Elon Musk tries to explain his ask for more control over Tesla, but TSLA not buying it
Elon Musk tried to explain his strange ask for more control over Tesla, which seemingly came with a threat to divert AI products from the automaker to his new startup, during his earnings conference call.
It doesn’t look like Tesla shareholders are buying it as the stock crashed by as much as 10% this morning.
Last week, we reported on Musk bizarrely asking for a 25% voting control over Tesla because of his fear that some entity could take over the company to control its AI projects.
He warned that without this level of control, he would “prefer to build products outside of Tesla”. Musk owns an AI startup called xAI, which has made some Tesla shareholders uncomfortable since the CEO also describes Tesla as an “AI/robotics company.
By saying that, Musk is basically confirming that he has a conflict of interest between Tesla and xAI. You could even make the argument that he is breaking his fiduciary duty to Tesla investors.
Shareholders asked Tesla if they should be worried about Musk’s comments. Over 4,000 Tesla retail investors voted for the question to come up during Tesla’s earnings call yesterday.
Musk tried to explain his position:
Let me explain why. What my concern is here, which is that, you know, I see a path to creating an artificial intelligence and robotics juggernaut of truly immense capability and power. And my concern would be I don’t want to control it, but if I have so little influence over the company at that stage that I could sort of be voted out by some sort of random shareholder advisory firm.
The CEO added:
You know, we’ve had a lot of challenges with Institutional Shareholder Services, ISS. I call them ISIS and Glass Lewis, you know, which there’s a lot of activists that basically infiltrate those organizations and have, you know, strange ideas about what should be done. So, you know. I want to have enough to be influential – like, if we could do a dual class stock, that would be ideal. I’m not looking for additional economics; I just want to be an effective steward of very powerful technology. And the reason I just sort of roughly picked approximately 25% was that -that’s not so much that I can control the company even if I go bonkers. And if I’m, like, mad, they can throw me out, but it’s enough that I have a strong influence. That’s what I’m aiming for – a strong influence but not control. There’s some way to achieve that, that would be great.
For Musk to get 25% voting control, he would need to receive a stock package worth about $60 billion. He says that he doesn’t want more money, just voting control, but dual-class voting shares are not really possible to structure post-IPO.
More shares would appear to be the only way for Musk to get more control over Tesla after he sold billions worth to acquire Twitter.
Tesla’s stock crashed as much as 10% this morning following Tesla’s earnings.
Electrek’s Take
Let me start by stating the obvious: no one currently has more control over Tesla than Elon Musk. He is the CEO and largest shareholder.
Secondly, he will gain even more control as he exercises more shares from his previous compensation plan.
ISS companies have tried some shareholder activism at Tesla, but they have been extremely unsuccessful for the most part. It’s ridiculous to compare their intentions to a terrorist organization, but even if you forget about their intentions, there are serious doubts about their effectiveness in affecting Tesla in any serious way in the first place.
They are certainly not a reason to give 25% control over Tesla to Musk. Even if it was, it doesn’t really answer the bigger problem: the conflict of interest Musk has between Tesla and xAI, which I think was more what the shareholders were asking about.
Musk didn’t even address that at all in his comments.
The most ridiculous thing about this whole situation and how Tesla is reacting to it, or more accurately not reacting to it, is that it shows how much control Musk currently has over Tesla.
If Tesla wasn’t under his control all the way up to the board, the Tesla board would have already, at the very least, commented on the situation. They haven’t. The CEO is publicly saying that he would prefer building products outside of the company without a 25% voting control and crickets from the board. It’s wild. Only at Tesla.
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Honda’s electric SUV took the US by storm, becoming the top-selling EV in the US outside of Tesla in the final three months of 2024. This year, Honda is making the Prologue even more attractive, upgrading it with over 300 miles of range. With 2025 Prologue models now arriving at dealerships, Honda wasted no time launching new deals this week.
2025 Honda Prologue EV deals and offers
After the first models were delivered last March, the Honda Prologue quickly became one of the best-selling electric vehicles in the US.
In the second half of 2024, the Prologue was the second best-selling electric SUV, trailing only the Tesla Model Y. This year, it boasts even more driving range and power.
Since Honda didn’t raise prices, it’s essentially a free upgrade (well, sort of). The 2025 Honda Prologue (2WD) now has a “top-class” EPA rating of 308 miles, up 12 miles from the outgoing model. It also packs 220 horsepower (+8) and 243 lb-ft of torque (+7).
The Prologue is still available in single-motor (2WD) and dual-motor (AWD) versions in three trims: EX, Touring, and Elite.
The AWD version now has a range of 294 miles (+13) for the EX and Touring trims and 283 miles (+10) for the Elite. It also now packs 300 horsepower (+12) and 355 lb-ft of torque (+25).
With DC fast charging speeds of up to 150 kW, the electric SUV can add 65 miles of range in around 10 minutes.
The 2025 Honda Prologue starts at $47,400, but with the $7,500 EV tax credit, prices could fall to under $40,000. And that’s for the EX single-motor version with up to 308 miles of range.
On Honda’s website, the 2025 Prologue is listed with a promotional rate of 2.99% APR for up to 60 months. Lease prices for the base model are not yet available, but the 2025 AWD EX is listed at $599 for 36 months with $4,299 due at signing.
Although the deals on the 2025 models are not nearly as good as the 0% financing and leases as low as $269 per month for the 2024 Prologue, Honda had to make up for the upgrades somewhere.
| Trim | Drive Configuration | Pricing | EPA Ratings | |||
| MSRP | After Federal EV Tax Credit | Plus $1,450 D&H |
Range Rating | MPGe Rating (City/Hwy/Combined) |
||
| EX | Single Motor (2WD) | $47,400 | $39,900 | $41,350 | 308 | 113 / 94 / 104 |
| EX | Dual Motor (AWD) | $50,400 | $42,900 | $44,350 | 294 | 108 / 90 / 99 |
| Touring | Single Motor (2WD) | $51,700 | $44,200 | $45,650 | 308 | 113 / 94 / 104 |
| Touring | Dual Motor (AWD) | $54,700 | $47,200 | $48,650 | 294 | 108 / 90 / 99 |
| Elite | Dual Motor (AWD) | $57,900 | $50,400 | $51,850 | 283 | 104 / 87 / 95 |
Honda is sweetening the deal with a charging package included in the Prologue’s price. You can choose from a free Level 2 home charger, a portable charging kit, or a $750 public charging credit.
The 2024 Honda Prologue is selling out fast with ultra-low lease and financing rates, while the 2025 model promises even more. Ready to try it out for yourself? You can use our link to find deals on the 2024 and 2025 Honda Prologue in your area today.
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In this photo illustration, the logo for the US tech firm “Block” is displayed and reflected in a number of digital screens on March 03, 2023 in London, England.
Leon Neal | Getty Images
With its stock down more than 30% this year and revenue growth slowing, Jack Dorsey’s Block is going bigger in lending.
The company on Thursday said it secured approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to originate loans through its banking subsidiary, Square Financial Services, allowing it to offer small-dollar consumer loans directly rather than relying on external banking partners.
It’s an expansion of Cash App Borrow, the company’s short-term lending product. But it comes at a time of increased concerns surrounding consumer credit, with President Trump’s expansive tariffs and widespread government job cuts raising talk of a potential recession.
Transaction losses in Block’s lending segment jumped 39% last quarter, and while the company claims its underwriting model is strong, small-dollar lending is inherently risky.
“Cash App Borrow is designed to provide short-term cash flow in a simple and accessible way when alternatives are notoriously expensive and difficult for consumers to navigate,” Block said in the press release. The company added that the average Cash App Borrow loan was under $100 and about a month in duration.
Block didn’t immediately provide a comment.
In getting approval to operate the lending business out of its own bank, Block says it will be able to offer the product nationwide.
Last month, Block reported quarterly results that missed Wall Street expectations, with revenue growing just 4.5% from a year earlier. The stock plunged 18%, its worst one-day drop since 2020.
Around the same time, Block rolled out Afterpay, its buy now, pay later product, on the Cash App card. Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja told CNBC that the launch aimed to provide customers with more credit options, and positioned Cash App as a banking alternative for some customers. Block acquired Afterpay, which competes with Affirm, for $29 billion in early 2022.
Also this week, Block announced a big investment plan in artificial intelligence.
The company said on Wednesday that it will deploy Nvidia’s AI systems with its latest Blackwell chips to power open-source AI research. Block didn’t say what specifically it’s looking to achieve through its AI buildout, but noted in the press release that it will “start exploring novel solutions for our customers.”
![Kia's first electric van looks even better in person [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Kias-first-electric-van-PV5-1.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Kia is launching its first electric van, the PV5, later this year. If you liked how it looked in pictures, wait until you see it in real life. A production PV5 was spotted in Korea for the first time, giving us a closer look at the futuristic van. See it for yourself in the video below.
Kia’s first electric van spotted in Korea
After teasing it for what seemed like forever, Kia finally took the sheets off the PV5 at its 2025 EV Day event last month.
With its hard-to-miss futuristic design, the PV5 is a near replica of the concept shown at CES last January. The mid-size electric van is set to kick off Kia’s new Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) strategy.
The PV5 will initially be available in Passenger, Cargo, and Chassis Cab setups, but with “unprecedented flexibility,” you can expect to see more options soon. Two of the first will be the PV5 Crew, with additional cargo securing options and a Wheelchair-Accessible Vehicle (WAV) version.
After that, Kia will follow it up with Drop Side, Box Van, Freezer, Box, and Prime variations. It plans to launch a Light Camper conversion.
With sales kicking off in the second half of 2025, Kia’s electric van was spotted in Korea for the first time without camouflage. A new video from HealerTV gives us a better idea of what to expect when the PV5 hits dealerships later this year.
The PV5 maintains its techy, almost ahead-of-its-time design. Two exterior body colors were shown: white and a darker grey or black. As the reporter notes, it actually looks like an upgrade from the concept.
Kia did what it could at the back so it didn’t look like a bus, giving it more of a rounded overall shape. You can see how it stands apart from most MPVs you see today.
Like the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, Kia’s PV5 looks more like a minibus. At 4,695 mm long, 1,895 mm wide, and 1,899 mm tall, Kia’s passenger electric van is slightly smaller than the European ID.Buzz model (4,712 mm long, 1,985 mm wide, 1,937 mm tall).
It will be available with 51.5 kWh and 71.2 kWh battery packs, good for up to 400 km (249 miles) WLTP range. The PV5 can also fast charge (10% to 80%) in about 30 minutes. In comparison, powered by an 84 kWh battery, the ID.Buzz now offers up to 293 miles WLTP range.
Kia will launch sales in Korea and Europe later this year, followed by other global markets in 2026. Pre-orders will open soon, so check back for prices.
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