Elon Musks' Twitter/X, Tesla and Space X

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Cards Against Humanity sues Elon Musk’s SpaceX over alleged trespassing in Texas

The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk’s SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.

https://apnews.com/article/cards-against-humanity-elon-musk-spacex-aa404db43f94fae76dc7524c7a646aca?

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🔌 Elon's China trap

Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk's relationship with the Biden administration got even more complicated this week, Axios' Dan Primack writes. The White House proposed a ban on Chinese software and hardware in advanced vehicles. That could be good for Tesla in the short term, by keeping competitors out of the U.S. market. But Musk will have a lot to lose if China answers in kind, with a ban on U.S. components. China is thought to be Tesla's second-largest market, and the one with the greatest growth opportunity for EVs. 🇨🇳 What's next: President Biden already hit Chinese EVs with a 100% tariff. A second Trump administration — which Musk has talked about joining — would pursue a raft of new tariffs that experts say would likely kick off an intense cycle of retaliation against American products.

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A 5th recall for Tesla Cybertruck within a year, the latest due to rearview display

Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year.

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-cybertruck-recall-musk-32836a3471855a0a864ac1ba3d5769fc?

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Elon Musk unveils Tesla’s ‘Cybercab,’ plans to bring autonomous driving tech to other models in 2025

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, though fans of the electric vehicle maker will have to wait until at least 2026 before they are available.

https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxi-unveiling-a00d063f2ffc67125889a6635a0a607e?

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Tesla's much-hyped robotaxi event fails to impress

Why it matters: The Tesla CEO needed to sell a flashy story about the company's future amid declining present-day demand for its EVs — but in the eyes of most investors after the literal smoke cleared, the unveil failed to live up to the hype.

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/11/tesla-robotaxi-musk-shares?

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Elon Musk

Billionaire Elon Musk went all-in supporting Trump's campaign and now faces both positives and negatives from his election win. On Wednesday, investors bet that Trump's victory would also be a win for Musk's major public holding, Tesla, sending shares of his electric vehicle maker up an immediate 13% at the market open, and ending the session up nearly 15%. This made Musk $15 billion richer on paper and marked a massive return on the $119 million he donated to Trump. But much of Musk's net worth can be traced to the government support his companies, such as Tesla and SpaceX, have received over the years. Even if some of the support for electric vehicles gets trimmed or cut off completely, as is likely during Trump's second term, Musk's wealth will remain firmly intact. 

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💡 Understanding Musk's rise

Images: The Economist Using AI to trawl through 38,358 posts by Elon Musk on Twitter/X since December 2013, The Economist found he's posting vastly more often since becoming the proprietor (graphic at right above): "From December 2013 to the middle of 2018, he tweeted just over a dozen times a week, on average. Between then and October 27th 2022, when he completed the purchase of X, he was posting 50 times a week. Since the takeover, that has risen to around 220 a week." Climate change and clean energy used to be his most common policy topics. Now it's more immigration and free speech. ⏰ And as you can see above, he posts around the clock!

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📸 = 1,000 words

Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images A prototype of Tesla's robotaxi, the Cybercab, is on display at an auto show in L.A. this week. Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images The two-seater has butterfly doors and a large screen up front. Note the lack of steering wheel!

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Delaware judge reaffirms ruling that invalidated massive Tesla pay package for Elon Musk

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware judge has reaffirmed her ruling that Tesla must revoke Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-elon-musk-executive-pay-compensation-shareholders-86c5811b738e3a9df2b6e4adbcd055bb?

 

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s record-breaking pay package for serving as Tesla’s CEO was again rejected by a Delaware court, despite being approved by Tesla shareholders at a June meeting. The package, now worth around $101 billion based on Tesla’s closing share price Monday, is made up of 303 million Tesla stock options. It had been previously thrown out in January by the same judge, Delaware Chancery Court Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick. At the time, McCormick ruled in favor of the main shareholder in the suit who argued that Musk and the Tesla board “bore the burden of proving that the compensation plan was fair, and they failed to meet their burden.” Musk’s attorneys attempted to reverse McCormick’s decision, but on Monday, that motion was denied. Musk is not paid a cash salary or bonus for running Tesla. Instead, his vast fortune comes from packages of stock options that allow him to purchase millions of Tesla shares for a fraction of their market price.

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OpenAI hits back at Musk

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images

OpenAI said in a court filing today that Elon Musk wanted OpenAI to turn into a for-profit company years ago, Axios' Ina Fried reports. Why it matters: Musk is suing to block OpenAI's planned transition from a nonprofit research lab into a for-profit corporation. Musk helped found OpenAI, but has since become a critic and AI competitor. 📧 OpenAI's new filing includes emails, sent before the breakup, in which Musk endorsed a for-profit structure — one where he would have had most of the equity. "Probably better to have a standard C corp with a parallel nonprofit," Musk wrote in 2015, according to OpenAI. Musk didn't immediately reply to requests for comment. Keep reading ... Timeline from OpenAI.

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Tesla sales dropped 1.1% in 2024, its first annual decline in a dozen years

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla posted its first annual sales drop in more than a dozen years Thursday, undercutting a stock that has soared since Donald Trump’s victory on optimism Elon Musk’s close relationship to the president-elect will help the company.

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-sales-2024-drop-electric-vehicles-69af17c4e606625694af8293db25b2f3?

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Is your car spying on you? What it means that Tesla shared data in the Las Vegas explosion

Data collected by Tesla on the driver and vehicle in the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion has shined a spotlight on a difficult ethical question for the auto industry: Are companies violating your privacy rights? Many cars now not only know where you’ve been, they have access to your contacts, your call logs, your texts and other sensitive information. Read more.

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SpaceX to Donate Free Starlink Dishes to LA Areas Hit by Wildfires

Electricity and cell coverage are down in many areas hit by the blazes in Los Angeles.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-to-donate-free-starlink-dishes-to-la-areas-hit-by-wildfires?

ps:Once in a while Musk does some good things! Thank you sir many will be very great full for that act of kindness!!

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Tesla has sued car crash survivors and journalists in China who raise safety concerns – and won Tesla has sued its own customers for defamation in China after they’ve complained about the safety of their cars — and won just about every time. Read more.

Why this matters: Tesla’s record in China shows how Elon Musk has thrived in a system in which regulators, the media and the courts are, by design, intertwined. It is not common practice for automakers, in China or elsewhere, to sue their customers but Tesla has pioneered an aggressive legal strategy and leveraged the patronage of powerful leaders in China’s ruling Communist Party to silence critics, reap financial rewards, and limit its accountability.   Tesla has profited from the largesse of the Chinese state, winning unprecedented regulatory benefits, below-market rate loans and large tax breaks. Tesla has enjoyed largely ingratiating coverage in the Chinese press, and journalists told AP they have been instructed to avoid negative coverage of the automaker.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Trump and Musk defend actions to overhaul federal government   China’s navy commissions new-generation frigate as competition rises with US and others

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Elon's rough day

Data: Financial Modeling Prep. Chart: Axios Visuals The world's richest man lost more than $16 billion yesterday, blamed activists and Ukrainian hackers — then shrugged it all off with a Monty Python reference. Why it matters: While Tesla has plenty of challenges of its own, Elon Musk's divisive DOGE role seems to be taking a toll on his business interests, Axios' Pete Gannon and Ben Berkowitz write. 🧮 By the numbers: Tesla shares fell more than 15% yesterday. They're now down more than 53% since their high on Dec. 23, a loss of $700 billion in market value. The company is now more than 11% below its Election Day close. The stock's under pressure over performance issues. But the "Tesla Takedown" campaign that Musk blames on ActBlue isn't helping. Trump says he'll buy "a brand new Tesla" this morning. Via Truth Social While Tesla was plunging, Musk's social network X was dealing with what he called a "massive" and "coordinated" cyberattack, with tens of thousands of users reporting outages throughout the day. In a Fox Business interview, he said the attack was coming from computers in the area of Ukraine. The intrigue: In the interview, Larry Kudlow reeled off a litany of things that have gone wrong for Musk lately — including a rocket blowing up last week. He answered with a line from the Python classic "Life of Brian": "But look on the bright side! Always look on the bright side of life!"

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Tesla protests

Police across the US are investigating a series of attacks on Tesla showrooms, charging stations and Tesla vehicles, as vitriol escalates against CEO Elon Musk. There have also been peaceful protests at many Tesla locations, which involve demonstrators carrying signs and chanting “Elon Musk has got to go” in response to the slashing of federal jobs and budgets by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Last week, in the early morning hours, seven charging stations in a mall outside of Boston were set on fire, and just outside Portland, Oregon, police responded to gunshots fired at a Tesla showroom. Police in Brookline, Massachusetts, posted a video on X of one individual defending his tagging of a Tesla vehicle as “free speech.” Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist who owns X, reposted the police post with the comment: “Damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech!” While there have been no reports of injuries, the incidents pose a potential financial problem for Tesla. The company faces declining sales for the first time due to increased competition and backlash over Musk’s contentious role in the Trump administration.

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Tesla proxy war

President Trump's public intervention to boost Tesla marks the most extraordinary chapter yet in the partisan war over America's preeminent electric vehicle brand, Axios' Zachary Basu and Nathan Bomey write.

Why it matters: Elon Musk's assault on the federal government has supercharged Tesla's evolution from liberal status symbol to pride-of-MAGA protectorate. The company's stock has taken a beating along the way.

• "We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly," says JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman.

💥 What's happening: Musk's efforts to fire thousands of federal workers and dismantle whole government agencies have sparked "Tesla Takedown" protests in at least 100 cities over the last month.

• Those protests spurred vandalism of vehicles and violent incidents at Tesla facilities — including the use of Molotov cocktails.

Some current Tesla owners have embraced a quieter form of resistance by applying bumper stickers disavowing Musk's politics — or badges disguising the vehicle's branding. (Fast Company posted instructions on "How to remove your Tesla badge.")

Data: Financial Modeling Prep. Chart: Axios Visuals

With Tesla's stock hemorrhaging $800 billion in market cap since December, Trump held an event at the White House on Tuesday to publicly rally support for his billionaire benefactor's brand.

• Standing alongside Musk and a row of Teslas on the South Lawn, Trump said he'd buy a Model S sedan for White House staff, and threatened to classify anti-Tesla violence as domestic terrorism. (Photos)
• Photographers captured a shot of Trump holding a sales-script-like note listing Tesla prices and features — a brazen challenge to ethical norms, as the president said he hoped the event would boost Tesla sales.
• "He's built this great company, and he shouldn't be penalized because he's a patriot," Trump said.

🔭 Zoom out: "Tesla is becoming a political symbol of Trump and DOGE, and that is a bad thing for the brand," warned Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla bull.

• Through the first two months of 2025, Tesla sales are down 71% in Germany, 45% in Norway, 44% in France and 44% in Spain, according to registration data reported by Electrek.
• Sales have also been slumping in the critical markets of California and China, Bloomberg reported.
• The company doesn't report U.S. sales, but Tesla's U.S. registrations fell 11% in January, according to S&P Global Mobility.

🔋 The other side: Plenty of investors on Wall Street are still bullish on Tesla, and Musk has vowed to double production in the U.S. within two years as Trump pushes for a manufacturing renaissance.

Via X

The bottom line: Ives, the Tesla mega-bull, warns that the next few months will bring a "moment of truth" for investors who want to see Musk recommit to the company — and decouple from DOGE.

• Musk's biggest ambitions for Tesla include self-driving cars and humanoid robots, with plans to launch a self-driving car network in Austin, Texas, later this year.

Musk told investors in January that 2025 may end up as "the most important year in Tesla's history."

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In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks

U.S. safety regulators on Thursday recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road, the eighth recall of the Tesla-made vehicles since deliveries to customers began just over a year ago. Read More.

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Tesla owners are trading in their EVs at record levels, Edmunds says

As Elon Musk wraps up his second month in the White House, Tesla owners are trading in their electric vehicles at record levels, according to an analysis by national car shopping site Edmunds.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/20/tesla-owners-are-trading-in-their-evs-at-record-levels-edmunds-says.html?

ps:Pretty petty don't you think??

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🍔 1 food thing: Musk builds diner

Tesla's retro-futuristic all-night diner, theater and charging station, under construction on Santa Monica Boulevard in LA. Photo: Jessica Pons for The New York Times Elon Musk is looking to be LA's newest restaurateur, Pete Wells, the N.Y. Times' former food critic, writes (gift link). Construction on a retro-futuristic diner on Santa Monica Boulevard has been underway since September 2023, though we don't have an opening date. It'll have charging stations that sit below outdoor movie screens, which, according to a 2022 building permit application, would show half-hour films — about the time it takes to charge a vehicle. 📱 "A sharp-eyed observer noticed that the Tesla app was updated with code for a diner menu in January," Wells writes. "For many months now, the company has been approaching well-known chefs about providing the food."

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Tesla trouble

Vandalism of showrooms and vehicles is on the rise, with reports of fires and spray-painted graffiti across the US in protest of Elon Musk’s role in government cutbacks. That could be contributing to plunging resale values for used models. ps:To petty if you ask me!!

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🇨🇳 Tesla falls to BYD

Data: BYD earnings reports and S&P Capital IQ. (BYD revenue, converted from yuan, as of yesterday.) Chart: Axios Visuals Chinese automaker BYD is expected to surpass Tesla in EV sales this year — but it's already surpassed Tesla in total revenue, Axios' Nathan Bomey writes. Why it matters: The two companies are the far-and-away global leaders in EV sales. 🧮 By the numbers: BYD today reported about $107 billion in 2024 revenue, topping Tesla's $98 billion for the first time. BYD — which already sells more vehicles than Tesla when plug-in hybrids are included — also recorded net income of about $5.6 billion. That's nearly 2.5x Tesla's profit for 2024.

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Tax season is a prime time for scams. IRS uncertainty could add to the issues this year

There’s a lot of information (and money) on the table during tax season. Unfortunately, that also makes it a prime time for scams. Read More.

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Elon Musk Faces Billion-Dollar EU Fine for Failing to Curb Disinformation on X

X says that would be an 'unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech.'

https://www.pcmag.com/news/elon-musk-faces-billion-dollar-eu-fine-for-failing-to-curb-disinformation?

ps:What did he expect would happen? Does he also think he's above the law??

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🚙 Big win for Musk

The tariff reprieve is especially good news for Elon Musk, Axios' Nathan Bomey notes.

• Musk became increasingly public in his opposition to tariffs in recent days, ripping Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro as a "moron" and calling for "a zero-tariff situation" between Europe and North America.

💥 Tesla's stock went on a blistering rally immediately after Trump's announcement Wednesday, soaring 18% to nearly $262 per share in mid-afternoon trading.

• But tensions with China could still be a big problem for Tesla, and therefore for Musk.