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Chanos, the lead short seller here, manufactured a crisis of confidence that made a crucial capital raise difficult. This proved fatal to SolarCity — and also i

• chris_va 5y ago
  ... The concept of a car company purchasing a flailing solar company that happened to be owned by the same individual is probably worth of some eyebrow raising. So, I am not sure "manufactured" is the right term here, regardless of the motivation of the people involved. (I have no vested interest here)
  • sigil 5y ago
    Agreed on that point. A failure mode we're all familiar with -- more dependency arrows, more problems! But why did Vivint and Sunrun succeed when SolarCity failed? Sunrun apparently had a similar business model and economics. The linked analysis raises this question, although I don't know enough about the solar industry to say whether this is reasonable to ask, or fundamentally an apples-to-oranges comparison.
  • slownews45 5y ago
    Elon had roughly the same % of both companies both separately and together, so it's not clear to me how its a big advantage financially for him. From a strategy standpoint - a no brainer to purchase what is now energy - he knew all the people there, was already working there, had a big stake there, and they may play an important role in his green energy plan. For everyone saying he should have bought some chinese solar co - he's focused ons speed, and getting up to speed on a new solar company - why? Secondarily, how are those solarcity or tesla shareholders doing? How is tesla energy doing? You got to be able to take some risks as the boss, that's why he is there. And no question he takes risks.
  • kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
    Tesla is a battery company with a vertically integrated product line.
• halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
  SolarCity is still alive and well as Tesla Energy.
  • ericd 5y ago
    Yeah, I haven’t pulled the trigger, but they’re by far the best $/watt I’ve seen.