this post was submitted on 01 May 2024
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Despite its CEO railing against Biden, Tesla was more than happy to take the administration's money.

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[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 227 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Stealing this from a comment on the restera threaad

Internally employees left at Tesla are calling this the "Snap". My friend was building over 10 new sites and breaking ground on 3 others. Contractors are getting fucked and have no one to contact. Overnight 100's of sites with 100's of contractors, design companies and suppliers working on them are just in limbo with not a single person from Tesla reaching out to them and their contact laid off. Lots of layoffs are going to be tied to this.

Not only does this affect the building of new sites there's now not a single employee that can perform maintenance at any of these locations.

This is going to cascade across many companies and industries. Because this is basically taking a massive infrastructure effort and suddenly cutting off the management and production of specialized hardware.

And, tinfoil, but this very much feels like an attempt to steal the election for republicans. Because this is going to impact the infrastructure efforts of the Biden administration AND cause a lot of layoffs among blue collar workers when they can't send invoices or get paid because everyone they knew got fired. And you can bet there will be a social media shitstorm over "Biden is trying to steal money from my company" if there is any attempt to recoup the money that is being put into a giant reward package for musk.

[–] Ioughttamow@kbin.run 154 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Maybe it’s time we nationalize our infrastructure. Railroads, telecom, electric grid. The capitalists have jerked us around nonstop

[–] KnightontheSun@lemmy.world 37 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Agree. Let's start with Tesla!

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 94 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

And, tinfoil, but this very much feels like an attempt to steal the election for republicans. Because this is going to impact the infrastructure efforts of the Biden administration AND cause a lot of layoffs among blue collar workers when they can’t send invoices or get paid because everyone they knew got fired.

There was a time when I could have thought that level of calculation of Musk. That time is long since gone. His mouth cost him $44 billion when he was forced to buy twitter because of his edgy comments online. Musk's recent comments about the firings were his version of the criteria of "excellent, necessary, and trustworthy" and did not, apparently include the entire Supercharger team. Any outside observer would say the Supercharger team is absolutely "excellent, necessary, and trustworthy".

This latest action by Musk just reeks like a mania episode with a good dose of paranoia mixed it. I don't think it has anything to do with the election.

I was holding stock specifically to be able to vote Musk out, but this latest move was the last straw. I sold what I had after the announcement yesterday. Its already down $5/share lower than when I sold mine yesterday.

[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 6 months ago (1 children)

He's smart enough to listen if someone like Banon or Putin contacted him though. He could be dumb and doing what someone else tells him to do.

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 29 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yup. Even the twitter stupidity makes a lot more sense if his "friends" were egging him on to destroy one of the most useful tools out there for activists to coordinate and information to spread outside of state outlets.

[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 6 months ago

Same way Candace Owen used to hang around with Kanye and all of a sudden he started saying all his racist shit out loud. It was always there based on some inside stories, but theres a corealtion with his worse public decisions and her influence.

[–] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

Yeah a lot of recent musk has seemed like a manic state and paranoia. He's reported to have been doing a lot more drugs lately. So that would probably make sense

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 59 points 6 months ago (2 children)

17 million seems like a lot, doesn't it.

Elon wants a 56,000 million pay package.

[–] TunaCowboy@lemmy.world 26 points 6 months ago (4 children)

It's $56,000,000,000.00.

Fifty six BILLION dollars.

[–] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 39 points 6 months ago

Or, if you're trying to make it more directly comparable to 17 million (because humans aren't great at implicitly comparing that many zeros), that would be 56,000 millions. It's not how we normally say it, but 17 vs 56,000 feels different than 17 million vs 56 billion.

[–] SeedyOne@lemm.ee 27 points 6 months ago

While odd looking to some of us, they were actually right. That's 56,000 "millions" or 56,000 x 1,000,000 = 56 billion. A mind blowing amount of cash.

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[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 131 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Imagine taking your most strategic asset, and an industry leading product, then doing this to it.

Musk is this generation’s Howard Hughes. He was always eccentric and weird, but he’s aggressively sliding into his compulsions like Hughes did.

Hughes ended up locked away, in a dark penthouse, getting yearly fingernail cuts, with a collection of urine filled bottles.

[–] ME5SENGER_24@lemmy.world 49 points 6 months ago

So you’re saying there’s a chance he’s just gonna disappear one day. DON’T YOU TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS IF YOU DON’T REALLY MEAN IT!!

[–] kakes@sh.itjust.works 23 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I thought Bezos was the piss bottle guy.

[–] ReveredOxygen@sh.itjust.works 16 points 6 months ago

Bezos distributes them to employees, but I'm not aware of him using them himself

[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Hughes was the OG rich pee bottle guy.

[–] Coreidan@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago (2 children)

He’s another Trump. Musk may have money but he has no idea how to spend it.

Just like trumps ventures they all failed because he’s a shmuck with zero business clue.

Inherited mommy and daddy’s money but pisses it all away on shit ideas and terrible execution.

Soon we’ll hear musk is broke because he spent it all on shit he can’t handle.

[–] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago (1 children)

He seems to have gotten a lot worse lately, obviously he's always been a jackass and narcissistic. But up until recently most of his business decisions have been mostly rational. From the accounts I've read he has gotten rid of most of if not all of his competent advisors and has been doing a lot more drugs. I think what we are seeing here is an extended manic state, brought on by a lack of stability/stress, some underlying psychological issues, and a whole bunch of drugs.

Oh and just in case people think I'm defending him. I hate that fucker. I just think it is much more complicated than simple incompetency.

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[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 13 points 6 months ago

He is broke. He spent his money on a website, immediately crash and burned it, and interestingly wants the purchase value back as pay from Tesla's board.

This shit don't pay for itself

[–] kameecoding@lemmy.world 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I said somewhere that I believe Tesla as a csr manufacturer is fucked but they light pivot into being a charging company and battery provider, it seems big brain musket is hellbent on ruining the good parts of his company too

[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 32 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Dude could’ve owned America’s next generation energy infrastructure if he played his cards right.

[–] generalpotato@lemmy.world 19 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Provided to him on a silver fucking platter… I mean, it’s astonishing how incompetent he is/was/or is becoming. Holy shit.

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[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 120 points 6 months ago (8 children)

This is why I fucking hate government grants to corporations. These assholes never put in safeguards to actually force these jackass companies to actually use it as intended.

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 25 points 6 months ago

I'm OK with grants for certain things/times/whatever. But it seems like if the owner is worth billions and comes to the gov't for a handout, the gov't should just tax them correctly and say,"No you."

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 21 points 6 months ago

Infrastructure should be public anyways, so instead of giving grants to private for profit companies, it would instead use that money to just fund the infrastructure.

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 15 points 6 months ago

Government grants should come with government share % of the company.

Or at least with heavy requirements and obligations like every government "grant" for normals people.

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[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 94 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Maybe the Fed should take the money back

[–] laurelraven@lemmy.blahaj.zone 59 points 6 months ago

Feels like they should, I'm not exactly thrilled by the idea of my tax dollars going into Musk's pocket just for the hell of it

[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 88 points 6 months ago (13 children)

Incredibly speculative, but this could also be Elon’s Saudi investors’ plan to blow up the EV market in America. If the charging infrastructure becomes unreliable, it kills the entire market.

The “Boring Company” killed light rail in several cities with empty promises. The Saudis bailed out his purchase of Twitter once.

Again speculative, but Elon and the Saudis working together checks a lot of boxes.

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[–] NutWrench@lemmy.world 81 points 6 months ago (7 children)

Such a "clever businessman." Embezelling $17 million in taxpayer dollars to enrich himself.

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 34 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Which, even if it went directly into his pocket, doesn't even move the needle for him.

Like another poster said, his goals are more likely politically aligned. He wants EV infrastructure to fail to show libtards are squandering tax money. Self fulfilling prophecy and all that.

Why the tesla board hasn't sent him packing yet is beyond me. There must be some golden parachute clause that would be very expensive, but he's doing massive harm to their brand that it must be worth it to cut him loose at this point.

Edit - I also think this ego maniac is sabotaging his own charging infrastructure simply because the government passed a bill (IIRC) that requires the charging stations be accessible to any EV. Not that it needs to provide the connectors on-site - other EV drivers will need to bring their own adapters. Simply that the payment system allows non-tesla owners to use it.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago

Why the tesla board hasn’t sent him packing yet is beyond me. There must be some golden parachute clause that would be very expensive, but he’s doing massive harm to their brand that it must be worth it to cut him loose at this point.

He's stacked the board with his friends and family. They're not going to raise the chance of it themselves.

Our only chance is/was actions by activist investors. I suppose I would have been considered one of those until yesterday when I sold.

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[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 70 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Rumor has it that this is a temper tantrum after a competitor unveiled 10 minute charging technology.

[–] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 27 points 6 months ago

Seriously... If that's true this may be the dumbest temper tantrum Elon has had yet and there are a lot of competing temper tantrums.

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[–] Car@lemmy.dbzer0.com 51 points 6 months ago (2 children)

This shit can destroy companies and tank its value

Leaving hundreds of contacts in limbo with no resolution has the potential to cost more than $17 million in legal fees and termination clauses.

Where the fuck is the board of directors and why are none of the shareholders revolting?

[–] ElegantBiscuit@lemm.ee 13 points 6 months ago

To give you an idea of who is on the tesla board of directors, it includes Kimbal Musk, his brother, and James Murdoch, of the Murdoch family you’re probably thinking of. Musk himself owns something like 20% of the company, the board owns some, his cult members also have some share. The rest of the shareholders are either institutional or retail investors who are some combination of not willing to rock the boat, don’t have enough voting power, and/or just don’t care.

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[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 48 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Such a genius move. Us ordinary minds cannot comprehend this.

[–] baru@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Trickle down economics should result in more jobs. In this case it didn't. The lesson is that not enough subsidy was given because people were fired instead of hired. Suggest they give Musk more money, that should get the desired result! /s

[–] snooggums@midwest.social 19 points 6 months ago

Trickle down economics should result in more jobs.

In the mythical land of conservative wish fulfillment, sure. In reality trickle down economics was always a lie to justify tax breaks for the wealthy.

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[–] BigMacHole@lemm.ee 25 points 6 months ago

I'm HAPPY my Tax Dollars went to Laying People Off INSTEAD of feeding Starving American Children!

[–] snooggums@midwest.social 22 points 6 months ago

Musk is such a welfare queen.

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 16 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Why can't we seize this cunt's assets? He plays states, the Fed.. wtf?

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[–] NightAuthor@lemmy.world 16 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Had a friend turn down 4 internships when they got one at Tesla, and now, just as the summers coming up, they recinded a bunch of internship offers.

But they’re crazy, after all that’s gone down w Elon they just bought a Model 3

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