Tesla

Is It Time for Elon Musk to Leave Tesla?

August 31, 2018 By Tamila McDonald Leave a Comment

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, The Boring Company, and SpaceX, recently made headlines after posting a tweet about taking Tesla private. Initially, investors wondered whether his account had been hacked. However, Elon Musk reiterated the notion on Tesla’s official website as well as in an email to employees.

Public trading often frustrates Elon Musk, particularly investors who “short” the company, betting that its stock value will decline. However, the billionaire’s statement led to a fallout, including causing Tesla to be a potential target for scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Many investors chose to move away from Tesla, causing a fairly large sell-off and sending share prices tumbling. Additionally, many have started to wonder whether Elon Musk should leave Tesla if the company is to recover.

Tesla’s Battle for Profitability

In a recent interview, Elon Musk outlined his struggles with turning Tesla into a profitable business. While the company is certainly innovative, the CEO admitted that he had had 120-hour work weeks and, at times, needs Ambien to sleep.

One issue is the production of the Tesla Model 3. Frequent delays and missed production goals harmed the company’s reputation. Ultimately, this impacts investor sentiment, hurting Tesla’s value.

Elon Musk owns approximately 20 percent of Tesla, so his stake is substantial. However, he does not have the ability to take the company private alone. Instead, he would need majority shareholder approval.

While Elon Must may see the option of going private as potentially beneficial, shareholders may not feel the same way. This could cause a rift, leading to additional struggles for the company.

Tesla’s stock is down 1 percent this year. Whether it will continue to fall is unknown, as investor sentiment can shift quickly.

Should Elon Musk Leave Tesla?

Ultimately, it’s hard to say whether Tesla would be better off without Elon Musk. Board members have reportedly expressed concern over Elon Musk’s use of Ambien, but have not made an outward attempt to out the CEO.

In early August, Azealia Banks also made claims on social media that Elon Musk was using LSD, an illegal, psychedelic substance known for its mind-altering effects. The post was later deleted, and it is unknown whether her claims were accurate.

CNBC host Jim Cramer has openly stated that he believes Elon Musk should take medical leave from the company.

Joe Nocera, an opinion columnist on Bloomberg, has even suggested that Elon Musk should find another CEO for Tesla.

However, Elon Musk frequently battles back against calls that he should leave the company. Whether that position is best for Tesla isn’t easy to discern, partially because it isn’t clear who would take Elon Musk’s place as CEO.

Even if the billionaire left Tesla, any incoming CEO would need to have a strong vision and plan for the company. Since there is no indication that Elon Musk intends to abandon his association with the company, one can only speculate whether the Tesla would fare better without him.

Do you think Elon Musk should leave Tesla? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk Says Driverless Cars Will Be Available in the Near Future

October 12, 2014 By Jenny T. 6 Comments

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says driverless cars will be here soon

With autopilot upgrades included in the Model S this year, Tesla continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in automotive design and driving. Highlights of the unveiling of the 2014 Edition Model S just a few days ago included a dual motor enabling All Wheel Drive capabilities set to make Tesla into a strong player in the east and midwest markets.

However, it’s the autopilot feature that’s making the Model S wildly popular. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, previously said in the Nikkei interview that full-auto pilot cars were just five or six years away. However, in the CNNMoney interview, Musk was quoted as saying, “A Tesla car next year will be 90% capable of autopilot.”

While that seems like a far more aggressive estimate than the previous five or six years time frame, it’s the last 10% which will be the most difficult to achieve.

With the recent upgrades on the Model S, we do have an idea what that 90% will likely include. Driverless car tracking, for one, is going to be available. Like the idea of your car slowing down when the traffic lights turn red at intersections without you having to step on the brake. Or imagine it having the car come to a full stop in front of the mall to pick you up at the curb.

The first one isn’t just slightly possible, it’s already here. The technology is already out in the market with the 2014 Model S, and we can expect mainstream automakers to start rolling out models with autopilot capabilities soon. Models that can adjust speeds on the road and change lanes all on autopilot are now going to be just around the corner.

The second scenario, however, where you get picked up at the grocery store by your car on autodrive, is going to take some time before it can see the light of day. Right now, the future of autopilot drives seems to exclusively include drivers behind the wheel. And Tesla isn’t the only one thinking through problems to get the design onto the market.

Google (GOOG) has been working on the idea for years. And even San Francisco has already given its go signal, allowing Google to use state roads for its test drives. Other states are looking to lift the regulation on autodriving within the next year, too.

But state regulations aside, the central problem seems to deal with the question of how to equip autopilot designs with a roadmap and system that has the intelligence to recognize everything it will need to recognize on the road.

Most smart applications in the market (on phones and watches and other tech gadgets) are already changing what smart applications mean. So while cars without drivers behind the wheel may prove to be an entirely new concept for many, maybe it’s not such a stretch to imagine that the next models out would have what it takes to turn that 90% into a solid 100%. And that the electronic carmaker will have what it takes to make the world’s first car with full autopilot capabilities a Tesla — much, much sooner than later.

(Photo courtesy of Windell Oskay)

S&P 500 has Worst Week in Two Years and Dow in Negative Territory for the Year

August 2, 2014 By Jeffrey Strain 2 Comments

The S&P 500 had its worst week in 2 years and the Dow is negative for the year

It only took a couple of days at the end of the week to completely change the recent stock market momentum. On Wednesday it appeared there still might be a chance for the Dow Jones industrial average to reach a record high, and the S&P 500 to top 2,000 points. That all changed on Thursday as stocks retreated enough for the Dow to fall into negative territory for the year, and the S&P 500 to fall more during the week than it had in two years.

Friday wasn’t as bad as Thursday, but the declines continued mainly over concerns about Argentina defaulting on its debt. The Dow lost 69.93 points (0.42%) on the day to end the week at 16,493.37. That was a 2.8% decrease for the week and has the Dow well below the 17,000 barrier it was just below at the beginning of the week. The Dow is now down 0.5% for the year.

The S&P 500 fell 5.52 points (0.29%) to end the week at 1,925.15. That was a 2.7% decline for the week, and the largest one week percentage drop for the index since the beginning of June in 2012. The S&P 500 had been flirting with the 2,000 point barrier for a couple of weeks, but now has a long way to go to reach that goal. Even with the large weekly drop, the S&P 500 is still up over 4% for the year.

The NASDAQ composite dropped 17.13 points on Friday to end the week at 4,352.64, a decrease of 0.39% for the day. That was a 2.2% drop for the entire week for the composite. Even with the loses this week the NASDAQ remains up over 4% for the year.

It seems that the largest factor in the drop came from jitters about Argentina and its debt problems. The country defaulted on its debt earlier in the week, and a US judge ordered the country to negotiate with investors after criticizing the country for defaulting on the debt.

The Argentina news overshadowed news that unemployment rose and job growth slowed in July. While this news isn’t good for those working, it signals to the stock market that the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates low which is good for the market. Even with this, there’s still tension in the market about interest rate increases.

There were also some stocks that did well on the day, but couldn’t keep the indexes from falling. Procter & Gamble saw its stock rise 3% to $79.65 on news that was hoping to sell about half its brands over the next couple of years to concentrate on those bringing the most value to the company. Tesla stock rose 4.5% to over $230 a share with the announcement that second quarter revenue was almost double what it had been the previous year.

(Photo courtesy of Jose Maria Silveira Neto)

The Tesla Model 3: Lighting up the Future of the Electric Car Industry for Only $35,000

July 20, 2014 By Emma Harrison Clark 3 Comments

Until now electric cars (otherwise known as EV’s) have been referred to as the folly of wealthy, suburban, environmentalists who like the idea of being green as much as they like actually helping to save the environment. Vehicles like the Nissan Leaf or the Ford Focus EV have not only been costly to buy, but they’ve been impractical to maintain. Owners needed to have chargers in their garages, and hours up their sleeves in order to travel more than 100 miles at a time.

Enter the Tesla model 3. This week’s announcement, which was confirmed on Twitter by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has EV enthusiasts sitting up to pay attention. At a cost of only $35,000 it will break the mold as the first electric car that can compete in a market where your average sedan retails for $31,000, and even Tesla’s current EV, the Model S, goes for around $70,000.

And they certainly go. The Tesla Rover and the base model Tesla S (which are both now out of production) could reach 0-60 in approximately 4 seconds. With them, Tesla proved its ability to craft electric cars that have both speed and good handling. So EV lovers can be assured they have the technology in place.

Regardless, two barriers remain, the first being range. Traditionally EV’s can only travel up to 100 miles before they need recharging. But Tesla is saying that the Model 3 will double that range, and just in case it’s building a network of charging stations which will fuel them up in just one hour.

Consumers in the US and China are already hitting up blogs with suggestions to make the Model 3 a viable option in their everyday lives. Ideas like installing charger stations at the gym, at the supermarket, and at the movies are flowing in for Tesla management.

The second barrier is Tesla’s ability to manufacture and market such a winning proposition at such a low price. The company will be facing a huge task in the build up to the 2016/2017 launch, but the end result could be magnificent if they can deliver on their promise.

If they pull it off, the Model 3 could break open the market for electronic cars, making the technology both a realistic investment and a practical solution to our car-reliant societies who are slowly, but surely, running out of fuel.