Elon Musk complains about his smaller stake in Tesla after wasting it on buying Twitter
Elon Musk has made a bizarre statement in which he appears to complain about his smaller stake in Tesla and said that he prefers building products elsewhere unless he gets a bigger stake in the company.
The statement is particularly bizarre when you consider the fact that he himself recently sold tens of billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock to buy a grossly overpriced Twitter.
There’s currently some talk, mainly from Musk fans, about Tesla putting together a new CEO compensation package for him.
Musk completed his last CEO compensation plan, which awarded him millions of Tesla shares worth billions of dollars and made him the richest man in the world.
Ironically, the talks about a new CEO compensation package came just as Tesla slashed its own employee stock option plan.
While most commentators don’t seem opposed to Musk having a new reasonable compensation package, the consensus is that since Musk owns 411 million shares in Tesla, representing about 13% of the outstanding shares, that’s plenty of incentives for him to perform as CEO.
However, Musk responded to this argument with the following:
Musk claims that he wants more shares in Tesla to have more “influence” on the company’s AI and robotics endeavors:
I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned. Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla.
The CEO of Tesla is claiming here that he prefers to build products outside of the company because he doesn’t have a big enough stake in it.
It’s important to note that Musk used to have a much bigger stake in Tesla before his botched acquisition of Twitter.
For those who don’t remember the whole debacle, 2021-2022 were an interesting few years for Musk’s Tesla ownership.
It all started when Musk said he would sell 10% of his stake in Tesla if a Twitter poll would agree, which it unsurprisingly did.
The CEO framed the idea as pressure from the media and politicians about the rich not paying taxes on unrealized gains. He said that he would voluntarily set himself up to have the biggest tax bill in US history.
However, Musk wasn’t as vocal about the fact that he was facing a giant tax bill regardless of his sale of shares, due to a large number of stock options he needed to exercise from his previously mentioned massive CEO compensation plan.
The CEO then used the proceeds from selling his Tesla shares to invest a few billions into Twitter.
He later agreed to buy Twitter and take it private for $44 billion. Musk quickly backed out of the deal despite it being signed. Twitter sued him to force him to go through with the deal, which he ultimately did.
But to pay for the acquisition, he had to sell tens of billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock, which resulted in a significant crash in the stock price.
He even told Tesla shareholders that he would stop selling shares, but then sold more anyway.
Update: Musk added that the only reason he doesn’t have a new compensation plan is due to Tesla waiting for the decision in a court case brought on by shareholders over his prior compensation plan being too excessive, according to the complaint.
Following a separate lawsuit, Musk and Tesla’s board agreed to return over $700 million to the company over excessive board compensation.
Electrek’s Take
This is Elon setting the stage for another wild compensation package. I bet that the board is already discussing it.
But honestly, I don’t get how he can even be CEO of Tesla at this point.
There’s a clear conflict of interest. He has repeatedly claimed recently that Tesla is an AI/robotics company and he started a separate new AI startup.
Now, he is straight up saying that he prefers building new AI products at that startup rather than Tesla because he has more control (larger ownership stake) over that startup.
Is this a clear conflict of interest, or am I missing something?
And regardless of that, are we to believe that Elon wants a bigger stake in Tesla to have more influence over AI or because he wasted his Tesla shares on an overpriced Twitter?
Only he knows the truth and we all know that the truth is only on X:
I have my doubts. But I have more than doubts and complaints this time. I have a solution.
Tesla shareholders should give Elon a new CEO compensation plan. 1 million TSLA shares per year, but there’s a catch. Every time he tweets something dumb, you take away 10,000 shares. There you go. The most efficient CEO compensation to create shareholder value. You are welcome.
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Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has posted another interesting facet into the design of the American automaker’s upcoming R2 BEVs. As you’ll see below, the Rivian R2’s body harness has been significantly reduced in size, weight, and connections to enable lower assembly costs and an overall more environmentally friendly build.
If you’re not following RJ Scaringe on social media, you’re missing out. While some CEOs shy away from social media (aside from the guy who bought Twitter to create his own toxic echo chamber), Rivian’s founder has used such platforms to share interesting company progress.
In the past month, much of Scaringe’s content has pertained to the design and development of Rivian’s upcoming R2 model, and we have been all about it. In the past two weeks, RJ has shared a peek at the company’s new Maximus drive unit and photos of the R2 validation builds on a pilot line at the automaker’s facility in Normal, Illinois.
Last week, Scaringe took to Instagram and X once again to share a better look at the inner workings of the Maximus drive unit. The unit was designed to be more compact and efficiently built to help reduce the cost-per-unit production for the Rivian R2 assembly process.
Today, RJ posted more evidence of how much more optimized components of the R2 design will be.
The body harness design of the R2 is significantly simpler
RJ posted the comparison image above to Instagram this afternoon, detailing just how much more streamlined the R2’s body harness design will be compared to the Gen 2 R1 BEVs. The Rivian CEO elaborated with the following caption:
The R2 harness improves massively over the R1 Gen 2 harness. Building on the backbone of our network architecture and zonal ECUs, we focused on ease of install in the plant and overall simplification through integrated design — less wires, less clips and far fewer splices!
Simplified indeed, this reimagined body harness cuts serious weight and connectors. The front section of the body harness, in particular, truly encapsulates just how streamlined the R2’s design components are becoming. A body harness pic may not be the most exciting news to the general public, but as a BEV enthusiast on the Rivian beat, it’s amazing to see, and we hope RJ will continue to post updates like this going forward.
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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon delivers a speech during the Global Markets Conference, ahead of the Choose France summit, in Paris, on May 15, 2025.
Michel Euler | Afp | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase is finally allowing clients to buy bitcoin. But CEO Jamie Dimon is still a skeptic.
“We are going to allow you to buy it,” Dimon said at the bank’s annual investor day on Monday. “We’re not going to custody it. We’re going to put it in statements for clients.”
The decision marks a notable step for the largest U.S. bank, particularly due to Dimon’s history of criticizing the digital currency and the crypto market broadly, and is the latest sign of bitcoin’s entry into mainstream investing. Since August, Morgan Stanley has allowed its financial advisors to pitch some spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds to qualifying clients.
Dimon made it clear that his personal view of bitcoin remains unchanged, highlighting issues like money laundering and the lack of clarity surrounding ownership, along with “the sex trafficking, the terrorism.”
“I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke,” Dimon said. “I defend your right to buy bitcoin.”
A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to elaborate on the bank’s specific plans for bitcoin access. Until now, the company has limited its crypto exposure primarily to futures-based products, not direct ownership of bitcoin.
When crypto valuations were soaring in 2021, Dimon dismissed bitcoin as “worthless.” He told lawmakers during a Senate hearing in late 2023 that he’s “always been deeply opposed to crypto, bitcoin, etc.,” and that, “The only true use case for it is criminals, drug traffickers … money laundering, tax avoidance.” He said at the hearing that, “If I was the government, I’d close it down.”
At the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Dimon said, “Bitcoin does nothing. I call it the pet rock.” He added that, “This is the last time I’m talking about the with CNBC, so help me God.”
Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick told CNBC at this year’s event in Davos that the investment bank is exploring ways to deepen its involvement in cryptocurrency markets, navigating the regulatory landscape under the pro-crypto administration of President Donald Trump.
Since President Trump took office in January, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have rescinded their anti-crypto guidance. While banks can now custody crypto, thanks to the repeal of an accounting rule called SAB 121, they still face restrictions on working directly with crypto firms without explicit approval from the Federal Reserve.
Genesis is preparing to introduce its new flagship EV, the GV90. The brand’s largest, most luxurious electric SUV already looks stunning. The Genesis GV90 was spotted with less camo ahead of its debut, giving us a sneak peek of the “ultra-luxe” EV.
Genesis GV90 EV sheds camo during testing
We got our first look at the flagship Genesis model last March with the Neolun concept, a preview of its first full-size electric SUV.
Inspired by Korea’s iconic moon-shaped porcelain jars, the Neolun Concept is “the epitome of timeless design and sophisticated craftsmanship,” according to the luxury brand’s creative officer, Luc Donckerwolke. Genesis calls it “the ultra-luxe vision of luxury SUVs.”
The GV90 is not just a stunning-looking vehicle. It will also serve as a tech beacon for Genesis with Hyundai Motor’s most advanced software and tech, including a massive 24.6″ infotainment.
This is all great, but the feature that caught the most attention was GV90’s coach doors. Ahead of its debut, we’ve seen the GV90 out in the wild for testing a few times, including with coach doors.
Genesis claims B-pillarless coach doors are now feasible in production vehicles, hinting they will be offered on the production model. However, the feature is expected to only be offered on higher-priced trims.
Most recently, the Genesis GV90 EV was caught by the folks at SH Proshots testing at the Nürburgring with notably less camo. The new images (via TheKoreanCarBlog) give us our best look at the flagship electric SUV, and it already looks like a stunner.
A few design elements, like the two-line LED headlamps, are shown, while you can see a good outline of the vehicle’s profile.
Like the concept, the GV90 appears to retain its minimalistic design shown in the Neolun concept. With an extended wheelbase, you can clearly see the size difference compared to its other EVs, like the GV60 or Electrified GV70.
The full-size electric SUV is expected to be the first Hyundai Motor model to ride on the new eM platform, which is set to replace the current E-GMP underpinning current Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis EVs.
Although production was slated to begin later this year at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant in South Korea, a recent report from The Korea Economic Daily claims Hyundai’s new development plan now calls for it to begin in June 2026.
Prices and final specs will be revealed closer to launch, but the GV90 is expected to start at around 100 million won ($80,000) in Korea. More premium trims could cost over 200 million won ($160,000).
Source: TheKoreanCarBlog, SH Proshots
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