Elon Musk is throwing his weight around Tesla, comes in like a wrecking ball | Hacker News Reader

Elon Musk is throwing his weight around Tesla, comes in like a wrecking ball

electrek.co

44 pointsZuckMusk28 comments

Really hoping the board ousts him; he's more of a liability than an asset at this point, what with his strange probably-drug-fueled descent into madness.

Sadly, it's not likely to happen.

Why would the board get rid of him? From their side he increased their investments nearly 10,000%

Elon is going to have to do worst things to get ousted than poor ramblings and failed vanity projects.

This whole ordeal shows why workers should have some portion of board seats themselves.

The future, not the past, is rewarded.

Because his past achievements are a poor indicator of his future value

Exactly. Musk's antics are an ethical and sanity concern, not a financial one. And Wall Street loves lay offs.

Such a throwback to see a company where the CEO or cabal doesn't have majority voting power.

He might get a slap on the wrist when his comp package gets voted on by shareholders this June.

Is there any reason to give a darn about what happens internally except for people’s outsized fascination with Musk’s personality? People love him or hate him for Tesla and Twitter, but in the end does it really have an impact on a macroeconomic level? I’m of course sympathetic to the thousands losing their jobs because of his decisions, and that’s assuming another CEO wouldn’t make similar cuts.

Well public perception of tesla has plummeted. Among democrats, who are probably the larger target market for EV’s, it’s dropped 90% from 30% favorable to 3% favorable over a few years:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2023/01/12/teslas-b...

As someone who is not very interested in cars, Musk, or anything California; there was a time where a Tesla seemed like a really cool choice. Now it seems like an embarrassing choice.

The brand harm is very, very real.

I kind of wonder if high interest rates are starting to cut into Tesla investment. They have only been profitable since 2019 and peaked in late 2022. At $17 billion and a market cap of half a trillion, that's only a 3% profit over investment. When you can make 7% on a savings account that doesn't seem sustainable.

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TSLA/tesla/gross-p...

So the only reason to invest in Tesla now is possible future growth, however the outlook for growth at Tesla is looking grim now that their revenue is flattening and they have excess inventory. In addition, the entry into the market by major competitors like Toyota, GM, Ford, and Hyundai makes this outlook even more bleak.

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TSLA/tesla/revenue

Tesla is going to need to pull a rabbit out of their hat. That could have been a network of Tesla charging stations. Maybe that's why they laid off their supercharging team? To make room for something a bit more ambitious? Musk is definitely going to have to do SOMETHING soon.

I'd read somewhere that the buy-in from other automakers to be compatible with the Tesla charging network might be exactly the reason why Tesla cut the supercharging team -- to get the other automakers to foot the bill as well.

What bill though? The Tesla charging system is a profit center… ok cool must kill the #1 feature of your brand. See what happens

Right? The people that have been justifying Tesla's stratospheric (read: way overpriced) market capitalization was that Tesla was going to be the next Exxon-Mobile with regards to providing "fuel" to EVs. Well, that ship has been sunk.

As you say, that was the #1 feature of their brand.

Oh well, they're providing plenty of opportunity for their competitors to swoop in and eat their lunch.

It is pretty clear that Musk fired entire org because the chief of the unit was not agreeing to layoffs. It is a move to send a signal. Very likely Musk will rehire many fired.

If he can... These people are likely in high demand. Wouldn't be surprised if EA or the joint venture by several legacy automakers scoops them up.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44649909/automakers-ev-ch...

Musk’s tweet re supercharger in the article said it all, too much focus on expansion and not enough focus on increasing availability and reliability of the existing infra.

That is utter BS, though. The supercharger network has been complimented as the most reliable charging network in north american for years now.

How are you going to maintain the network after firing all the talent? Why do expansion and maintenance have to be at odds?

National and Regional service companies that will inventory spares nearby and have available professionals to replace faulty units do exist. How much talent does making some phone calls and signing a contract require?

Clearly a lot considering the general state of the chargepoint, evgo, and ea networks.

Also consider that Tesla's chargers have thus far failed to achieve 800V charging, which is a death knell for any future facing network.

> Also consider that Tesla's chargers have thus far failed to achieve 800V charging, which is a death knell for any future facing network.

You're conflating ops with engineering issues.

I'm not. I'm merely adding evidence that maintenance-only is not a coherent business decision for the supercharger network.

If the Electrical Engineers were included in this layoff I would be surprised. But as you say, they failed to meet the 800v goal, so they probably deserve it too.

+1 for the article hero image - perfectly captures the spirit of Musk

I’ve been looking at buying a new car recently and although I don’t have an appropriate setup at home where I could install a charging point, I’ve wondered around a lot of showrooms and seen quite few EV’s in the process.

I’m seeing EV’s that style-wise just blow the Tesla out of the water, and these are from manufacturers like Kia and Skoda. Meanwhile Tesla produce the cybertruck as their latest offering.

On top of that I personally highly dislike Musk’s politics and his increasing support for why I see as right wing and dangerous politicians (from my perspective as an intersectional minority), so I would also avoid giving him any of my hard earned cash. A couple of years ago I would have jumped at a Tesla. Now I wouldn’t piss on one of it was on fire.

I would certainly hate to work at Tesla with Elon Musk at the helm. With the anti-WFH policy and now this, it sounds stressful. I'm glad I retired last year from the tech sector! (For more reasons that one...)

Very glad that I don't work somewhere with an immature "thought leader" at the helm. Imagine having your entire department cut as the result of a Twitter Poll because your CEO was bored one night on the toilet.

When Elon Musk takes "active interest" in one of his companies - start writing the obituary. His only purpose in this system is "eccentric vision", investment money, and narcissism. If you let him near the dials - it's over.

CEO makes CEO-type sweeping executive decisions. More breaking news at 9.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com