Tesla investors hopelessly turn to TSLA board to rein in Elon Musk
Some Tesla investors are hopelessly turning to the company’s board of directors in the hope that they would rein in Elon Musk following growing concerns that he is negatively affecting Tesla’s brand.
Over the last two years, Musk has tested the faith of his fans and Tesla investors.
Many have raised concerns that his behavior since acquiring Twitter could be negatively affecting Tesla’s brand
On several occasions, like most recently when he was trying to bully Mark Zuckerberg into fighting him at his house, Tesla investors have called for the board to act and rein in its CEO.
The board of directors, which is the only body with power over the CEO of a company, has never acted so far.
Now, following Musk’s agreement with an antisemite comment on X, more Tesla investors are calling for the board to suspend or remove him.
Jerry Braakman, president of First American Trust, called for the board to suspend Musk for 30 to 60 days to “send a message”.
He said (via CNN)
“I believe in free speech, but there’s no excuse for spreading hatred by a CEO of a public company.”
He is not alone in calling for Tesla’s board to act. Several other prominent Tesla investors have made similar comments – some going as far as calling for the board to fire Musk.
However, the chances of that happening or extremely low. Not only has the Tesla board never acted on Musk’s more extreme behaviors, they have not even commented on it.
The board is technically independent and is supposed to be acting with the best interest of shareholders in mind. It could fire Musk, who owns less than 20% of Tesla, but the CEO has been known to be very close to several board members and to hold a lot of influence on the board.
Musk’s brother, Kimbal, is even on Tesla’s board.
Electrek’s Take
Alright, this one is a mess. I’m not going to lie. Elon fans will call me a hater, and Elon haters will call me an apologist no matter what, so here we go:
The media is having a field day calling Elon antisemite over the tweet, and this time, it’s hard to argue against it.
He seems to have clearly agreed with a tweet that was tinted with antisemitism.
For those not aware of the situation, the whole thing is about this simple thread:
In short, a Jewish person challenges antisemites to say their antisemite rhetoric “to their faces,” and an X user claims to take him up on the challenge. Apparently, anonymously and online now means “in your face”?
The X user makes a poorly worded argument about “Jewish communities” pushing “dialectical hatred against white” and then seems to blame “hordes of minorities” immigrating to the West on Jewish people.
Elon decided to agree with that moron.
Now, do I believe Elon is an antisemite? No. I don’t think that’s the case. I am not trying to excuse his behavior, but I think it has more to do with his obsession with X and the poor level of communication on the platform.
Elon is at war with the Anti-Defamation League and similar organizations that are attacking X for what they claim is not doing enough to prevent racism and antisemitism on the platform.
Now, I don’t think Elon wants to promote antisemitism or racism on X, but I also don’t think X currently has the resources to manage that properly. And Elon sees the boycott attacks by ADL and others as a personal attack from the left or “woke virus” against him.
When he sees people fighting against that, he supports them, like in this case – even though they are in that fight for different reasons. The nuance of that is not clear on X.
Now, at the end of the day, he is still agreeing with an antisemitic sentiment, which is obviously going to be hurtful to many.
My main concern is that he doesn’t recognize that nor is he apologizing for it. The longer that takes, the more it’s becoming difficult to argue against the fact that he is antisemitic himself.
That’s where Tesla investors should be concerned. He seems to be losing his grasp on reality and critical thinking when it comes to himself and how his cult of personality is distorting the reality around him.
But asking Tesla’s board to do anything is useless, in my opinion. I’ve completely lost faith in them.
Unless they publicly explain their stance on this situation, I think investors should vote them all out at the next election.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec
JiYue, a Chinese EV brand focused on delivering all-electric “robocars” to the masses, has unveiled its latest model, and it’s quite a deviation from its previous EVs—but in the best way. Earlier today, JiYue launched the ROBO X supercar, designed for high-speed racing. By high speed, we mean 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 1.9 seconds. My mouth is watering.
JiYue has only existed since 2021, when parent tech company Baidu announced it was expanding from software development into physical EV production, joining forces with multinational automotive manufacturer Geely.
The new “robotic EV” marque initially launched as JIDU with $300 million in startup capital before garnering an additional $400 million in Series A funding, led by Baidu, in January 2022.
In August 2023, Geely took on a larger role in JIDU alongside a greater financial stake as the brand reimagined itself as JiYue, inheriting the JIDU logo and its flagship model, the 01 ROBOCAR.
In December 2023, Baidu and Geely unveiled a second model called the JiYue 07. It was born from JIDU’s ROBO-02 concept, which debuted in 2023 and was designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3 in China.
The 07 finally launched in China earlier this year with 545 miles of range. With an all-electric SUV and sedan on the market, JiYue has unveiled an exciting new entry in the form of a performance supercar called the ROBO X. Check it out:
JiYue’s new ROBO X EV is available for pre-order now
JiYue showcased its new ROBO X hypercar in front of the crowd at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show earlier today. Similar to previous models but with a unique spin, JiYue described the ROBO X as an AI smart-driving supercar that, for the first time, blends artificial intelligence and autonomous driving into a high-performance, race-ready EV.
When we say “high performance,” we mean a quad motor liquid-cooled drive system that can propel the ROBO X from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in under 1.9 seconds. JiYue called the new ROBO X a “performance beast” with “the perfect balance of excellent aerodynamic performance and high downforce.” JiYue CEO Joe Xia was even bolder in his statements about the ROBO X:
For the next 20 years, the design of supercars will bear the shadow of Robo X. This is the best design in the history of Chinese automobiles today, and it is a landmark presence.
Fighter-style airflow ducts bolster the EV’s aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall posture. Per JiYue, the two-seater ROBO X is expected to deliver a maximum range of over 650 km (404 miles).
The new supercar features falcon-wing doors, a carbon fiber integrated frame, and a professional racing HALO safety system offering 360° of support. The interior features an AI smart cockpit with SIMO real-time feedback to give drivers an immersive racing experience.
Furthermore, JiYue said the vehicle will utilize parent company Baidu’s Apollo self-driving technology, which could make it the first electric supercar to apply pure-vision ADAS technology that enables track-level autonomous driving.
Following today’s unveiling of the ROBO X, JiYue has officially opened up pre-orders in China for RMB 49,999 ($6,915). That said, reservation holders will need to be patient as JiYue shared that it doesn’t expect to begin mass production of the ROBO X until 2027.
What do you think? Will people be talking about the ROBO X for the next 20 years?
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XPedition 2.0, Yamaha e-bikes pulling out of North America, LiveWire unveils an electric scooter concept, PNY readying its cargo e-scooters for pilot testing, Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle, and more.
The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:30 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:30 a.m. ET):
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Crude oil futures were on pace Friday for loss for the week, as a supply gut and a strong dollar depresses the market.
U.S. crude oil is down more than 2% this week, while Brent has shed nearly 2%.
Here are Friday’s energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.56 per barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has shed about 4%.
- Brent January contract: $72.36 per barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.28%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly 6%.
- RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.99 per gallon, up 0.46%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 1%.
- Natural Gas December contract: $2.70 per thousand cubic feet, down 2.98%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 4%.
The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.
A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway