ReportWire

Tag: tesla inc

  • Tesla recalls 3,470 Model Y vehicles over loose bolts

    Tesla recalls 3,470 Model Y vehicles over loose bolts

    [ad_1]

    A vehicle charges a Tesla Supercharging station in Corte Madera, California, US, on Thursday, March 2, 2023. 

    David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Tesla said it is recalling 3,470 2022 through 2023 Model Y vehicles in the United States because bolts securing the second-row seatback frames may not have been securely tightened, according to a filing made public Saturday.

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said a loose seat frame bolt may reduce seat belt system performance, increasing injury risks during a crash.

    Tesla told NHTSA it has identified five warranty claims since December that may be related to these conditions. Tesla said it was not aware of any injuries or deaths that may be related to the recall issue.

    Tesla will inspect bolts securing second-row driver-side and passenger-side seat back frames to the lower seat frames and if needed tighten them to specifications.

    In December, a Tesla supplier implemented improved process controls along with improved training and supervision to ensure bolts are torqued to specifications, the automaker said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tesla’s investor day featured 17 execs, taking Elon Musk out of the limelight

    Tesla’s investor day featured 17 execs, taking Elon Musk out of the limelight

    [ad_1]

    Elon Musk speaking at Tesla Investor Day.

    Courtesy: Tesla

    When Tesla CEO Elon Musk promoted a 2023 Investor Day event to be held on March 1, he promised to reveal his “Master Plan 3,” a long-term vision for the company’s next stage of growth.

    Last year, Musk said his new plan would include details on: “scaling to extreme size, which is needed to shift humanity away from fossil fuels, and AI.” He also promised the plan would include “sections about SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company.”

    The hours-long Tesla Investor Day on Wednesday evening left many shareholders and fans wanting more, however, and sent Tesla’s stock price lower on Thursday, though analysts were positive on balance.

    Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a Friday morning autos update, “Walking away from Tesla’s investor day, we were admittedly disappointed with the overall lack of details on its next-gen platform, including launch timing, vehicle segments and price points, and financial implications. At the same time, the company showcased impressive traction and presented high-level plans for deep technological and manufacturing improvements which in our view, leave its long-term volume and margin upside trajectory intact.”

    At the event, there was no discussion of the very affordable electric car the company first teased at a 2020 Battery Day event, no update on start of deliveries for the Cybertruck, no details about the long-delayed revamped Roadster, and no update on the company’s progress in heavy duty trucking with its new Semi.

    Musk did not discuss ways in which Tesla plans to work with his other ventures. And a “Master Plan 3” document was still not posted to the company’s Investor Relations page as of Friday morning.

    What worked and what didn’t work at the presentation?

    Pivotal Media founder Marisa Thomas, who has trained executives in tech, finance and elected officials to hone their presentation skills for more than a decade, shared her analysis.

    Team showing

    One thing the Investor Day accomplished well was to turn shareholders’ attention to the broader organization under Tesla’s celebrity CEO.

    During the event, Tesla trotted out 17 different company leaders who spoke about what the company has achieved so far, and where it hopes to go next.

    “I guess it’s no longer the Elon show,” Thomas said. “At a time when so many people are concerned about how fragmented his focus is as a leader, it makes sense to try to make people comfortable with the team– that the team is more than Elon.”

    Since Musk led a $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and appointed himself CEO there in October last year, Tesla shareholders have voiced frustration over his split focus, his use of Tesla personnel to help him at Twitter, and the controversy he has courted with his own tweets and by making massive changes to the platform.

    His moves at Twitter and increasingly political provocations on Twitter appear to have dampened interest in the Tesla brand, particularly among left-leaning potential customers and shareholders, according to data from YouGov shared with CNBC.

    While the investor day highlighted Tesla’s bench, diversity was not a strong point: Only two of the leaders who presented were women. Thomas said that in 2023, two women on stage of 17 presenters amounted to a “a very poor showing,” and did not give a “feeling of optimism” about diversity and equity at the company.

    The presentation could have been more polished as well. While some presenters spoke more confidently, others read nervously from teleprompters.

    “It’s public speaking, not public reading. It’s hard to have confidence in someone who is supposed to be the expert, but who is looking down and reading off scripts. Too often, engineers think they get a pass on public speaking — but this skill has to be in the tool kit of any executive,” Thomas advised.

    More focus

    Investor Day may have succeeded in showing off the Tesla team, but the content left some fans and analysts disappointed.

    For one, Thomas said, the event started late and ran on far too long — about three hours, followed by a question-and-answer session. “People have trouble sitting through a two-hour action movie these days!  A three-hour investor presentation totally lacks focus,” said Thomas.

    Tesla also failed to deliver clear takeaways at Investor Day. “Every good presentation should have a few key takeaways — are they obvious to investors, and why do they matter for Tesla’s future? This event didn’t accomplish that,” she added.

    Tesla’s long time head of investor relations, Martin Viecha, seemed to acknowledge the meeting was too long and that key points may not be clear to all. He posted a 9-point recap on Twitter, “for those who don’t have 3 hours.”

    The Mexico factory

    Executives also waited to confirm the company’s biggest news of the week until several hours into the event. At the start of a question-and-answer session, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla will be opening its next major factory outside of Monterrey, Mexico.

    He didn’t offer any new details.

    On Thursday, Mexican officials filled in some of those blanks in media interviews, revealing that Tesla is expected to spend $5 billion on the vehicle assembly plant near-term and $10 billion over the long run, employing between 5,000 and 10,000 workers.

    The factory will be Tesla’s largest in the world, with a land purchase of about 4,200 acres in an industrial zone and the capacity to build up to 1 million cars per year. By contrast, Tesla’s factory in Austin, Texas sits on about 2,500 acres.

    At Investor Day, Musk said he thought some officials from Mexico were in attendance. He didn’t say their names, and wasn’t sure of their titles. Thomas said that if the new factory is going to be important to Mexico’s economic future, and to Tesla’s business, it was not smart for the CEO to treat these officials in an offhand, lackluster manner. He could have welcomed the guests by name, and more respectfully acknowledged their partnership.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tesla, Musk sued by shareholders over self-driving safety claims | CNN Business

    Tesla, Musk sued by shareholders over self-driving safety claims | CNN Business

    [ad_1]



    Reuters
     — 

    Tesla

    (TSLA)     and its Chief Executive Elon Musk were sued on Monday by shareholders who accused them of overstating the effectiveness and safety of their electric vehicles’ Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies.

    In a proposed class action filed in San Francisco federal court, shareholders said Tesla defrauded them over four years with false and misleading statements that concealed how its technologies, suspected as a possible cause of multiple fatal crashes, “created a serious risk of accident and injury.”

    They said Tesla’s share price fell several times as the truth became known, including after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the technologies, and reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Musk’s Autopilot claims.

    The share price also fell 5.7% on Feb. 16 after NHTSA forced a recall of more than 362,000 Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving beta software because they could be unsafe around intersections.

    Tesla has said it acquiesced to the recall, though it disagreed with NHTSA’s analysis.

    “As a result of defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s common stock, plaintiff and other class members have suffered significant losses and damages,” the complaint said.

    Tesla, which does not have a media relations department, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Monday’s lawsuit led by shareholder Thomas Lamontagne seeks unspecified damages for Tesla shareholders from Feb. 19, 2019 to Feb. 17, 2023. Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn and his predecessor Deepak Ahuja are also defendants.

    Tesla’s share price closed Monday up $10.75, or 5.5%, at $207.63, but the stock has lost about half its value since peaking in Nov. 2021.

    Musk is expected at Tesla’s March 1 investor day to promote the company’s artificial intelligence capability and plans to expand its vehicle lineup.

    The case is Lamontagne v Tesla Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 23-00869.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tesla is not the only company reviewing its Europe investment after Biden’s IRA

    Tesla is not the only company reviewing its Europe investment after Biden’s IRA

    [ad_1]

    Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, on a stage at the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide, Germany.

    Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

    Tesla recently announced a strategy shift away from Europe as it seeks to benefit from unprecedented subsidies in the United States. But it’s not the only company reviewing investment decisions vis-à-vis Europe.

    Many multinationals are reconsidering plans to deploy new money into Europe. It comes after U.S. President Joe Biden last year presented the Inflation Reduction Act, or the IRA, which includes a record $369 billion in spending on climate and energy policies.

    The landmark legislation, which features green subsidies for businesses, has raised competition issues for European companies — and upset politicians in the region. Brussels has been left considering how best to respond.

    Northvolt, a Swedish battery maker; Linde, a chemical giant from Germany; Volkswagen, the carmaker; Enel, the Italian energy giant, have all expressed an interest in profiting from U.S. subsidies. And there could be more.

    “European companies, they prefer to have the present of the U.S. government rather than the penalty of the European authorities,” Evangelos Mytilineos, CEO and chairman at the Greek industrial conglomerate Mytilineos, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” about the additional bureaucracy in Europe.

    When asked if he would be taking his business to the U.S., Mytilineos replied, “It is a possibility. Unfortunately, it is not just a possibility for our company.”

    It is still early to assess just how much investment could drift away from Europe as a result of Biden’s policy. But so far the message from European businesses is clear: they want officials in the region to do more to support them.

    In a speech in February, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was time for a “simpler and faster framework.” Previously, her team had welcomed the efforts stateside for a cleaner economy, while intensifying talks with their counterparts to ensure European businesses would not flock to America.

    But there are fears it could be too little, too late.

    Peter Carlsson, the CEO of Northvolt, told CNBC in February that his company has been working on a North American plant. “And with the IRA that plan kind [of] got turbo boosted given the very strong incentives,” he added.

    Northvolt is in the midst of deciding whether to press ahead with its expansion in North America before doing so in Germany.

    Meanwhile, Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay, a chemicals company headquartered in Belgium, said in January: “The reality is that the Biden administration incentivizes when Europe regulates — to put it black in white.”

    EU ‘aware that it needs to do more’

    Tesla last month decided to scale back some investments in Germany and focus on the North American market instead to benefit from the IRA.

    “The focus of Tesla’s cell production is currently in the United States due to the framework created by the United States Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),” the company said on Feb. 22, according to Reuters. A spokesperson for the company was not available when contacted by CNBC Thursday.

    It comes as both businesses and analysts argue that the simplicity of the IRA is too attractive to pass up on.

    “The IRA is constructed in a way that is first of all, very simple. And simplicity is always a winner. By contrast, the European Union machinery is a lot more complex,” said Maria Demertzis, senior fellow at the think tank Bruegel.

    Solvay CEO: Europe needs to be inspired by Biden's IRA legislation

    “Will firms in the European Union or anywhere else postpone investment that they wanted to make in the European Union and actually profit from the direct and very simple and immediate benefit that the IRA actually promises?”

    It’s something European officials are worried about, she added, and comes at a particularly difficult time.

    Economies across the EU cannot afford to lose key investments as they struggle with a cost-of-living crisis. The bloc also wants to be independent of China and others for critical materials like lithium.

    “The EU is particularly aware that it needs to do more to compete internationally,” Demertzis said.

    The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, is still working on a Sovereignty Fund to provide financing for green projects, but the full details are not expected before June.

    Northvolt CEO: Still committed to German plant

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

    5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

    [ad_1]

    Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:

    1. Off to a weak start

    February’s gloominess carried over to March. The three indicies either fell or landed in flat territory Wednesday (the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 slid while the Dow squeaked out the barest gain), and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit 4% for the first time since November. That action indicates the pain is going to stick around a little longer. On Thursday, investors will chew over the latest weekly jobless claims data as they anticipate the Federal Reserve’s next moves in its rate-hiking battle against inflation. Fed Gov. Christopher Waller is slated to speak Thursday afternoon. Follow live markets updates.

    2. CRM of the crop

    Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 25th, 2022. 

    Adam Galica | CNBC

    Salesforce surprised everyone – in a good way – with its earnings report Wednesday. Shares of the enterprise software giant and Slack parent surged around 15% in off-hours trading after the company easily topped Wall Street’s expectations for revenue and profit. Activist investors have been putting the squeeze on Salesforce and its CEO, Marc Benioff, looking for fatter profits. The company recently cut 10% of its workforce, resulting in more than $800 million in restructuring costs, as part of a longer-term attempt to control spending. Benioff also said the company disbanded its board committee on mergers and acquisitions, while it works with consultancy Bain on reviewing Salesforce’s business.

    3. Tesla’s new ‘master plan’ underwhelms

    Elon Musk speaking at Tesla Investor Day. 

    Courtesy: Tesla

    Shares of Tesla fell more than 5% in off-hours trading after the electric vehicle company unveiled its latest “master plan,” which, according to CNBC’s Lora Kolodny, was light on details and specifics. CEO Elon Musk spoke in utopian terms as he kicked off the presentation. “There is a clear path to a sustainable-energy Earth. It doesn’t require destroying natural habitats,” he said. “It doesn’t require us to be austere and stop using electricity and be in the cold or anything.” In terms of nitty-gritty business, Tesla is sticking with its goal of producing 20 million EVs a year by 2030. It’s got a long way to go, though. Last year, the company said it delivered a little more than 1.3 million autos.

    4. Biden prepares his veto pen

    U.S. President Joe Biden discusses health care costs and access to affordable health care during an event in Virginia Beach, Virginia, February 28, 2023.

    Leah Millis | Reuters

    In the biggest sign yet that political winds are blowing against environmental, social, and corporate governance, or ESG, guidelines, the Democratic-led Senate on Wednesday voted to overturn a rule that allows retirement funds to consider such progressive standards when making investment decisions. Sen. Jon Tester, a moderate Democrat from Montana, and conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia – who are up for reelection next year in their deeply Republican states – voted with Republicans to make it a 50-46 tally. However, President Joe Biden has said he would veto the measure in order to keep the rule in place. It would be the first veto of his presidency.

    5. Sanders turns up the heat on Schultz

    Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (L), Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz

    Reuters (L) | Getty Images (R)

    Sen. Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist from Vermont, is serious about hauling Howard Schultz in for questioning after the outgoing Starbucks interim CEO declined an invitation to testify before lawmakers. The progressive, pro-union senator set a vote for next Wednesday that will decide whether to subpoena Schultz to give testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, or HELP, Committee, which Sanders chairs. Baristas at nearly 300 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, a movement Schultz has opposed. Sanders, in turn, has accused Schultz of union busting.

    – CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Jordan Novet, Lora Kolodny, Christina Wilkie and Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.

    — Follow broader market action like a pro on CNBC Pro.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tesla to build next plant in Mexico | CNN Business

    Tesla to build next plant in Mexico | CNN Business

    [ad_1]


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Tesla’s next vehicle assembly plant will be in Mexico near Monterrey, CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday.

    “We’re super excited about it,” Musk said during an investor day for the company. “We’ll continue to expand production at all of our existing factories. So this is not moving output to anywhere, from anywhere. This is supplemental production.”

    The company currently has capacity to build about 2 million cars a year at four factories, in Fremont, California; Shanghai, China; Austin, Texas; and Berlin, Germany. It has set a goal of eventually building 20 million cars a year. The company delivered just over 1.3 million cars in 2022. The largest automaker in the world by production volume, Toyota, delivered just over 10 million cars globally in 2022.

    Tesla did not comment on the cost of the new plant. The news was a confirmation of plans announced Tuesday by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for Tesla to build its next factory in the country. Reuters reported that Mexican officials said the plant could cost $1 billion.

    The company estimates to build the additional plants needed to reach 20 million vehicles will cost a total of $150 billion to $175 billion, including the $28 billion in investment that it has already made in its history.

    “Maybe this total investment looks large,” said CFO Zachary Kirkhorn. “I think its quite small relative to our ambitions.”

    The company also announced that earlier Wednesday it built 4 million vehicles in its history.

    Shares of Tesla

    (TSLA)     slipped more than 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday, although that was up a bit from a larger decline before Musk’s announcement more than three hours into the presentation. There had been hope by some investors that Tesla

    (TSLA)     would announce details about a next generation of vehicles. Musk declined to answer a question about the next generation vehicle.

    “We will have a proper sort of product event,” Musk said. “We’d be jumping the gun if we were to answer that question.”

    In response to another question from an analyst, Musk said he doesn’t anticipate Tesla ever having more than 10 different vehicles in its product lineup. He derided the broad offerings of competing automakers as simply a “shuffling” of many similar models.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Elon Musk-led Twitter has been sued by at least six companies for failing to pay bills

    Elon Musk-led Twitter has been sued by at least six companies for failing to pay bills

    [ad_1]

    Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City.

    Dimitrios Kambouris | Getty Images

    Elon Musk’s Twitter was sued again in California this week for alleged failure to pay a vendor.

    The latest complaint comes from a tech startup called Writer, Inc., and it’s at least the sixth company to sue Twitter in the United States over breach of contract and non-payment since Musk took over about 4 months ago.

    The Tesla and SpaceX CEO led a $44 billion buyout of Twitter, which closed around October 27, 2022. He sold billions of dollars worth of his Tesla shares and took on some $13 billion in debt at Twitter as he became the sole director, new owner and CEO there.

    Since then, Musk’s social media venture has been sued for non-payment by Writer and at least five others:

    • Its landlord in San Francisco, Columbia REIT
    • A private jet transportation service provider, Private Jet Services Group
    • An events-planning and production company, Blueprint Studios Trends
    • An M&A consulting firm, Innisfree M&A
    • And Analysis Group, a company that provided litigation related consulting services to Twitter and its counsel before Musk bought the company.

    A legal and public records database, PlainSite, is tracking these lawsuits as they arise.

    Twitter’s alleged non-payment of rent to Columbia REIT, has led to the real estate company defaulting on loans for buildings, including where Musk leases office space at 650 California Street in San Francisco, Fortune first reported.

    Twitter has also allegedly fallen behind on payments to larger companies. According to a Platformer report on Thursday, Twitter suddenly cut off employees’ access to Slack this week after failing to pay a bill. Slack is the workplace chat and collaboration platform owned by Salesforce.

    In the newest complaint, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, Writer says that Twitter failed to pay a bill for the relatively humble amount of $113,856.

    Previously known as Qordoba, Writer describes itself as an AI company that helps employees create content that meets their employer’s standards for brand, copy, and other style guidelines.

    Writer did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on the matter.

    Twitter’s Vice President of Product, Trust & Safety, Ella Irwin, told CNBC via e-mail, “We do not comment on pending litigation or various speculation surrounding Twitter’s financial health.”

    Musk has publicly groused about and made light of Twitter’s financial woes. This week, he wrote on Twitter, “Say what you want about me, but I acquired the world’s largest non-profit for $44B lol.”

    Red flags

    Nonpayment disputes like these are not common after a leveraged buyout, according to Boston College finance professor Edith Hotchkiss. She said in an email to CNBC that they are “more typical of companies that are within a very short window of filing for bankruptcy.”

    Vanderbilt University finance professor Josh T. White, a former SEC economist, agreed the moves are unusual, and said litigation over nonpayment to vendors could result from “incorrect and aggressive capital structure.”

    Musk’s Twitter deal was financed with around 30% debt and 70% equity at closing.

    White explained that the high debt level is aggressive for a company with volatile and sometimes even negative free cash flow, such as Twitter had experienced in the past three years.

    Leveraged buyouts more often target companies with stable cash flows that can be used to service debt and generate a tax shield by deducting interest expense, he wrote.

    “Using more debt and less equity reduces the amount of liquid cash Musk and his equity co-investors had to contribute at closing, which can potentially generate a higher internal rate of return if the company turns out to be profitable,” White said.

    Meanwhile, even after aggressive cost-cutting measures, including widespread layoffs and cutbacks on perks and infrastructure, Twitter is still probably struggling to generate positive free cash flow to pay its obligations, White suggested. “Nonpayment, and contract violations are certainly a red flag that the company is likely financially distressed.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tesla recalls 362,758 vehicles, says Full Self-Driving Beta software may cause crashes

    Tesla recalls 362,758 vehicles, says Full Self-Driving Beta software may cause crashes

    [ad_1]

    Elon Musk speaks on stage during the Westworld Featured Session during SXSW at Austin Convention Center on March 10, 2018 in Austin, Texas.

    FilmMagic | HBO | Getty Images

    Tesla is voluntarily recalling 362,758 vehicles equipped with the company’s experimental driver-assistance software, which is marketed as Full Self-Driving Beta or FSD Beta, in the US, according to a recall notice out Thursday. Tesla will deliver an over-the-air software update to cars to address the issues, the recall notice said.

    The FSD Beta system may cause crashes by allowing the affected vehicles to: “Act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution,” according to the notice on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

    The FSD Beta system may also have trouble responding appropriately “to changes in posted speed limits,” the notice said.

    The group of affected vehicles included the following years and models: 2016-2023 Model S and Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles equipped with or pending installation of FSD Beta.

    Tesla lets thousands of drivers try new and unfinished driver assistance features on public roads in the U.S. through FSD Beta. The technology does not make Tesla electric cars autonomous, nor safe to drive without a human at the wheel ready to brake or steer at any second — despite the brand name.

    Only Tesla owners who have the company’s premium FSD driver assistance system installed in their cars can join the FSD Beta program. That option now costs $15,000 up front or $199 per month in the U.S. today. Owners must obtain a high driver-safety score, as determined by Tesla software that monitors their driving habits, and maintain it to get FSD Beta access.

    FSD Beta can best be summarized as a host of new features that are not yet fully debugged. The main attraction is “autosteer on city streets,” which lets a Tesla navigate around complex urban environments automatically, if imperfectly.

    Tesla has never disclosed how many people buy or subscribe to the premium FSD option. In the company’s last earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said: “As of now, we’ve deployed Full Self-Driving Beta to — for city streets — to roughly 400,000 customers in North America. This is a huge milestone for autonomy as FSD Beta is the only way any consumer can actually test the latest AI-powered autonomy.”

    Shares of Tesla fell slightly on the news.

    This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Elon Musk donated $1.9 billion of Tesla stock to charity last year | CNN Business

    Elon Musk donated $1.9 billion of Tesla stock to charity last year | CNN Business

    [ad_1]


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave 11.5 million shares of his stake in the electric automaker to an undisclosed charity last year, shares worth about $1.9 billion at the time they were donated.

    The donation would make him the second largest charitable donor in 2022, according to a ranking of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which was compiled before Musk’s filing. The Chronicle’s ranking lists Bill Gates as No. 1 with $5.1 billion in donations, followed by Michael Bloomberg at $1.7 billion.

    Musk’s net worth at the end of 2022 stood at $137 billion, according to Forbes’ real time billionaire tracker, so the $1.9 billion represented about 1.4% of his net worth at that time.

    Musk’s 2022 donations are down from the estimated value of his donations reported for 2021, when he reported that he had given 5 million Tesla

    (TSLA)     shares, then worth an estimated $5.7 billion, at the end of that year. A three-for-one stock split in Tesla

    (TSLA)     shares in August of last year means the number of shares he donated in 2021 was also 30% greater than his 2022 donations, on a split-adjusted basis.

    Musk’s donations in 2021 also were to an undisclosed charity. They came at a time that he had been challenged by David Beasley, the UN food program director, to donate $6 billion to battle global hunger. Beasley had said a donation of that size could feed more than 40 million people across 43 countries that are “on the brink of famine.” Musk responded on Twitter at that time if the World Food Program “can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it.”

    Musk’s 2021 donation of Tesla shares came soon after that exchange, but there was never any confirmation as to where the shares went to.

    The most recent donation of shares represented 1.6% of Musk’s stake in the company at the end of last year when considering both shares he held outright and the vested options he holds to purchase additional shares.

    Since the end of the year he had another 25.3 million options vest when the company achieved certain financial goals, a grant the company had already said was probable to take place. So Musk made the donation knowing that he would soon receive options to buy twice a many shares at a nominal price.

    Musk did sell a far larger portion of his Tesla stake in the last 18 months than he has donated. First he sold $16.4 billion worth of Tesla stock in 2021, with most going to to pay a large income tax bill he faced for exercising options in 2021 before they expired. Then in 2022 he sold $22.9 billion worth of Tesla shares as he raised cash for his purchase of Twitter.

    Tesla shares had their worst year on record in 2022, losing 65% of their value. The drop in share price knocked him out of position as the world’s richest person. But after a rough start to this year, they’ve rebounded nicely in 2023, rising 70% year-to-date. Given Tuesday’s closing price, the 11.5 million shares that Musk donated last year are worth $2.4 billion.

    Musk is now the second richest person on the planet, behind Bernard Arnault, the chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMH, according to an estimate by Forbes’ real time billionaire tracker, with a net worth of about $196.5 billion.

    The typical US household has a net worth of about $121,700, according to the most recent estimate from the Federal Reserve. So the $2.4 billion current value of Musk’s donations last year, compared to his current net worth, is the equivalent of that typical family donating $1,500, or just less than $30 a week.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Here are Wednesday’s biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Amazon, SoFi, Target, Goldman Sachs & more

    Here are Wednesday’s biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Amazon, SoFi, Target, Goldman Sachs & more

    [ad_1]

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • White House to announce Tesla will open part of its charging network in effort to expand EV access | CNN Politics

    White House to announce Tesla will open part of its charging network in effort to expand EV access | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    The Biden administration is announcing new steps Wednesday to expand the nation’s electric vehicle infrastructure, including a new partnership with Tesla that would see the electric vehicle manufacturer open a portion of its charging network to non-Tesla EVs for the first time.

    According to a fact sheet shared with CNN, Wednesday’s announcements are part of the administration’s goal to build out a nationwide EV charging network of 500,000 chargers along America’s highways while building towards their goal ensuring 50% of new car sales are EVs by 2030. As part of that goal, the administration is announcing Tesla will open at least 7,500 chargers of its EV charging network to all electric vehicles, including 3,500 new and existing 250 kW Superchargers along highway corridors.

    Per White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, the news is the product of “many, many months” of work between the Biden administration and EV manufacturers, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who Landrieu said was “very open [and] very constructive,” in meetings with the administration on expanding EV access.

    Last month, Reuters reported that Musk met with top White House officials in Washington to discuss expanding EV production and charging networks – a meeting the Tesla and Twitter CEO later confirmed via tweet.

    But while Biden and Musk have both taken a staunchly pro-EV stance, the two have clashed over Musk’s anti-union stance at his Tesla factories, while Musk’s tenure as CEO of Twitter has seen the tech magnate amplify right-wing talking points on a host of issues.

    Also included in Wednesday’s announcement is new funding, including $2.5 billion over five years from the Federal Highway Administration and $7.4 million across seven projects from the Department of Energy to expand publicly accessible electric vehicle charging networks for millions of Americans.

    Per the administration, to qualify for federal funding under Wednesday’s announcement, Combined Charging System (CCS) capable vehicles must be able to charge at federally funded charging ports – something Tesla has developed hardware and software solutions to accommodate.

    And the administration is linking with additional partners like car rental company Hertz and BP gas stations to bring EV fast charging infrastructure to locations across America, including major cities such as Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, DC.

    “These recent and new commitments will make more public charges available for all EVs,” Landrieu told reporters on a call Wednesday.

    “With announcements like today’s and the overall growth we’re seeing, it’s clear that this administration is making incredible progress towards building our election future. In fact, since the president took office, EV sales have tripled – the number of publicly available charging ports has grown by over 40%, and there are currently more than 3 million EVs on the road and 130,000 public charges across the country. But our work is far from over and our progress will continue as long as we keep working hand in hand with our partners across federal state and local governments and the private sector.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • CNBC Daily Open: U.S. inflation rose more than expected. But stocks held steady

    CNBC Daily Open: U.S. inflation rose more than expected. But stocks held steady

    [ad_1]

    U.S. egg prices jumped by two to three times in January.

    Fatih Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

    This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

    U.S. inflation is starting to bite again. But stocks mostly shrugged it off.

    What you need to know today

    • U.S. stocks closed Tuesday mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 edged lower, while the Nasdaq Composite rose. After a positive trading day, Asia-Pacific shares mostly ended lower, with only China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component remaining in the green.
    • Yields of U.S. Treasurys climbed after a hotter-than-expected inflation report. The 6-month Treasury, notably, surged to close at 5.022%, its highest yield since July 2007.
    • PRO U.S. Treasury yields are popping again. The 10-year Treasury’s yield hit a five-week high this week, while the 2-year has risen 0.41 percentage points in February alone. This is how pros would play the market.

    The bottom line

    January’s hotter-than-expected CPI report cast a shadow over U.S. markets yesterday.

    Prices in the U.S. last month increased faster than economists had anticipated; they were pushed up by higher food, energy and housing costs. Yet even the core CPI — which strips out the more volatile food and energy prices — saw a monthly bump of 0.4% and a year-over-year jump of 5.6%. Both exceeded respective estimates of 0.3% and 5.5%.  

    Is the disinflationary process — in the words of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — still in play in the U.S.? January’s core CPI of 5.6% is a tiny notch lower than December’s 5.7%, which means that prices are still tapering off. But just barely.

    U.S. markets reacted accordingly. Treasury yields rose, suggesting that investors are pricing in higher interest rate hikes by the Fed. Stocks fell. The Dow slipped 0.46% and the S&P dipped 0.03%. However, the Nasdaq, traditionally the most interest rate-sensitive index, closed 0.57% higher, buoyed by a 7.51% surge in Tesla and a 5.43% jump in Nvidia.

    Though stocks mostly fell, they were remarkably resilient. A team at JPMorgan had forecast that the S&P would sink between 0.75% to 1.5% should yearly CPI come in at 6.4%. The actual drop in the index: only 0.03%.

    The strange disconnect between bond markets and stock markets continues. Investors might be optimistic that consumer spending will remain strong even amid rising prices — as Coca Cola’s earnings report indicated — hence allowing the economy to keep growing. As for that theory, Wednesday’s U.S. retail sales report will put it to the test.

    Subscribe here to get this report sent directly to your inbox each morning before markets open.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Super Bowl ad slams Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ tech | CNN Business

    Super Bowl ad slams Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ tech | CNN Business

    [ad_1]


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Electric carmaker Tesla will face a hit on Super Bowl Sunday, when an ad will play showing the alleged dangers of its Full Self-Driving technology.

    The commercial, which will be aired in Washington, DC, Austin, Tallahassee, Albany, Atlanta and Sacramento does not paint Tesla in the best light. The ad is part of a multimillion dollar advertising campaign by The Dawn Project. Its founder, Dan O’Dowd, is a California tech CEO who has dedicated millions of his own money (and a failed US Senate race) to the cause.

    The ad cost $598,000, a Dawn Project spokesperson told CNN.

    It shows a Tesla Model 3, which allegedly has the Full Self-Driving mode turned on, running over a child-sized dummy on a school crosswalk, and then a fake baby in a stroller, in a series of tests by the Dawn Project. In the ad, the car swerves into oncoming traffic, zooms past stopped school buses, and cruises through “do not enter” signs.

    “Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is endangering the public,” the ad said. “With deceptive marketing and woefully inept engineering.”

    The Dawn Project says it wants to make computer-controlled systems safer for humanity, shooting its own videos as tests of Tesla’s alleged design flaws. In August, O’Dowd published a video showing a Tesla plowing into child-sized mannequins. Some Tesla fans posted their own videos in defense, using their own dummies or even their own children – YouTube has taken down several test videos involving actual children, citing safety risks.

    O’Dowd received a cease and desist letter from Tesla over the video, claiming he and the Dawn Project were “disparaging Tesla’s commercial interests and disseminating defamatory information to the public.”

    O’Dowd responded to the cease-and-desist with a 1,736-word post in which he pushed back at the suggestion his posts were defamatory, defended his tests and returned barbs from Musk and some Tesla supporters.

    O’Dowd, who sold software to the military, is undertaking a campaign of millions of dollars to ban Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature. He is running national ads and posting online videos displaying the possible dangers of Musk’s technology. He also ran an unsuccessful one-issue campaign for the US Senate on the same message.

    Though officially in beta mode, Full Self-Driving is available to any user in North America who wants to purchase the $15,000 feature.

    Tesla did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system is intended to someday work on city streets, but despite its wide rollout, is still officially in a developmental “beta” program. No car for sale on the market is yet able to drive itself.

    Autopilot is a suite of driver-assist features, while Full Self-Driving steers the car on city streets, but could also stop for traffic signals and make turns.

    Tesla contends it is not aware of any ongoing government investigation that has concluded any wrongdoing occurred, and said its Autopilot, with its automated steering designed to keep a car within a lane, is safer than normal driving.

    “Tesla’s reckless deployment of Full Self-Driving software on public roads is a major threat to public safety. Elon Musk has released software that will run down children in school crosswalks, swerve into oncoming traffic and hit a baby in a stroller to all Tesla owners in North America,” O’Dowd said in a statement.

    Tesla said it “has received requests from the Department of Justice for documents related to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features” in a January 31 public filing.

    Federal investigators are looking into a Musk tweet about disabling driver alerts on Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” driver assist system, joining several other National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probes.

    On December 31, Musk replied to a tweet by @WholeMarsBlog which said “users with more than 10,000 miles on FSD Beta should be given the option to turn off the steering wheel nag.”

    “Agreed, update coming in Jan,” Musk replied.

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last summer it was escalating its Tesla probe to an “engineering analysis,” a step toward seeking a recall. NHTSA first investigated Tesla’s driver-assist technology after reports Autopilot-engaged vehicles were crashing into emergency vehicles stopped at the scene of earlier crashes.

    O’Dowd is the founder and CEO of Green Hills Software. Some of Musk’s defenders claim O’Dowd has a conflict of interest as one of its customers is Intel-owned Mobileye, which makes a computer chip to run driver-assisted software, the Washington Post reported.

    O’Dowd told the Washington Post Mobileye is one of his hundreds of customers and that his main motivation is safety.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Elon Musk’s Neuralink is under investigation for possible unsafe transport of contaminated hardware

    Elon Musk’s Neuralink is under investigation for possible unsafe transport of contaminated hardware

    [ad_1]

    Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation for allegedly packaging and transporting contaminated hardware in an unsafe manner, a DOT spokesperson confirmed to CNBC. 

    In a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Thursday, the animal-welfare group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said it obtained public records that suggest Neuralink may have mishandled devices carrying infectious pathogens that posed risks to human health in 2019. 

    The devices were removed from the brains of nonhuman primates and may have been contaminated with viruses like Herpes B and antibiotic-resistant bacteria like Staphylococcus and Klebsiella, according to the letter. PCRM claimed the materials were not properly contained or transported, possibly because Neuralink employees had not received proper safety training.  

    A DOT spokesperson told CNBC it is “standard practice” to investigate alleged violations of hazardous materials transportation regulations. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, part of the DOT, is conducting a “standard investigation to ensure compliance and the public safety of workers and the public” based on the information it received from PCRM, the spokesperson said.  

    Representatives from Neuralink did not respond to requests for comment. 

    Neuralink is one of many companies in the emerging brain-computer interface, or BCI, industry. A BCI is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies, allowing patients to move cursors, type and even access smart home devices using only their minds. Several companies have successfully created devices with these capabilities.  

    Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter, co-founded Neuralink in 2016 with a group of scientists and engineers. The company is developing a BCI that is designed to be inserted directly into the brain tissue, and while it is not testing its device in humans yet, Musk has said he hopes to do so this year. 

    The public records obtained by PCRM, which were reviewed by CNBC, include emails exchanged between Neuralink and the University of California, Davis. The university partnered with Neuralink between 2017 and 2020 to help the company conduct experiments on primates. 

    In one exchange in March of 2019, a UC Davis staffer, whose name is redacted, wrote in an email that hardware had been handled incorrectly, and the transportation of hazardous materials needed to be performed by a trained hazardous material handler.

    The staffer wrote that if Neuralink employees had not completed the necessary training, UC Davis personnel were “always happy” to package and ship materials. 

    “Since the hardware components of the explanted neural device are not sealed and it was not disinfected prior to leaving the Primate Center, this presents a hazard for anyone potentially coming in contact with the device,” the UC Davis staffer said in the email. “Simply labeling it ‘hazardous’ doesn’t account for the risk of potentially contracting Herpes B.” 

    In another instance in April of 2019, a UC Davis staffer, whose name is redacted, wrote in an email that three explanted devices had arrived in an “open box with no secondary container.” The staffer noted that the uncontained, monkey-contaminated hardware put members of the Primate Center at risk. 

    “This is an exposure to anyone coming in contact with the contaminated explanted hardware and we are making a big deal about this because we are concerned for human safety,” the staffer said in the email.

    PCRM obtained these records from UC Davis through a public information request. Since Neuralink is a private company, it is not subject to public records laws. Representatives from UC Davis did not respond to requests for comment. 

    PCRM opposes the use of animal testing in medical research, and the group has raised concerns about Neuralink before. In February 2022, the group filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging that Neuralink had violated the Animal Welfare Act during its partnership with UC Davis. The complaint was referred to the USDA Inspector General, who has allegedly launched a federal probe into the company, according to a Reuters report. 

    The advocacy group also asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December to investigate Neuralink for possibly violating good laboratory practices. 

    Representatives from the USDA and FDA did not respond to requests for comment. 

    Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy at PCRM, said the latest investigation by the DOT suggests Neuralink has been “sloppy in a whole new way,” he told CNBC. He said there is no evidence that anyone was infected because of exposure to the hardware, but that the concerned tone of UC Davis personnel in the emails “reflects the seriousness of this potential pathogen leak.” 

    “This is a whole other thing that obviously affects not only the animals involved, but the people working at Neuralink, the people working at UC Davis and everyone they came in contact with,” he said.  

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • SpaceX put a Tesla sportscar into space five years ago. Where is it now? | CNN

    SpaceX put a Tesla sportscar into space five years ago. Where is it now? | CNN

    [ad_1]

    Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.



    CNN
     — 

    It’s now been half a decade since SpaceX turned heads around the world with its decision to launch Elon Musk’s personal Tesla roadster into outer space, sending the car on an endless journey into the cosmic wilderness where it’s expected to remain for millennia to come.

    As of Monday, February 6, the cherry-colored sports car has officially been in space for exactly five years.

    At the time of its anniversary, data estimates show that it had completed about three and one quarter loops around the sun and was positioned about 203 million miles (327 million kilometers) from Earth, according to the tracking website whereisroadster.com.

    The roadster has logged more than 2.5 billion miles in space (4 billion kilometers), mostly through a barren vacuum. Though, in 2020, the vehicle made its first close approach to Mars, passing within 5 million miles of the planet, or about 20 times the distance between the Earth and the moon.

    It is difficult, however, to say where the vehicle is with absolute certainty — or to determine if it’s still in one piece, as it’s possible the car may have been dinged or obliterated by a meteoroid or eroded beyond recognition by radiation. There haven’t been any direct observations of the roadster since 2018, in the weeks just after it was blasted into orbit atop a three-million-pound Falcon Heavy rocket. Current data is based only on calculated estimates of the car’s trajectory.

    Astronomers don’t have much incentive to actively track the car, as it doesn’t offer much scientific value.

    The Tesla was ultimately intended to serve as a throw-away “dummy payload” for the Falcon Heavy’s first mission in February 2018, a launch that even Musk had predicted would have only a 50-50 shot at success.

    But the launch did, after all, go off without a hitch. And the car has been circling the sun ever since, taking an oblong path that swings as far out as Mars’ orbital path and as close to the sun as Earth’s orbit.

    As of Monday, it was just intersecting with Mars’ path, though the planet itself was on the opposite side of the sun.

    Before its 2018 launch, SpaceX loaded up the car with various Easter eggs. Behind the wheel was a spacesuit-clad mannequin, nicknamed Starman, and on the dashboard, a sign that read “Don’t Panic,” a reference to the famed science fiction story, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” There was also a data storage device loaded with the works of sci-fi writer Isaac Asminov and a plaque inscribed with the names of thousands of SpaceX employees.

    Musk said at the time of launch that he hoped humans will one day establish settlements on other planets in the solar system — a long-running Musk fantasy that also underpins SpaceX’s stated mission to colonize Mars. If and when that happens, Musk said he hopes his “descendants will be able to drag (the roadster) back to a museum.”

    For now, however, the roadster isn’t likely to pass near another planet until 2035 when it’ll brush by Mars again. It’ll then make two passes within a few million miles of Earth in 2047 and 2050, according to NASA data.

    One 2018 academic paper also estimated that the chances the car collides with the Earth within the next 15 million years at about 22%. The odds of it crashing into Venus or the Sun each stand at 12%.

    If the car does wind up taking a crash course with Earth, we’ll have to hope it’s ripped into pieces as it slams back into the thick atmosphere. (Spaceborne objects running into Earth are actually fairly common, and typically burn up in the atmosphere during entry. Such hits rarely impact populated areas.)

    To keep tabs on the roadster’s predicted location, it has its own entry in NASA’s Horizons database, which follows all the “bodies” of the solar system, including exploration probes, planets, moons, comets and asteroids. The Tesla is listed as object -143205, “SpaceX Roadster (spacecraft) (Tesla).”

    To view a simulation of the Tesla’s orbit (based on the data in Horizons), go to OrbitSimulator.com and search for “roadster.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • EV maker Rivian to cut 6% of jobs amid price war | CNN Business

    EV maker Rivian to cut 6% of jobs amid price war | CNN Business

    [ad_1]



    Reuters
     — 

    Rivian Automotive is laying off 6% of its workforce in an effort to cut costs as the EV maker, already grappling with falling cash reserves and a weak economy, braces for an industry-wide price war.

    The company is focusing resources on ramping up vehicle production and reaching profitability, Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe said in an email to employees on Wednesday announcing the job cuts. Reuters obtained a copy of the email.

    Layoffs at Rivian come amid falling EV prices kicked off by cuts made recently by Elon Musk-led Tesla

    (TSLA)     and Ford Motor Co.

    The price cuts by Tesla and Ford are expected to hurt EV upstarts such as Rivian, Lucid Group and British startup Arrival, which Monday said it would lay off half its staff.

    Despite a blockbuster initial public offering in November 2021, Rivian’s shares have fallen nearly 90% from their peak that month to Tuesday’s close. Rivian’s stock was trading down 4% on Nasdaq on Wednesday, paring some losses after news of the job cuts.

    “We must focus our resources on ramp and our path to profitability,” Scaringe said in the email, in which he apologized to employees for the necessity of the cuts.

    A Rivian spokesman confirmed the email was sent, but declined further comment.

    “They’re bleeding cash and would like to grow at a much faster rate, but they continue to struggle with their EV production ramp and have been unable to meaningfully drive down unit costs,” CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson said. “We think that is what’s behind this decision.”

    Rivian is focusing on ramping up production of its R1 trucks and EDV delivery vans for top shareholder Amazon.com and launching its R2 platform, he said. “The changes we are announcing today reflect this focused roadmap.”

    Irvine, California-based Rivian, which has about 14,000 employees, will let go of about 840 staff in a move that will not affect manufacturing operations at its plant in Normal, Illinois.

    Rivian, which has been losing money on every vehicle it builds, narrowly missed its full-year production target of 25,000 vehicles last year as it dealt with supply-chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It had previously halved that target.

    To further conserve its cash, Rivian late last year shelved plans to build delivery vans in Europe with Mercedes. Rivian had earlier pushed back by a year to 2026 the planned launch of a smaller R2 vehicle family at the $5 billion plant it is building in Georgia.

    Last July, Rivian, which is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 28, laid off staff and suspended some programs as part of a broader restructuring.

    The company has a market valuation of $17.8 billion. Its cash and cash equivalents stood at $13.27 billion as of Sept. 30, 2022, down from over $18 billion a year earlier.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Jury find Musk, Tesla not liable in securities fraud trial following ‘funding secured’ tweets

    Jury find Musk, Tesla not liable in securities fraud trial following ‘funding secured’ tweets

    [ad_1]

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his security detail depart the company’s local office in Washington, January 27, 2023.

    Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

    Elon Musk and Tesla were found not liable by a jury in a San Francisco federal court on Friday in a class action securities fraud trial stemming from tweets Musk made in 2018.

    The Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter CEO was sued by Tesla shareholders over a series of tweets he wrote in Aug. 2018 saying he had “funding secured” to take the automaker private for $420 per share, and that “investor support” for such a deal was “confirmed.” Trading in Tesla was halted after his tweets, and its share price remained volatile for weeks.

    Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before reading their verdict. Plaintiffs’ attorneys told CNBC they were “disappointed with the verdict and considering next steps.”

    “I am deeply appreciative of the jury’s unanimous finding,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

    “He doesn’t think ahead of time in that rushed moment that this could be interpreted differently and what it means to him,” Musk’s attorney told the jury earlier on Friday. “In that moment he didn’t think, ‘how could my words be interpreted differently by you than it means to me.’”

    “You have to assess this in context – he’s considering taking it private and the issue is will it actually take it forward,” Musk’s attorney said. “No fraud has ever been built on the back of a consideration.”

    Musk’s lead counsel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    The shareholders in the certified class action lawsuit included a mix of stock and options buyers who allege that Musk’s tweets were reckless and false, and that relying on his statements to make decisions about when to buy or sell cost them significant amounts of money.

    Musk later claimed that he had a verbal commitment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and thought funding would come through at his proposed price based on a handshake. However, the deal never materialized.

    During the course of this trial, Musk also said he would have sold shares of SpaceX to finance a going private deal for Tesla, as well as taking funds from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biden administration expands EV tax credits in boost for Tesla, Cadillac, others

    Biden administration expands EV tax credits in boost for Tesla, Cadillac, others

    [ad_1]

    A Tesla Model Y on display inside a Tesla store at the Westfield Culver City shopping mall in Culver City, California, U.S., on Thursday, April 14, 2022.

    Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    DETROIT – The U.S. Treasury said Friday it is changing its definition of an “SUV” to make more electric vehicles from Tesla, General Motors and other automakers eligible for up to $7,500 federal tax credits at higher prices.

    The decision follows Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly criticizing the former standards as well as automakers such as GM and Ford Motor lobbying to change the guidelines ahead of final rules being announced next month.

    The change raises the retail price cap to $80,000 from $55,000 for vehicles such as the Tesla Model Y, Cadillac Lyriq, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen’s ID.4. Previously some or all models of these vehicles did not qualify because they didn’t weigh enough to be considered an SUV by the Treasury’s standards.

    The credits are part of the Biden administration’s $437 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which was approved in August. Under the bill, SUVs can be priced at up to $80,000 to qualify for EV tax credits, while cars, sedans and wagons have to be priced at or under $55,000.

    It’s unclear how the decision will impact up to 20% pricing cuts announced by Tesla last month that made the Model Y eligible for the credits. Tesla did not immediately respond for comment.

    GM, in an emailed statement, thanked the Treasury and hailed the changes: “The alignment on classification will provide the needed clarity to consumers and dealers, as well as regulators and manufacturers.”

    The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobbying group for most automakers operating in the U.S., also commended the decision.

    –CNBC’s Chelsey Cox contributed to this article.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Nasdaq logs best January since 2001 as stocks climb to cap off stellar month

    Nasdaq logs best January since 2001 as stocks climb to cap off stellar month

    [ad_1]

    U.S. stocks finished in the green on Tuesday as the Nasdaq cemented its best January performance since 2001 amid a broad-based rally in equities that saw some of 2022’s worst performers take the lead. The S&P 500 SPX gained 58.83 points, or about 1.5%, to finish January at 4,076.60, a gain of 6.2% for the month, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That’s the large-cap index’s best monthly gain since October, and its best January since 2019, something that is also true for the Dow. The Nasdaq Composite COMP rose by 190.74 points, or 1.7%, to 11,584.55 on Tuesday, bringing its gain for January to 10.7%. January was also…

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • These 20 stocks led the January rally

    These 20 stocks led the January rally

    [ad_1]

    The initial version of this story had incorrect price changes for 2023. It is now updated with information as of the market close on Jan. 31.

    Investors staged a January rally, with solid gains for the S&P 500 and an even better showing for technology stocks that led the dismal downward action in 2022.

    This…

    [ad_2]

    Source link