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Elon Musk, General Manager of Tesla. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images)
Four days after Tesla 's fourth largest shareholder called for "a time of calm and peace," Chief Executive Elon Musk launched a new campaign. one of his worst mistakes. The rescue of the cave in Thailand, according to investors, is a major distraction from its mission against the automaker.
Vernon Unsworth, a British diver who played a key role in saving 12 boys trapped in a flooded cave. sending a miniature submarine "had absolutely no chance to work" and was "just a shot of PR."
But Musk took the fight a step further, touting his 22 million Twitter followers on Sunday as Unsworth was a pedophile who "really" pressed to explain the accusation, Musk doubled it: "Bet a dollar signed, that's right. "
Investors rattled down Tesla shares by 3% on Monday, extending a company that was only a few weeks ago the most valuable automaker in the world. America, worth more than General Motors.Musk's critics have long claimed that its fierce attacks – with rivals, partners, badysts, journalists and employees, to name a few – have paralyzed Tesla in his vaunted mission to reshape the auto industry and change the world
more than 16% since last month, cutting several billion dollars the company's market value to a when it still depends e money and investor confidence. The company lost $ 2 billion last year and never made any annual profit.
[ The Thai cave rescuer plans to sue Elon Musk for tweets 'pedo' suppressed
Even the shareholders and supporters of Musk begin to question The temperament could affect the company that he built, and their bottom line.
"This thing is being frayed," said Gordon Johnson, managing director of Vertical Group, a New York-based investment research group. "Last week you had a very big shareholder who said that he wanted him to focus on running and stopping tweets. And then, this weekend you are receiving more tweets, what is his angle, what is he doing … He continues to promise all these things, and he continues to miss, and he is not held responsible. " 19659010] Musk's tweets have since been deleted. Tesla and Musk's office spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment.
The representatives of T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Investments and Baillie Gifford – the three largest shareholders of Tesla, behind Musk himself – also declined to comment. James Anderson, a partner in Baillie Gifford's badet management firm, said last week that the company needed peace and focus to solve its "run-in problems," adding that "we're not doing it right." it would be good to focus solely on car manufacturing. Tesla recently hit a weekly manufacturing target for its electric sedan, model 3, after months of delays and a series of disasters that Musk called "production hell"
Musk – Tesla's biggest investor, with more of 33 million shares lost Musk has for years said that he was proudly, aggressively deconcentrated – a billionaire known for his visionary adventures in electric cars, underground supertrains, artificial intelligence and the travel in space. the latest of its momentary ambitions, with the sending of water filters to Flint, Michigan, drilling tunnels for a new clbad of high-speed public transit and the sale of flamethrowers.
B ut Musk had recently promised to act more as the wise leader of a $ 50 billion business that investors want him to be. In an interview last week, Musk said that he was reforming his belief that Twitter was an endless battlefield where "if you attack me, so it's OK for me to fight back." "I will try to be better at this," said Musk. "It's my mistake, I'm going to fix it."
Analysts said Musk's "muscular" comments had made the hatch on the submarine steal Tesla's thunder again. a critical moment, when Musk should focus on making model 3. Gene Munster, an badyst at Loup Ventures, said the comments raised questions about Musk's distractibility and "maturity". "It has crossed a line, and he has to stop," he said. "They have such a beautiful story to tell, and they get lost in that noise."
A Musk SpaceX team built the specially designed "child-sized submarine", and Musk traveled with them to northern Thailand, documenting their ongoing trials and adventures of road. But the boys were saved by a volunteer rescue team. The Musk submarine has never been used.
The submarine, which a rescue chief described as "impractical" for the narrow pbadages of the cave, was left to the country's navy for potential future use. Musk continued to defend the ship, which he said "could also work as an escape capsule in space."
[Elon Musk unveils ‘kid-size’ submarine for Thai cave rescue]
Unsworth, who could not be reached for comment, told reporters Monday, he was considering a lawsuit against Musk, saying, "I think people realize what kind of guys he is. "
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said Unsworth could file a complaint. that Musk's attacks were defamation – a false and written statement that defamed or damaged his reputation.
Comments drew widespread criticism on Monday, including former Vermont governor and Democratic candidate Howard Dean tweeted "If the CEO loses it, the company is worthless."
[Former Tesla employee blasted by Elon Musk takes battle to SEC, filing whistleblower complaint]
The episode also seemed to repel some of Tesla's closest backers, including the alternative energy loyalists who saw Tesla as a worthy opponent of the behemoths and the gas industries. Kevin Holland, the managing director of Solar Shed, a British renewable energy installer, said that his company would no longer promote Tesla products until Musk offered him a public and complete apology … about his disgusting comments. hero. "
" He is a source of inspiration for so many people under very skilled PR over the years and must remember that he is a model, "said Holland." The models of role do not call people [pedophiles] on Twitter because they had an idea that would not work. "
Avi Selk contributed to this report.
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