Submitted via IRC for chromas
Elon Musk isn't on his Twitter leash yet, so he's taunting the SEC
On Saturday, Elon Musk settled a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission claiming that he had violated federal securities laws by tweeting that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private. Now, days later, Musk has tweeted out a sarcastic message to the SEC:
Just want to [say] that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work. And the name change is so on point!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2018
Musk has long waged a rhetorical war against shortsellers—investors who borrow shares of Tesla in order to profit if the price drops. Here he's suggesting that the agency—whose mission is to protect investors from CEO misconduct—is actually harming the value of Tesla's stock by enforcing securities laws against Musk and Tesla.
[...] Saturday's settlement required Musk to step down as Tesla's chairman, appoint two new independent directors, and pay a $20 million fine. The deal also requires Tesla's board to "establish a new committee of independent directors and put in place additional controls and procedures to oversee Musk's communications." But according to Recode's Teddy Schleifer, that requirement doesn't kick in for 90 days after signing, giving Musk a few more weeks of unfettered tweeting.
[...] The stock market did not seem thrilled about Musk's latest tweet today. After falling 4.4 percent during the regular trading session, Tesla's stock price fell by another two percent in the minutes after Musk tweeted.
The judge overseeing the case has asked Tesla and the SEC to write a joint memo justifying the settlement. It's due next week. Ordinarily, this would just be a formality, but Musk's tweet is certainly not going to help the process go more smoothly.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday October 06 2018, @03:11AM (4 children)
Well that was real stupid of Musk to make another tweet like that. Among other things, now this drop in stock value and enriching of short sellers is his fault.
Also shows he didn't accept the lesson. What's with this furious refusal to admit to making a mistake that's become a principle so dearly held by so many people, especially those of conservative bent? Do they feel they are perfect?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by quietus on Saturday October 06 2018, @03:45AM
Not necessarily. I can't recall the name of the person involved, nor the companies, but he was a middle name CEO at the time who'd come in the news with his antics -- clearly he had become a liability for his then company. To which an older, more experienced, colleague at Siemens replied that that was typical, this guy has a pattern of doing just that: first drive the stock price up, negotiate a very good severance package, than start making trouble. The company is better of with paying him his millions, and letting him hop to the next company.
This might make sense with Musk too: at [what leaked out of] his last pay negotiation the focus was on the bonuses he'd get when hitting nearly impossible goals. A nice diversion, eagerly lapped up by investors as a sign of how much their stock holdings could further rise. Maybe the press should have focused on his severance, instead.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @04:30AM (2 children)
The Tesla stock price, which is arguably higher than it ever should have been, has a habit of bouncing back up after these sudden drops.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @01:46PM (1 child)
There's a lot of gullible people out there that still believe that the company is on its way to great things. Possibly, but with the way they're spending money like drunken Republicans, it'll be interesting to see if they can stay afloat long enough to start making money.
The answer to that is not likely if Musk is allowed to remain in control and affiliated with the company. Most of the losses are the direct result of his incompetence and arrogance. They could and should have been making a modest profit for quite some time now, the reason they're not is because they're trying to grow way too fast and still can't resist the urge to bite off more than they can chew or hire people that know how these lines work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @03:45PM
Tesla's only chance of surviving is through fast growth. Going slow allows the incumbents to catch up.