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How have they gotten away with such obvious misadvertising for this long? It’s undeniably misled customers and inflated their stock value

Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
Who was going to stop them from lying?
- SequoiaHope 1y ago
  SEC is one possibility
  - greekrich92 1y ago
    2007 called...
- vlovich123 1y ago
  SEC and FTC would be obvious candidates who historically would do this. States also have the ability to prosecute this via UDAP (unfair and deceptive practices) laws. Probably Tesla being the only major domestic EV manufacturer + historically Musk not wading into politics + Musk/Tesla being widely popular for a time is probably why no one has gone after him. Not sure how this changes going forward with Musk being a very polarizing figure now.
  - 1over137 1y ago
    >SEC and FTC would be obvious candidates who historically would do this. Yeah, historically, as in: before many people here were born. It's been so long since SEC and FTC did such things.
    - rsynnott 1y ago
      FTC, sure, yeah, mostly, kinda neutered these days. SEC, despite Trump’s efforts to neuter it, is still fairly scary tho.
  - barbazoo 1y ago
    Maybe that’s what happens in late stage capitalism. The billionaires get so powerful that they become untouchable. He’s already shown that he uses his fortune to steer political outcomes.
  - randallsquared 1y ago
    The previous two administrations (Trump I and Biden) being somewhat anti-Tesla or anti-Musk was some part of what prompted Musk to get into politics in the first place. Given the Biden admin's hostility, I would have expected the SEC and FTC to have been directed to do all they could against him within bounds, and so my first guess would be that they did, in fact, do everything justifiable.
    - MangoToupe 1y ago
      > anti-Tesla I'm curious why you think this. I would be pretty shocked if, despite Musk's disgusting personality, they weren't also bought in.
      - randallsquared 1y ago
        From 2022, a contemporaneous account of the Biden antipathy: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2022/02/03/tesla-who-biden-cant-bring-himself-say-and-musk-has-noticed/6648062001/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2022/02/03/... While I didn't look long for a more neutral source, Teslarati has a good list of the prompts of the shift from Musk being anti-Trump and pro-Biden, to giving up on Biden, to supporting Trump: https://www.teslarati.com/former-tesla-exec-confirms-wsj-report-on-biden-admins-anti-tesla-bias/ https://www.teslarati.com/former-tesla-exec-confirms-wsj-rep... There were apparently also other considerations not associated with Tesla for his turn (transgender child, etc), but my read on all this is that Musk saw staying out of politics didn't mean politics would stay away from him. Given that Trump II is also now somewhat anti-Musk, it's not clear to me that he succeeded in avoiding a longer-term axe for Tesla (Neuralink/Solarcity/SpaceX/Boring...) from politicians. We'll see.
  - MangoToupe 1y ago
    Not to mention there's got to have been insane pressure from the hill not to kill the golden goose.
- spixy 1y ago
  courts like this one: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53418069 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53418069
dreamcompiler 1y ago
Normally the Board of Directors would fire any CEO that destroyed as much of the company's value as Musk has. But Tesla's board is full of Musk syncophants and family members who refuse to stand up to him.
- breve 1y ago
  The board doesn't care. They got theirs: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/business/tesla-stock-sales-robyn-denholm.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/business/tesla-stock-sale... https://www.afr.com/technology/life-changing-wealth-stopped-denholm-standing-up-to-musk-judge-20240131-p5f1ci https://www.afr.com/technology/life-changing-wealth-stopped-...
  - utyop22 1y ago
    Lmao disgusting really.
- utyop22 1y ago
  Poor corporate governance is rife.
- zpeti 1y ago
  > destroyed as much of the company's value as Musk has Please, post numbers to back this up… please…
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - MangoToupe 1y ago
    Ah who needs numbers when we have time? Be patient
- enaaem 1y ago
  The only reason why Tesla is selling at 190 PE is because of Musk. Musk is really good at selling stock to retail investors.

Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago

Who was going to stop them from lying?

SequoiaHope 1y ago
SEC is one possibility
- greekrich92 1y ago
  2007 called...
vlovich123 1y ago
SEC and FTC would be obvious candidates who historically would do this. States also have the ability to prosecute this via UDAP (unfair and deceptive practices) laws. Probably Tesla being the only major domestic EV manufacturer + historically Musk not wading into politics + Musk/Tesla being widely popular for a time is probably why no one has gone after him. Not sure how this changes going forward with Musk being a very polarizing figure now.
- 1over137 1y ago
  >SEC and FTC would be obvious candidates who historically would do this. Yeah, historically, as in: before many people here were born. It's been so long since SEC and FTC did such things.
  - rsynnott 1y ago
    FTC, sure, yeah, mostly, kinda neutered these days. SEC, despite Trump’s efforts to neuter it, is still fairly scary tho.
- barbazoo 1y ago
  Maybe that’s what happens in late stage capitalism. The billionaires get so powerful that they become untouchable. He’s already shown that he uses his fortune to steer political outcomes.
- randallsquared 1y ago
  The previous two administrations (Trump I and Biden) being somewhat anti-Tesla or anti-Musk was some part of what prompted Musk to get into politics in the first place. Given the Biden admin's hostility, I would have expected the SEC and FTC to have been directed to do all they could against him within bounds, and so my first guess would be that they did, in fact, do everything justifiable.
  - MangoToupe 1y ago
    > anti-Tesla I'm curious why you think this. I would be pretty shocked if, despite Musk's disgusting personality, they weren't also bought in.
    - randallsquared 1y ago
      From 2022, a contemporaneous account of the Biden antipathy: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2022/02/03/tesla-who-biden-cant-bring-himself-say-and-musk-has-noticed/6648062001/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2022/02/03/... While I didn't look long for a more neutral source, Teslarati has a good list of the prompts of the shift from Musk being anti-Trump and pro-Biden, to giving up on Biden, to supporting Trump: https://www.teslarati.com/former-tesla-exec-confirms-wsj-report-on-biden-admins-anti-tesla-bias/ https://www.teslarati.com/former-tesla-exec-confirms-wsj-rep... There were apparently also other considerations not associated with Tesla for his turn (transgender child, etc), but my read on all this is that Musk saw staying out of politics didn't mean politics would stay away from him. Given that Trump II is also now somewhat anti-Musk, it's not clear to me that he succeeded in avoiding a longer-term axe for Tesla (Neuralink/Solarcity/SpaceX/Boring...) from politicians. We'll see.
- MangoToupe 1y ago
  Not to mention there's got to have been insane pressure from the hill not to kill the golden goose.
spixy 1y ago
courts like this one: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53418069 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53418069

dreamcompiler 1y ago

Normally the Board of Directors would fire any CEO that destroyed as much of the company's value as Musk has. But Tesla's board is full of Musk syncophants and family members who refuse to stand up to him.

breve 1y ago
The board doesn't care. They got theirs: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/business/tesla-stock-sales-robyn-denholm.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/business/tesla-stock-sale... https://www.afr.com/technology/life-changing-wealth-stopped-denholm-standing-up-to-musk-judge-20240131-p5f1ci https://www.afr.com/technology/life-changing-wealth-stopped-...
- utyop22 1y ago
  Lmao disgusting really.
utyop22 1y ago
Poor corporate governance is rife.
zpeti 1y ago
> destroyed as much of the company's value as Musk has Please, post numbers to back this up… please…
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- MangoToupe 1y ago
  Ah who needs numbers when we have time? Be patient
enaaem 1y ago
The only reason why Tesla is selling at 190 PE is because of Musk. Musk is really good at selling stock to retail investors.