Even if Elon Musk is ruining your Newsfeed, he’s still bad news. One of the billionaire’s other businesses also seems to be struggling. Based on a claim by Electrek citing an unidentified insider, Tesla has initiated a fresh hiring embargo and expects to let off an unknown number of personnel in the first quarter of 2019. Musk’s “very terrible hunch” about the market led Tesla to declare a “hiring halt” and 10% job cutbacks back in June. Because of these rumors, Tesla Inc. in San Mateo, California, had to lay off 200 people who had been developing an Autopilot system for enhanced driving assistance.
However, Tesla’s recruitment efforts have picked up steam in the months thereafter. Based on a Reuters article, the automaker’s website had roughly 7,000 open positions by mid-October, up from 3,500 in June. But it seems that the boom was just temporary. Tesla has faced several challenges in the previous year, such as regulatory probes into the company’s driver assistance software, distribution network constraints, growing battery prices, recalls, delayed product deadlines, a dismal earnings report, and the unpredictable conduct of its CEO.
Time For a Shake Up
The previous several months have shown Musk to be preoccupied with the turmoil surrounding his purchase of Twitter rather than the management of any of the other four businesses he is President, shareholder, or founder of (SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, Tesla). Indeed, the billionaire’s most ardent followers have recently begun to express displeasure with his actions.
Tesla stock price now reflects the value of having no CEO. Great job tesla BOD – Time for a shake up. $tsla
— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) December 20, 2022
On Monday, Ross Gerber, a big shareholder in both Tesla and Twitter, tweeted his displeasure with Musk and suggested that the executive board replace him. In one article, he stated, “Time for a change-up,” highlighting the fact that Tesla has been functioning efficiently without a CEO.
Musk, being Musk, naturally reacted with petty tweets. Please share your brilliant ideas with us, Ross, he pleaded. In another rebuttal tweet, he said, “Go back and study your Securities Analysis 101 textbook.” Gerber did not stand firm in the face of criticism from Musk as well as his ever-present internet acolytes; rather, he appeared to back down. To clarify. Elon is awesome, and I adore Tesla cars. Before he finally abandoned the topic, he tweeted, “The reason I’m contacting is as a colleague and advocate to assist.”
However, one cannot just ignore the figures. Currently, Tesla Inc.’s share price has fallen by almost 65% since the beginning of the year. Some of the greatest drops coincided with the time of Musk’s actions about Twitter, such as his original acquisition bid and many of the unpredictable and rapid turnover policy changes he’s implemented to the social media site. Musk’s own entire wealth has been reduced by billions as a result of his decisions. This month, he fell from the position of “world’s wealthiest man” to second place behind Bernard Arnault of LVMH.
