The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit accusing Tesla boss Elon Musk of securities fraud. The US financial regulator says Mr Musk’s claims that he had secured funding to take the electric carmaker private were “false and misleading”. It is seeking to bar Mr Musk from acting as an officer or director of… Continue reading Tesla’s Elon Musk accused of fraud
Tag: Tesla
Musk’s fraud charge will be a force for positive change at Tesla, says tech investor Munster
I think there's a 25% chance Musk remains Tesla CEO: Munster
2 Hours Ago | 09:06
The fraud charge for Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk could spark positive change at the electric car maker, said Gene Munster, managing partner of technology-focused venture capital firm Loup Ventures.
“I think this is actually, strange as it sounds, may be a positive force for some change at the company. We've been advocating that Elon has a different role — stays at Tesla but different visionary role, non investor-related focus. I think there's an opportunity this will pave the way for some of that,” Munster said Thursday on “Closing Bell.”
Musk has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud, according to court documents filed Thursday. Sources close to Tesla told CNBC that the company was also expecting to be sued, though it was not named as a defendant in the complaint.
In August, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private, adding “funding secured.” The tweet spurred a scandal-ridden fall for Tesla and sent the stock seesawing for weeks.
“This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way,” Musk said Thursday in a statement.
I'm surprised shareholders are shocked Musk was charged: Citron's Left
2 Hours Ago | 03:31
Munster said there's “greater than 50 percent” chance Musk gets removed as an officer, because the SEC, “they want blood here.” Munster said it is unlikely Musk will be ousted from the company completely — a fear he said is fueling Tesla's sharp after-hours decline.
“Investors are jumping to that conclusion … that will be on investors minds' for a long time. But that is only one of four remedies for being found guilty of securities fraud, and keep in mind, he has not been found guilty,” Munster said.
Although he thinks the charge could push Musk into a position that better suits his talents for “product and vision” at Tesla, he admitted the news “plays into the difficulty that Tesla is having,” and will likely keep the company's stock “range-bound for probably the next three months.”
“The most important part is that he remains an important part of the fabric of that company … and he can do that without having a spot on their board or an investor-facing role,” Munster said.
Colin Rusch, senior analyst at Oppenheimer, agreed that there is a need for additional leadership at Tesla. He compared Tesla to Apple, which saw its stock appreciate “pretty significantly” for several years after CEO Steve Jobs left.
“We wouldn't be surprised to see Musk settle this fairly quickly,” he said on “Closing Bell.” “He probably does want to stay involved in the company in an active way and will try to do that.”
Shares of the automaker fell more than 10 percent in extended trading Thursday.
— CNBC's Sara Salinas contributed reporting.
Tesla Autopilot on Version 9: Mad Max mode, path planning, navigate, and more
In our latest look at the new firmware, we’re now exploring how Tesla Autopilot on Version 9 works: anything from Mad Max mode to path planning and more. We have already gotten interesting looks at the new version 9 firmware user interface on Model 3 and on Model S. Now we’re looking at Tesla Autopilot… Continue reading Tesla Autopilot on Version 9: Mad Max mode, path planning, navigate, and more
SEC charges Tesla CEO Elon Musk with fraud
Kiichiro Sato | AP
Tesla CEO and founder of the Boring Company Elon Musk.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud, according to court documents filed Thursday. Sources close to the company told CNBC the company was also expecting to be sued, though Tesla was not named as a defendant in the complaint.
Shares of the automaker fell roughly 10 percent in extended trading Thursday.
The SEC complaint alleges that Musk issued “false and misleading” statements and failed to properly notify regulators of material company events. The SEC plans to hold a press conference at 5 pm E.T.
In August, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private, adding “funding secured.” The tweet spurred a scandal-ridden fall for Tesla and sent the stock see-sawing for weeks.
Musk later explained that he had been in discussions with the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and felt confident the funding would come through at his proposed price of $420 per share.
The SEC, in its complaint, alleged:
Musk knew that he (1) had not agreed upon any terms for a going-private transaction with the Fund or any other funding source; (2) had no further substantive communications with representatives of the Fund beyond their 30 to 45 minute meeting on July 31; (3) had never discussed a going-private transaction at a share price of $420 with any potential funding source; (4) had not contacted any additional potential strategic investors to assess their interest in participating in a going-private transaction; (5) had not contacted existing Tesla shareholders to assess their interest in remaining invested in Tesla as a private company; (6) had not formally retained any legal or financial advisors to assist with a going-private transaction; (7) had not determined whether retail investors could remain invested in Tesla as a private company; (8) had not determined whether there were restrictions on illiquid holdings by Tesla's institutional investors; and (9) had not determined what regulatory approvals would be required or whether they could be satisfied.
Musk said in an interview with The New York Times that he calculated a take-private price of $420 by rounding $1 up from what would have been a 20 percent upside at the time.
“According to Musk, he calculated the $420 price per share based on a 20% premium over that day's closing share price because he thought 20% was a 'standard premium' in going-private transaction,” the SEC alleged in its suit. “This calculation resulted in a price of $419, and Musk stated that he rounded the price up to $420 because he had recently learned about the number's significance in marijuana culture and thought his girlfriend 'would find it funny, which admittedly is not a great reason to pick a price.'”
In the hours after the initial tweet, Musk doubled down on the proposal in subsequent tweets. The SEC cited those subsequent tweets in the complaint as additional misleading statements.
Musk also failed to properly notify regulators about his plans to take the company private, the complaint alleges.
Tesla's board of directors initially formed a special committee to evaluate the take-private proposal, but Musk ultimately called off the privatization plans on Aug. 24.
Tesla did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Read the lawsuit as filed in the Manhattan District Court below, and download the file here:
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
—CNBC's
David Faber
contributed to this report.
You Can Now Buy A Discounted Tesla Model 3 Demo Car
3 H BY STEVEN LOVEDAY The time has already begun to partake in a used Tesla Model 3. Some of us have been eagerly awaiting the day that we can buy a used Tesla Model 3. While the reality is that it may be years before there is a wealth of used Model 3s at discounted… Continue reading You Can Now Buy A Discounted Tesla Model 3 Demo Car
Tesla building car carrier trailers amid “delivery logistics hell”
Tesla boss Elon Musk has announced that the company has built its own car transporter trailers amid its difficulty in delivering the Model 3.
Musk previously tweeted that the brand is in “delivery logistics hell” amid complaints of delayed deliveries from customers awaiting their Model 3s, and took to the social media site again to explain that the company was “running into an extreme shortage of car carrier trailers”.
To quell the problem as the end of the third quarter approaches, the company is upgrading its logistics system, including the construction of its own carrier trailers.
@elonmusk Leased a Model S for two years in 2016. Have a day one reservation for a M3 AWD. Placed order at end of June. Still don't have M3 AWD. Lease ends in one week! New customers getting M3 AWD before me? No help from Tesla. I helped keep the lights on at Tesla! Please help? pic.twitter.com/grMvFwJMdm
— Chris Barker (@ctbarker32) September 24, 2018
The Tesla CEO has also in the past tweeted that the company was in “production hell” when it encountered bottlenecks in the production process of the Model 3, although these problems have been quelled, with Tesla reporting targets for Model 3 production being hit.
Watch a Tesla drive in Paris through the eyes of Autopilot
Tesla’s approach to autonomous driving is rather simple – albeit hard. It has some radar and ultrasonic sensor technology but the goal is to drive based on computer vision with cameras feeding into a neural net system that it is able to recognize what it sees – much like a human. We are now getting our best… Continue reading Watch a Tesla drive in Paris through the eyes of Autopilot
Elon Musk wants Tesla to do collision repairs in-house, blames outside shops for long wait times
Musk wants Tesla to do collision repairs in-house
6:55 AM ET Mon, 17 Sept 2018 | 00:54
Tesla CEO and Chairman Elon Musk on Sunday said the electric vehicle maker will soon bring most collision repairs in-house — a promise he first made during the company's annual shareholder meeting in June.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Musk blamed outside shops for taking too long to complete repairs.
Specifically, Musk wrote: “Tesla is bringing most collision repairs in-house, as outside firms take weeks to months for repairs, driving Tesla owners (and us) crazy.”
He acknowledged that some collision repair shops are able to turn around a Tesla customer's car after an accident rather quickly.
When Tesla eventually rolls out its own collision repairs service, he said, the goal will be to make each vehicle “better than before accident.”
Musk also suggested that Tesla has an advantage over outside collision repair shops when it comes to timely service. “Outside repair shops are jack of all trades, which means supporting 1000's of makes & models. Tesla collision repair specializes in three,” he wrote. “Having all parts in stock & not waiting for insurance approval also make a world of difference.”
Ron Arth, the owner of Oakland, California, repair shop George V. Arth & Son, told CNBC that he's not sure how Tesla could repair vehicles without waiting for insurance approvals, unless it's willing to do work for free or temporarily carry the cost on its books while it works out approvals. “Collision repair shops have to document everything we do, and justify it in order to get paid for the repairs,” he said.
Tesla owner frustrated so repairs his own Model S and says it's easy as 'Legos'
1:58 PM ET Tue, 28 Aug 2018 | 05:16
“I think the whole concept of Tesla is awesome, ideologically, and a lot of manufacturers are chasing their designs,” Arth said. “But I think they need to revisit how to deal with collision repair shops of any kind, certified, independent, whatever.”
Arth said Tesla's ultimate goal “should be to repair cars safely and correctly for customers wherever they seek service. That way they'll be happy with their cars, long-term. And when they're ready to buy a new one, they'll come back to you.”
When a Tesla comes through Arth's shop, the automaker requires his team to drive to pick up parts from one of its showrooms or service centers, he said. Other major automakers, in contrast, typically deliver parts to collision shops and give them wholesale discounts.
Aftermarket parts for Tesla vehicles aren't widely available, either. No major company manufactures them.
Arth's business fixes about 100 vehicles a month and has worked on at least a dozen Teslas, he said.
Musk acknowledged on Twitter that spare parts are not abundant, but he promised a fix: “Service & parts supply in general will be the top Tesla priority after we get through the insane car delivery logistics of the next few weeks.”
Luxury electric car maker Lucid is building a charging network with VW in another jab at Tesla
Robert Ferris | CNBC
The Lucid Air Alpha test car, displayed at the New York Auto Show, reached a software-limited 217 miles per hour on a text track in Ohio.
Luxury electric car maker Lucid is building a high speed charging network for electric cars across the United States with Volkswagen, the companies said Tuesday.
According to the deal, VW subsidiary Electrify America and Lucid will build a network of 500 charging sites across 40 U.S. states by the end of 2019.
The deal gives Lucid another leg up against Tesla and signals increasing competition in the luxury electric car segment.
Lucid, which is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, plans to start producing its own upscale electric sedan in 2020.
The company recently upped the ante in the race to catch Tesla after receiving $1 billion investment from the Saudi government's Public Investment Fund. The company's chief technology officer is Peter Rawlings, who was former Tesla's chief engineer, and who worked on the team that developed the Model S sedan.
Robert Ferris | CNBC
The interior of a Lucid Air on display at the New York Auto Show on April 13, 2017.
Legacy automakers such as Jaguar and Volkswagen subsidiary Audi have recently debuted their own high-end electric cars designed to take a piece of the market where Tesla is the most recognizable brand. Tesla is the only other automaker with a dedicated charging network, with 1,344 of its high-speed Supercharger stations around the world.
Volkswagen started the Electrify America program as part of its settlement with the U.S. from its diesel emissions scandal, after it was discovered the automaker used devices to cheat diesel emissions tests. The company agreed to spend $2 billion in the U.S. to promote electric vehicle technology.
Tesla Gigafactory Production Process Is Futuristic And Fascinating
ANALYSTS ‘HIGHLY CONFIDENT’ IN TESLA GIGAFACTORY PRODUCTION PROCESS AFTER PRIVATE TOUR Everybody’s got an opinion about Tesla’s prospects for profitable production of Model 3. Some of these are, shall we say, more informed than others. Of particular interest are the reports of financial analysts who’ve actually visited the company’s factories for a first-hand look at… Continue reading Tesla Gigafactory Production Process Is Futuristic And Fascinating