Lately, however, their CEO appears more interested in advocating against illegal immigration and diversity hiring than in fixing Tesla’s core business.
And while some have been critical of his brand of divisive politics, their complaints focused on Musk’s lackluster enthusiasm as Tesla CEO, which they feel too few are willing to call out.
Twitter once served as a useful mechanism to provide quick feedback to Musk from the community, but now some believe the Tesla CEO has let his popularity on the platform go to his head.
Now hope mainly rests on a sudden surge in software revenue from its advanced driver-assist system called supervised Full Self-Driving.
His reward for stepping out of line is a stream of abuse from Elon superfans.
Musk himself called the money manager this week “such an idiot that he can’t even tell he’s an idiot”.
“Elon Musk is the most important asset Tesla has,” he told Schulze and others in the forum.
“That’s my litmus test to determine whether someone is a fan of Tesla or Elon—do they believe deserves a full-time CEO?” Lambert says.
This year’s annual meeting will likely see a vote by shareholders on a new compensation package, following the voiding by a Delaware court of a 2018 approval worth $56 billion, the highest amount ever recorded and more than the company has made since it first reported a profit in 2020.
The startling figure was partly caused by worries that, in the event that Musk did not receive a large payout, Tesla would have to actively compete with SpaceX and a plethora of Musk’s other businesses during his limited tenure.
But lately, it seems that their CEO is more concerned with fighting for diversity in the workforce and opposing illegal immigration than he is with addressing Tesla’s main issues.
For the first time since the pandemic, quarterly auto sales decreased in the first three months of this year; the main surprise was the lackluster demand in the U.S. s. the market.
See also: Elon Musk may not be spearheading a rapidly expanding electric vehicle company, and analysts are expressing concern: “We warn that Tesla shares may decline significantly more.”.
According to a study released this week, he bears some of the blame for his online persona. Barron’s investigation revealed that since the numbers were released, he has tweeted more about Disney than Tesla.
Henning Schulze, who is now “significantly” underwater on his investment after three years, bemoaned, “It’s very important to get that comp plan up and running because that is what keeps him focused.”.
In a Spaces forum held right after this week’s disastrous Q1 volumes, the IT professional told other Tesla investors, “Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in Elon. But, he needs to focus and not be complaining or ranting about borders.”. “.
Fortune asked a number of seasoned Tesla employees if they shared concerns about the company’s future direction.
Feedback loop broken.
In most cases, those who reply are already dejected.
Although some have criticized his divisive political style, they have mainly taken issue with Musk’s lackluster enthusiasm in his role as CEO of Tesla, which they believe too few people are willing to point out.
In the past, Twitter was a helpful way for the community to give Elon Musk rapid feedback. However, some people now think that Musk has become overly popular on the social media site.
“Elon Musk is taking advantage of his enormous fan base and mistaking it for an attack,” claims Fred Lambert, who has previously expressed his belief that Musk should not be placed above others. “The feedback loop is completely broken,” Lambert claims.
Electrek’s editor-in-chief, who is involved in the community since he volunteered to moderate a Tesla subreddit, told Fortune about his involvement in the community.
He has been the editor of one of the earliest tech-focused websites for almost ten years; it was started by Seth Weintraub, the man behind 9to5Mac.
Lambert recently stepped away from Musk following the revelation of emails that demonstrated the billionaire had always supported OpenAI turning into a for-profit business—just one that was run by him rather than Microsoft.
Lambert stated at the time that “this is not the man I used to consider my hero,” and that “he was always in it for himself.”. “.
Speaking to Fortune, Lambert said he thought the CEO erred strategically in focusing on the pricey Cybertruck made of stainless steel rather than the $25,000 entry model that was hinted at at the company’s September 2020 Battery Day. Lambert feels this model would have spurred added growth. (Musk now seems to be giving a robotaxi priority after a Reuters story on Friday claimed he had halted work on the entry model).
Lambert is a symbol of the community’s widening divide.
The majority don’t care how Musk divides his time because they believe in the man first and the company second, but a growing number of people want Musk to dedicate himself entirely to Tesla’s original goal of decarbonizing transportation. They worry that this goal has been overlooked as the CEO switches his focus to robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) when he isn’t sharing his opinions on X.
Musk moves on from his broken promises to robots and artificial intelligence.
Over 900 videos have been posted on YouTube by New Zealander Lee, also known as Tesla Economist, discussing the business.
He tells Fortune that after Musk repeatedly broke promises—like the never-ending wait for the Semi, the Roadster, or the entry model—he grew more and more critical.
The company’s much-heralded next-generation 4680 cells have advanced painfully slowly, and the failure to achieve commercialization of its ground-breaking dry battery electrode coating—a game-changer in terms of capital expenditure and manufacturing costs—has been perhaps the biggest disappointment.
Since then, “the company itself has been going downhill,” he claims.
Musk continues to hold Tesla back from completing the second half of his Master Plan, but he already believes that robotics will play a major role in the company’s future.
In the meantime, the primary auto industry has struggled and required several price reductions in order to reach its 11.8 million vehicle volume goal last year.
Lee says, “I think he saw this coming and dumped his stock early.”.
He also accuses him of influencing his followers to buy cryptocurrency memes like Dogecoin despite knowing that he can control the price with a single tweet.
With its sophisticated driver-assist system, supervised Full Self-Driving, hope now primarily hinges on an unexpected spike in software revenue.
“It seems like FSD will determine the company’s destiny,” the Tesla content creator said. “It’s up to you how likely and how much you think that would be worth.”.
Many see this month’s move to drop the “beta” qualifier in front of FSD in favor of “supervised” as an attempt to claim the software is no longer undergoing testing and validation, allowing it to recognize a portion of the $926 million in deferred revenue and potentially salvage what will undoubtedly be a difficult Q1 for profits.
It is painful to lose Tesla’s always composed finance chief.
Co-founder of asset manager Gerber Kawasaki, Ross Gerber, has been a vocal supporter of Tesla for a long time.
But like many supporters of the business’s founding goals, he has criticisms about the debt-funded acquisition of Twitter that has taken up a significant amount of Musk’s time.
Gerber announced his candidacy for Tesla’s board of directors two years prior.
Following weak Q1 sales, which may indicate that Musk neglected his business in favor of paying off the $13 billion in debt he took on when he acquired Twitter, Gerber demanded a complete overhaul of the board, adding new independent directors.
Overzealous Elon fans have retaliated against him by hurling insults at him.
This week, Musk referred to the money manager as “such an idiot that he can’t even tell he’s an idiot.”.
Being accompanied by Tesla’s unwavering finance chief, Zach Kirkhorn, helped to mitigate the tycoon’s moodiness and volatility, for which he is prescribed ketamine.
In May of last year, Kirkhorn was referred to as “the executive who keeps Tesla rolling” by The Wall Street Journal, which implied that Kirkhorn was at the top of the list of possible Musk successors.
After three months, he abruptly left the company for undisclosed reasons. There is currently no obvious replacement on the board in the event that Musk passes away.
Zach was a fantastic executive with leadership potential. According to Gerber, Elon removed him, which means that Elon is the only qualified person left to lead Tesla. “.
Urge the increasingly polarized fan base to come together.
Once Fortune warned the EV manufacturer that it risks falling behind a competitive field headed by China’s BYD, all three of the Tesla veterans Fortune spoke with saw a significant decline in their reputation within the Tesla community.
Xiaomi, a well-known smartphone manufacturer, has surfaced as a new threat as well. With a sporty electric car that bears a striking resemblance to the Porsche Taycan EV, Xiaomi is underneath the Model 3 by thousands of dollars.
Presently, the disparate groups are facing difficulties in collaborating on a shared vision for the organization: should it continue to focus on releasing the world from the grip of the planet-destroying fossil fuel industry, or develop a robot for each man, woman, and child?
This week, Omar Qazi—an unofficial brand ambassador who has access to Elon Musk and was one of the original creators of the Third Row Tesla podcast—urged the community to come together in support of their CEO.
“Elon Musk is Tesla’s most valuable asset,” he said to Schulze and the other participants in the forum. We face the possibility of losing him due to the belief held by many shareholders that it would be best to simply fire and oust the man. “.
Many would be happier if they knew Musk showed up every day to run the company like he used to rather than spending his limited time engaging in divisive political issues on X. Many are tired of hearing old war stories about how Musk would sleep in the factory during the Model 3 ramp six years ago.
“Do they think Tesla or Elon Musk deserve a full-time CEO?” is Lambert’s “litmus test” for figuring out whether someone is a fan of either company. But going forward, I just don’t see him having a more positive than negative influence if he can’t break free from this dysfunctional feedback loop. “.
