Elon Musk Had A Bad Week At Tesla, SpaceX And ​​Twitter

It’s been a particularly exciting year for Elon MuskThis has been a rough week.

TeslaIts shares, which have lost nearly half their value since peaking in November, have fallen nearly 6% last week, as investors continue to sell out of their tech holdings.

There were internal problems at Tesla that didn’t help. This week, they involved safety issues with the company’s advanced driver assistance systems.

Musk’s other major company, SpaceX, fired a group of employees who circulated an internal letter allegedly denouncing the CEO and founder as “distracted and confused.” Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday gave SpaceX’s Starship rocket program a long list of things to do before it can receive a launch permit in Boca Chica, Texas.

Then there are Twitter. Musk agreed to buy the social media company for $44 billion in April, but then publicly dumped it in the trash, sparking all kinds of concerns about whether the deal is really over. or not. On Thursday, Musk spoke to Twitter employees for the first time in a widely circulated video address, based on messages displayed on an internal chat board.

Here’s what happened in Musk town this week.

The The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday that Tesla vehicles accounted for nearly 70% of reported crashes involving advanced driver assistance systems since last June. Data provided by the US safety agency said electric cars were involved in 273 of the 392 crashes cited in the report, which includes data from 11 automakers.

However, NHTSA said the data does not have proper context and is meant only as a guide to quickly identify potential error trends.

“I advise you to exercise caution before trying to draw conclusions based solely on the data that we are releasing,” NHTSA Administrator Steven Cliff said at a media event. “In fact, the data alone may raise more questions than they answer.”

When Musk announced plans in June to cut Tesla’s workforce by 10%, the CEO said he had a “super bad feeling“about the economy. For consumers, those concerns are turning into sticker shock.

Tesla inflated prices for all car models in the US. This week as the auto industry continues to grapple with supply chain issues, inflation and economic uncertainty.

According to its website, the company increased the price of the long-range Model Y to $65,990 from $62,990 and increased the price of the performance version by $2,000 to $69,990. Electrek said the price of the Model S All-Wheel Drive increased by about $5,000 to $104,990. The Model X Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive Long Range has increased by $6,000.

Tesla had previously delayed deliveries of some long-range models in the US by up to a month.

FAA on Monday make an environmental decision that results in a mix of good and bad news for Musk’s SpaceXand the giant Starship rocket the company is developing in Texas.

The regulator has issued a list of more than 75 environmental mitigation actions that the company must complete before it can conduct Starship test flights. The requirements include limits on noise levels and how often SpaceX can close public highways near the facility.

Following the FAA’s decision, Musk says the company will have a “ready to fly” Starship prototype rocket in July. The company is aiming to hit orbit for the first time with this vehicle. But first, it requires a launch license from the FAA, and the regulatory agency’s required mitigations will increase dramatically before the company can claim it.

The good news for SpaceX is that the FAA has concluded its review and has not requested a further review.

According to media reports, several SpaceX employees wrote and internally circulated a letter criticizing Musk and his public behavior, describing him as “a frequent source of distraction and confusion.” tangled”. CNBC reported on Friday that at least five employees involved in the letter have been fired the result is.

SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell, in a company-wide email obtained by CNBC, asserted that the letter and the process of soliciting the signer “disturbed many employees” who she said felt “annoyed” , threatened and bullied.”

“We have so much important work to get done that we don’t need this kind of overwork,” Shotwell writes. “I apologize for this distraction. Stay focused on the SpaceX mission and use your time at work to do your best work.”

Musk’s hand-in-hand meeting with Twitter employees on Thursday appears to be an attempt by the potential future owner to establish a sense of trust and transparency with the people who will work for him.

But the reaction on Slack after the meeting showed employees still had questions and concerns, according to one person who viewed the messages but asked to remain anonymous because they were intended to be private.

While the former CEO Jack Dorsey promise employees options to permanent remote workMusk has taken a very different approach to his companies, recently requiring Tesla and SpaceX employees to be in the office at least. 40 hours a week.

Musk said on the call that he might not be as strict with Twitter employees, because software development could more easily be handled remotely while car production requires a physical presence.

But his answer didn’t seem to assuage worries. His comments also caused some Twitter employees to fear their jobs, according to a person familiar with the matter. In addressing concerns about possible layoffs, Musk said Twitter needs to be in a healthy financial state, but “anyone making a significant contribution has nothing to worry about,” according to the person.

In response, Twitter employees shared messages and memes at the end of the meeting, talking about how to brand themselves as special.

— Michael Wayland of CNBC contributed to this report.

CLOCK: Musk tells Twitter employees he wants at least a billion daily users