in the last year it seems like if you took a regular car company CEO they would’ve been delivering faster with better build quality. Perhaps service times wouldn’t be so atrocious either. Or rain wouldn’t cause bumpers to fall off. Tesla’s tech is pretty top-notch (excluding auto pilot which I have doubts about). I think their ability to build cars is questionable.
- mikeash 8y agoIf you took a regular car company CEO, Tesla would be building hybrids and selling through dealerships and charging for map updates and providing atrocious media software and generally not doing any of the things that makes them interesting.
- jhall1468 8y agoI recall bailing out a LOT of executives at car companies not that long ago, don't you?
- Cookingboy 8y agoJust because there are bad executives at other car companies doesn't mean there aren't some amazing ones as well. Your logic does not flow.