All posts tagged "tesla"

This massive corporate bonus reveals everything about Trump's America

Tesla announced on Monday that it’s granting additional shares to Elon Musk worth around $29 billion. Tesla’s board describes it as a “first step, ‘good faith’ payment” to Musk — even as Tesla continues to battle in court over reinstating an even bigger pay package that a Delaware judge struck down.

Why is this giant pay package necessary, you might ask, when Musk already holds 13 percent of the company, worth hundreds of billions?

It’s not as if Tesla is thriving and Musk has contributed to its profitability. In fact, Tesla’s sales and profit are falling and it’s losing market share. Tesla’s stock is now down about 20 percent for the year. The company hasn’t reported an increase in quarterly earnings since the third quarter of 2024.

Tesla’s downward profit spiral is mainly due to Musk’s involvement in right-wing politics, which has alienated many car buyers. Although Musk has officially left the Trump administration, he is still nosing around politics. He’s even talking about starting a third party.

And let’s be clear: His political power comes directly from his wealth. Tesla’s making him $29 billion wealthier arguably makes American politics $29 billion dirtier.

It’s not as if Musk needs the additional money. He’s already the world’s richest person, worth about $350 billion.

So why is Tesla’s board giving him a $29 billion raise?

Because Musk hinted last month that he wanted more shares in Tesla to prevent his ouster by “activist” shareholders. It was a “major concern,” he said on an earnings call with analysts.

But this excuse begs the question of why activist shareholders would want him ousted if he were doing such a good job at Tesla. The answer is he’s obviously not doing a good job, and he knows it.

Tesla’s directors aren’t exerting better control over Musk because the board is packed with Musk’s close friends and his brother. This is called a conflict of interest, people.

In fact, what Musk is doing to Tesla is a smaller version of what Trump is doing to America: fleecing it while running it into the ground.

And Tesla’s board’s response is a miniature version of the way congressional Republicans are responding to Trump: rubber-stamping whatever he wants.

Many Tesla shareholders, meanwhile, resemble Trump’s MAGA base. They’ve made a cult out of Musk and applaud anything that keeps him at Tesla despite his breathtakingly irresponsible performance as CEO.

Call it authoritarian capitalism.

Robert Reich is a professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com

'Eww': Elon Musk sparks backlash after debuting 'NSFW' chatbot 'companion'

Anyone who's wondered what Elon Musk has been up to since leaving Donald Trump's employ at the White House got a treat Monday with the reveal of Grok's new "Companion" feature.

"Cool feature just dropped for @SuperGrok subscribers. Turn on Companions in settings," Musk posted.

The Tesla entrepreneur walked users through setting up their own fully programmable anime-style virtual doll complete with fishnet stockings and blonde pigtails. Users can talk to the interactive, animated AI avatars via voice or text. The companions are "fully 3D animated characters aimed at making conversations more engaging, personal, and entertaining."

Critics shredded the tech billionaire after the announcement.

"You thought Elon wanted to send Rockets to mars?" asked one user.

Another posted, "This isn’t cool, it’s hentai bro, like what the f---? Don’t get me started when I asked if the curtains match the drapes."

When another person posted, "NOOOOOO," Musk responded, "Yes," with a devil emoji.

"The last thing I ever wanted from Grok was for it to wear fishnets," wrote another user.

"lol and Lolita style pigtails. Who doesn’t want a child like gf apparently *face Palms*. Great with rampant grooming gangs targeting white girls let’s make a s-- bot with a white girl. Thanks Elon," wrote another.

PatriotTakes wrote, "Elon Musk says it is 'inevitable' that silicone skin outfitted Tesla Optimus robots will enable his new anime girl AI companions 'to be physically real.'"

"The only kind of woman who can stand to be with him," wrote another fan, while others commented, "Ewwwww" and "NSFW."

Elon Musk says it is “inevitable” that silicone skin outfitted Tesla Optimus robots will enable his new anime girl AI companions “to be physically real” pic.twitter.com/PQ5qMBH0UV
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) July 14, 2025

Elon Musk's baloney virtue is as bankrupt as Tesla

As a car company, Tesla is effectively bankrupt. This past quarter, Tesla’s reported profits were only $405 million, a profit shown only because he sold “emissions credits” to General Motors and other car companies to the tune of $595 million.

In other words, he’s not in the car business, but in the business of selling the right to pollute. He helps GM sell Chevy Tahoes that get 15 miles per gallon.

That is because Musk is a master of conjuring money out of thin air — or more accurately, dirty air.

So, my dear green friends, when you buy a Tesla, you’re not reducing your carbon footprint by a quarter-inch, because Musk is selling your good intentions to General Motors so they can pollute more.

It’s like when the medieval Catholic Church sold indulgences, so your relatives didn’t have to go to hell.

When you buy a Tesla, you’ve actually increased your total carbon footprint because Tesla will sell your so-called “emissions savings” while your car is still producing a huge amount of carbon.

There ain’t no such thing as an “emissions free” car, because even Musk can’t get away with violating the law — the Second Law of Thermodynamics. When you buy your Tesla, you’ve moved your pollution from the tailpipe to the electric plant smokestack. For the pinheads who operate their Teslas in Wyoming, that means your car is 100% powered by coal.

Climate change is the looming hell on Earth which no amount of pollution indulgences from Musk will change, no matter how much your friends in Beverly Hills congratulate you on your baloney virtue.

Learn more — see ‘Elon Musk: Batteries Not Included’

Greg Palast is the author of investigative reports for outlets including the Guardian, the BBC, and Rolling Stone, and New York Times bestsellers including The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits. His latest film, Vigilantes Inc.: America’s New Vote Suppression Hitmen, is narrated by Rosario Dawson and produced by Martin Sheen and George DiCaprio. On Substack, he writes at Greg Palast Investigates

Tesla sales of Cybertruck flop for the second year in a row: report

After slumping in the second quarter, Tesla's Cybertruck has now reached two years of sales slump, TechCrunch senior transportation reporter Sean O'Kane wrote on Wednesday.

Tesla has struggled with sales across the board, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. However, O'Kane noted that the Cybertruck sales are particularly low.

"Tesla delivered 384,122 vehicles in the second quarter of this year, wrapping up another weak quarter for the company as it struggles to bring the pace of sales back up to 2023 levels," the report said, citing a press release from the company.

It's a 13.5% decrease from overall Tesla sales in the second quarter of 2022. The Cybertruck wasn't released until November 30, 2023, however.

"Tesla runs a real chance of underperforming its total sales figure from 2024. If that happens, it would mean Tesla’s sales will have fallen two years in a row — despite the company once promoting the ability to grow deliveries at 50% annually," O'Kane wrote.

The second quarter was slightly better than the first quarter of the year, but the first quarter was the worst ever in the past two years.

According to Musk, the bad first quarter was attributed to production lines being shut down as they launched the upgraded Model Y. That didn't happen in the second quarter, however, and sales remained in a slump.

In fact, Business Insider reported in May that some of the staffers working on the Cybertruck and Model Y were instructed to stay home, according to O'Kane.

However, Musk told Bloomberg in a May interview that sales were "strong everywhere else" except for Europe. He also confessed that Tesla “lost some sales from the left,” but claimed the company "gained some from the right."

“If Musk continues to lead and remain in the driver’s seat, we believe Tesla is on a path to an accelerated growth path over the coming years with deliveries expected to ramp in the back-half of 2025 following the Model Y refresh cycle,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told The Washington Post.

"Hard to see the Cybertruck as anything other than a commercial failure at this point," O'Kane wrote on Bluesky.

Musk-Trump feud likely deliberate with specific goal in mind: Wall St analysts

Financial analysts with Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley believe that Elon Musk's very public feud with President Donald Trump was calculated to gain "maximum" attention for his opposition to the "big, beautiful bill," according to Investing.com.

Market reporter Sam Boughedda wrote Tuesday, "Morgan Stanley analysts believe that Elon Musk’s recent public communication 'campaign'...is 'likely part of a planned strategy by Elon to achieve a specific goal with his approach designed to bring maximum public attention to the issue.'"

Before the friendship completely imploded last week, Musk wrote on his social media platform, "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."

The Investing.com report continued that "Despite the potential for 'negative sentiment around Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s products/brand' due to Musk’s political involvement, Morgan Stanley suggests this 'would not have come as a surprise to company management.'"

The firm argued that despite his promise to "focus solely on Tesla" from now on, Musk's vision of business and politics are "very much inseparable" for the Tesla CEO, with the "financial adequacy of the United States (budget deficit, national debt, etc)...elevated to a top priority."

Regardless, Morgan Stanley said it retained "sufficient confidence in the long-term vision of the company to reiterate the name as our ’Top Pick’ in U.S. autos," Investing.com reported.

London-based Data Center Dynamics offered a perspective on the Morgan Stanley/Elon Musk connection.

"Elon Musk's split with President Donald Trump was on the same day that Morgan Stanley tried to help [Musk's] generative AI company xAI raise $5 billion," the site reported. "The Wall Street Journal reports that xAI executives were speaking to Wall Street about the company’s data center buildout and AI chatbot Grok, this past Thursday."

Data Center's editor-in-chief continued, "Morgan Stanley had been hoping to sell the debt at around 100 cents on the dollar, with the close relationship between President Trump and White House adviser Musk having helped boost stocks in Musk's businesses, and reverse a decline in the valuation of social platform X (which is merging with xAI)."

Read the Investing.com article here.

'Breaking news': CNN reveals what Trump plans to do with Tesla he got from Musk

CNN's John Berman revealed a nugget of breaking news that signified a symbolic break between president Donald Trump and his former "first buddy" Elon Musk.

The president infamously turned the South Lawn of the White House into a temporary Tesla showroom March 11 to demonstrate support for Musk as his company was losing value and facing widespread protests, but Trump is reportedly getting rid of the electric vehicle he personally selected that day as a conspicuous favor to his billionaire donor.

"Okay, we do have a little bit of breaking news here," Berman said Friday morning. "We're told president Trump is planning to get rid of the Tesla that he purchased in March. That's according to a senior White House official. You remember this red vehicle parked just outside the White House? We're told it might be sold or possibly given away. That's according to another official."

"It's still outside the White House for now, but it might not be there for long," Berman added.

The pair publicly split this week over Musk's objection to the Republican budget bill that contains the entirety of Trump's legislative agenda, but Trump told Berman's colleague Dana Bash that he was ready to move on but also made clear he wasn't interested in talking over their differences.

"Now, as for the president, just a short time ago he told Dana Bash in a phone call, he's not even thinking about Elon Musk and that he won't speak to him for a while," Berman said.

Watch below or click here.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

'If you’re a fascist get a Tesla:' Rock legend swipes Trump and Musk with new protest song

Rock legend Neil Young, known for searing protest music that dates to the late 1960s, has a new political ditty to add to his catalog, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Young, who holds dual American-Canadian citizenship, was once part of supergroups Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, interspersed with a prolific solo career.

He debuted a new song that targets Elon Musk and Donald Trump with lyrics that evoke his anti-George H.W. Bush song "Rockin' in the Free World" from 1991.

Young debuted the track, "Let's Roll Again," at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles over the weekend as a "rallying cry" to the American auto industry.

Lyrics included, “Come on Ford, come on GM/ Come on Chrysler, let’s roll again,” and included a plea to "run real clean."

Following a trademark harmonica break, "Young delivered his most biting lyric," according to the Chronicle: “If you’re a fascist, get a Tesla/ It’s electric, it doesn’t matter.”

Also read: 'This is our shot': Dems believe MTG's new job gives 'golden opportunity' to destroy GOP

“If you’re a Democrat, taste your freedom/ Get whatever you want, taste your freedom.”

The article said that "Young, who for years lived on a ranch in Woodside (San Mateo County), has long been an advocate for sustainable automotive technology."

It continued, "In 2008, he launched Linc Volt Technology to promote retrofitting gas-powered vehicles with clean energy alternatives. That same year, he unveiled a 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to run on electric batteries and a biodiesel generator at San Francisco’s Dreamforce conference. The musician later adapted a Mercedes-Benz and a Hummer to run on used vegetable oil."

Young is scheduled to headline the Glastonbury Festival and launch a European and North American tour this summer.

On his website last month, Young posted, "When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminium [sic] blanket. That’s right folks, if you say anything bad about Trump or his administration, you may be barred from re-entering USA.”

Watch the clip below via YouTube.

'I’m the reincarnation': Book claims Musk thought himself reborn 'spirit' of ancient king

When Elon Musk was a 20-something entrepreneur pushing his first startup, he claimed to a potential investor that he couldn't possibly fail at business because he was the reincarnation of one of the greatest warriors in all of human history, according to a new book.

Washington Post reporter Faiz Siddiqui recounted the exchange between Musk and venture capitalist Derek Proudian in "Hubris Maximus," out this week.

Musk reportedly told the investor that his fledgling company, Zip2, which promised to put the Yellow Pages online, was “going to be the biggest company ever.”

When Proudian tried to change the subject, Musk retorted, “No—you don’t understand. I’m the reincarnation of the spirit of Alexander the Great," the book said.

ALSO READ: 'We’ve made a mistake': Trump’s trade war sends GOP into frenzy

Proudian, who "brushed off Musk's words" in the 1990s, is now worried after seeing what Musk has become, The Daily Beast reported.

“I am really concerned because I know how smart this guy is and I know how much money he has and I know how ruthless he is, and it’s playing out in front of my own eyes,” Proudian said.

In another example of Musk's "arrogance," a former Tesla investor told Siddiqui that "Musk cannot stand being told what to do—even by the Securities and Exchange Commission," adding, “He just basically has a complete disdain for any authority period."

A former Tesla software engineer is quoted as saying, "We saw with definitive proof his true colors,” over subjects like racial justice during the George Floyd protests. “I don’t know if he doesn’t want to empathize or if he feels he’s just too busy to empathize.”

The Daily Beast article stated that Siddiqui "has long covered Musk’s antics at Tesla and Twitter for the Post," and that when asked for comment, Musk would often quip, “Give my regards to your puppetmaster,” referring to fellow multibillionaire Jeff Bezos.

Musk did not comment for the Daily Beast article, according to its author.

Read the Daily Beast article here.

'Huge damage': Irked investor doubts 'despised' Elon Musk can fix free-falling Tesla

A Tesla investor and wealth manager expressed skepticism over claims that Elon Musk's promise to spend less time in Washington will bolster his Tesla electric vehicle brand and encourage sales.

After Musk got involved with President Donald Trump and took charge of the Department of Government Efficiency, Tesla vehicles and Cybertrucks became targeted symbols for his slash-and-burn tactics. Tesla dealerships have faced vandalism and even been set ablaze, as Tesla's stock plunged. The company reported a whopping 71% nosedive in net income yesterday due to falling sales.

According to The New York Times, just hours after Tesla said first-quarter earnings were at $409 million, down from $1.4 billion last year, Musk said on an investor call that he planned to spend less time in Washington.

ALSO READ: 'Alarming': Small colleges bullied into silence as Trump poses 'existential threat'

Ross Gerber, with Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management, told CNN on Wednesday that he found the notion that Musk is "coming back to Tesla" to be "somewhat overblown," because Musk's true focus is on artificial intelligence.

"People forget that he's raising money for xAI...a huge amount of money," Gerber said. "So, I don't necessarily think refocusing on Tesla is his main goal. It's one of the things he will do along with building AI, so, I still think the same problems persist, irrelevant of where he spends his time."

Gerber said Musk has created a "huge amount of brand damage," and the reason people have soured on him isn't due to his DOGE cuts alone.

"I think there's a misperception that Elon has, that he thinks that his actions within the government have created this brand damage, and that's not correct," Gerber said. "It's actually a combination of things led by his actual views about many people and topics that are abhorrent to many people, including the support of the AfD in Germany and other right-wing, white supremacist groups. So, I don't think that DOGE is the issue, actually. It's that people despise Elon Musk even more than they hate Trump, and that's not something that he can solve at this point."

Watch the clip below via CNN.

New Tesla figures show massive profit loss amid nationwide backlash to Elon Musk

Elon Musk's affiliation with President Donald Trump has led to huge first-quarter profit loss for his electric vehicle company, Tesla, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that Tesla's "net income slid 71% in the first quarter, as the company struggled to overcome competitive pressure overseas and a reputational hit from Chief Executive Elon Musk’s polarizing role in the Trump administration."

In addition, the company reported "adjusted earnings-per-share of 27 cents, which missed analysts’ expectations of 41 cents."

Musk has become a lightning rod of controversy ever since joining the Trump administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency and an informal adviser to Trump.

ALSO READ: 'Retribution or bust’: 'Secretary of Retribution' joins J6 leaders to demand mass arrests

"Tesla’s core auto business is under pressure," wrote reporter Sean McLain. "The company’s global vehicle deliveries fell 13% in the first quarter, partly because of a consumer backlash against the brand in response to Musk’s role as President Trump’s cost-cutting czar. Tesla has faced protests across the U.S. and Europe, and some of its stores and charging stations have been vandalized or even set on fire."

The article noted that Tesla is also dealing with 25% tariffs on auto imports.

"While Tesla builds its U.S.-sold cars in Texas and California, it relies on neighboring countries for components, including Mexico, which supplies more than 20% of its parts, according to federal data," the report stated.

Read The Wall Street Journal article here.