Elon Musk, CEO and president of Tesla and the space company SpaceX, said in an interview with the New York Times that his last year was “backbreaking”. Musk said – moving several times – that he worked 120 hours a week, that he spent all 24 hours of his 47th birthday working, he said that he happened to spend three or four consecutive days, day and night, in the offices Tesla, and never taken more than a week off from work since he stayed home for a few days in 2001 because he had malaria. He added that he nearly lost his brother's marriage, in which he was a best man. Musk has also tried to clarify some of the issues that have affected him in recent months, often due to his instinctive and reckless use of Twitter; in particular, he spoke of his announcement, also made on Twitter, of a possible withdrawal of Tesla from Wall Street.
In fact, on 7 August Musk wrote in a tweet that he wanted to withdraw Tesla from the American stock exchange, buying back all the shares; Musk also added that he had already found the necessary money and that the current shareholders could have chosen whether to become private shareholders or sell their shares for $ 420 each (a value higher than what those shares had then and have now). . It is unusual for a publicly traded company to decide to withdraw from the stock exchange (in 2013 the computer company Dell did, but recently announced that it will go back to going public) and it is not at all normal (and perhaps not even legal) that the 'announcement is made on Twitter, in nine words, in open markets and without giving further details.
Tesla, which has been on the stock exchange since 2010, has a higher value than that of Ford and General Motors: if each of its shares were really sold for $ 420 it would be worth $ 70 billion, and it would be the largest privatization (understood as exit from the stock exchange). ) ever. Musk also has to defend himself against accusations of stock manipulation, the crime that occurs when someone spreads false or exaggerated news to influence a company's stock market performance. That is, he must prove that what he wrote in the tweet is true, and that those responsible had previously been informed.
Shareholders could either to sell at 420 or hold shares & go private
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018
In short, the things to know about Tesla are these: it is a company that produces electric and innovative cars and powerful “domestic batteries”. It has the potential to fundamentally change the industries in which it operates, but some believe it will struggle to deliver on its promises. Its revenues are growing, but the company still lost $ 717 million between April and June, more than double what it lost over the same period last year. Tesla is in a phase in which it is spending more than it earns: simplifying a lot, we need to understand if it will be able to produce all the cars it thinks it can sell quickly enough. Musk's main problem, his critics say, is that he often makes promises that he can hardly keep on schedule.
After the tweet, Musk explained that it had been discussed with Tesla's major shareholders and said that the money for Tesla's privatization would come from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (FPI). Musk also said he wanted to privatize Tesla to free himself from certain constraints imposed on listed companies (for example, a very detailed quarterly report) and to free the company from the speculations of certain investors, especially interested in short-term results. Musk argues that planning with a three-month perspective is ineffective for Tesla and thinks that the company is hurt by short sellers, ie those speculators who “bet against” a company with financial operations that become profitable if the value of a certain company falls. .
The New York Times wrote that Tesla is looking for a senior executive who can work alongside Musk, who is currently both president and CEO, and is overworked; he said, however, that he did not intend to give up either of the two roles, but added: “If there is anyone who can do a better job, let me know. The work is his “.
Speaking to the New York Times, Musk said he often takes Ambien, a strong insomnia drug, to fall asleep: “I often find myself having to choose between not sleeping at all or taking Ambien.” He also said he thought the worst was over, but added, without going into much detail: “Operationally, for Tesla, the worst is over. But as far as my personal suffering is concerned, the worst is yet to come. ” Musk also denied tweeting about Tesla's possible privatization after smoking cannabis; someone had seen in the purchase value of the shares (420 dollars) a reference to the number 420, associated – for reasons that are not very clear – to the consumption of marijuana. He said, “It just seemed to me that 420 was a better number than 419. But I hadn't smoked. Grass does not help productivity “.
Musk was very celebrated in February for having successfully sent a very powerful rocket into space and, together with the rocket, a Tesla Roadster starring in a couple of very famous photos. In recent months, however, he has called a pedophile to one of the divers who had saved the Thai boys trapped in the cave (then apologized), he took it out on journalists who criticized his companies and was the protagonist of other controversies, often linked to his use of Twitter. For example, he was recently accused by singer Azealia Banks – who was at his house to collaborate with singer Grimes, Musk's partner – of having used Twitter, probably for the tweet on privatization, after taking acids. At the moment Musk's latest tweet is about a very positive video review of a Tesla 3.
Model 3 review by Unbox… https://t.co/UeA9MXyva1 via @YouTube
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 16, 2018
