Elon Musk in Trouble with SEC

[Chance]

From The Guardian:

Tesla is likely to face investigation by US securities market regulators following the CEO Elon Musk’s extraordinary tweet that he had “funding secured” to take the company private, according to a media report.

Shares in the money-losing carmaker fell sharply in New York after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is making “inquiries” and quoted former SEC lawyers as saying that investigators were looking for documentation to back up Musk’s claims.

According to the Journal, the SEC’s inquiries originate from the agency’s San Francisco office. The SEC declined to comment. If Musk’s claim turns out to be false, he risks civil and possible criminal penalties.

Shares dipped again after Bloomberg reported regulators had been looking into Tesla prior to Musk’s tweets and were now intensifying their scrutiny of Tesla Inc.’s public statements, including statements on manufacturing goals and sales targets.

The specific regulation lawyers believe Musk could have broken in his “funding secured” tweet is 14e-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits publicly traded companies from announcing plans to buy or sell securities if executives don’t intend to complete, don’t have the means to complete, or are trying to manipulate the stock price.

Musk’s claim that he has secured funding, if in fact he does not, could expose him and his company to lawsuits.

You've got to give credit where it's due, and Elon deserves a ton of it for his various undertakings. But the guy's asshattery is getting out of hand. If this whole thing was a swipe at short sellers, whom he loathes, he's in some serious hot water.

[donlapalma]

I think this is a classic example of a brilliant man who simply wants to create, invent and innovate, but is becoming ever-more jaded with all that comes with being a publicly-traded company. He never should have taken Tesla public and I believe we are seeing his compounding regret manifest in real-time.

[Joe in PNG]

I think we're also seeing the classic maxim in operation: if you want to make a small fortune, take a large fortune and go into automobile manufacturing.

[OlongJohnson]

That was racing, actually.

[Peally]

Bunch of kids starting an investigation over twitter.

We live in stupid times.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I think this is a classic example of a brilliant man who simply wants to create, invent and innovate, but is becoming ever-more jaded with all that comes with being a publicly-traded company. He never should have taken Tesla public and I believe we are seeing his compounding regret manifest in real-time.

I think this is true but I also think that we are seeing the limitations of even exceptional polymathic humans here...my belief is that he wants personal input on every level of a project so complex that no one human being can offer meaningful input on every component.

The Tesla cars are the product of a brilliant mind, but no mind is brilliant enough to write the firmware AND design the battery charging AND the unibody welding AND the suspension AND run the corporation at a profit AND control the public relations...

Technology itself - even mundane technologies like cars - has superseded the capacity of the individual genius, even for a modern day Da Vinci (not that I am calling Musk that, but you know, whoever.)

(or WHOM)

[Sensei]

I think we're also seeing the classic maxim in operation: if you want to make a small fortune, take a large fortune and go into automobile manufacturing.

At the closing bell 2 days ago, Tesla’s stock was valued at roughly 80% of the combined values of GM and Ford; it closed higher than either of those two on an individual basis. However, Tesla sells are less than 1% of the combined GM and Ford sells. Anyone considering investing in Tesla should think carefully about those facts.

[rob_s]

I saw this unfolding in the break room at work and wondered when he would get into trouble.

I remember a couple of years back when the CEO of Whole Foods (I think) was making up fake accounts on investment forums and trying to manipulate the market.

Musk seems to have wanted all the cash from going public but none of the responsibility.

I read a lot on management, etc. At some point the boy genius that's great at inventing shit always has to find someone else who's great at business to manage the business.

[mtnbkr]

At some point the boy genius that's great at inventing shit always has to find someone else who's great at business to manage the business.

I've been on both sides of that equation (maybe not "boy genius inventor", but techie doing shit). While there are those who can do both simultaneously, few can do both well at the same time. When I got into management, I had to train myself to let go of the reigns and let my engineers...well...engineer. I only got involved with their engineering to keep them focused and within budget (ie don't get mired down into corner cases).

Chris

[Chance]

From BBC News:

Elon Musk has attempted to explain his controversial tweet about taking Tesla private, saying he was "not on weed" at the time.

The electric carmaker's founder has been facing intense scrutiny about the 7 August tweet which said he wanted to take Tesla private at $420 a share.

He told the New York Times that the price of $420 seemed like "better karma" than $419.

"But I was not on weed, to be clear," he said.

Jalopnik, quoting The New York Times, has speculated that Musk tweeted while driving:

That morning, Mr. Musk woke up at home with his girlfriend, the musician known as Grimes, and had an early workout. Then he got in a Tesla Model S and drove himself to the airport. En route, Mr. Musk typed his fateful message.

Was Musk tweeting while driving? Was he tweeting while on Autopilot? Is he just a very swift typer at red lights? Did he stop on the side of the road? The story doesn’t say, but Tesla has long argued that if drivers get into accidents on Autopilot, it’s their fault.