Tesla IPO

[Doug_G]

Just got an email about the customer share offering in Canada... here is an excerpt:

In order to participate in the Program, under Canadian securities regulations, Canadian residents must certify by return email that they are a “permitted client” which is an individual who beneficially owns financial assets (being cash, securities, contracts of insurance, deposits, or evidence of a deposit) having an aggregate realizable value that, before taxes but net of any related liabilities, exceeds Cdn. $5 million, and that they are an “accredited investor” which is an individual who has net assets of at least Cdn. $5 million. If you meet these qualifications, please respond to this email with your acknowledgement and you will subsequently be invited into the Program.

WTF???

 

[DRM]

Doug,

This is a legal requirement for investing in a pre-IPO company. The basic idea is to prevent shysters from extracting money from investors who don't know any better; the theory being that if you're worth $XXX dollars, you can both afford the capital loss of the investment and can hire appropriate advisors to evaluate the merits of the investment.

 

[Doug_G]

That has a certain logic but it is rather elitist, and sets the bar very high. Why should a mere $2-millionaire not be able to participate? Is someone suddenly smart enough only when they hit $5 million?

I guess the government wants people to do their gambling in a (government-run) casino. ;-)

 

[TEG]

Tesla Motors revs up IPO

 

[Cobos]

I know some other companies have special pricing for those that own stock, i.e. IBM did at least before. Just out of curiousity, does anyone know if Tesla is planning anything similar? They are obviously giving Roadster owners a special treatment in regards to the IPO, but I'm curious if they will offer anything else for stock owners?

Cobos

 

[TEG]

Week In Greentech IPOs: Tesla Prices Range, Solyndra Cancels

 

[doug]

Check out the presentation here:


http://www.retailroadshow.com/roadshows.asp

Click on Tesla Motors, Inc. (IPO)

 

[Iz]

What is the best manner in which to purchase Telsa Motors shares? I am not a Roadster owner.

 

[qwk]

Wait until they begin trading on the open market. Unless you have a hefty account with a broker that is allocated IPO shares, you aren't going to get any.

 

[TEG]

Autoblog shows some of the IPO Roadshow slides.

 

[doug]

Check out the presentation here:


http://www.retailroadshow.com/roadshows.asp

Click on Tesla Motors, Inc. (IPO)

Btw, some TMC regulars show up in the video near the beginning of the presentation.

 

[doug]

Cramer on Tesla: buy the IPO, sell immediately - Darryl Siry’s posterous

 

[Todd Burch]

I love it when naysayers are proven wrong.

 

[Iz]

Cramer on Tesla: buy the IPO, sell immediately - Darryl Siry’s posterous

Thanks for posting this Doug. Gotta tell you, it will be a sweet day when I offer Jim a drive in my Model S!!

 

[ChrisC]

Cramer on Tesla: buy the IPO, sell immediately

Where is this "silicone valley" he speaks of?

Lots of interesting commentary there, and I'll be happy to see him eat crow in about 3 years. Oh wait, is he one of those guys who keeps changing the subject and never admits he's wrong?

(unless he gets pinned down by Jon Stewart)

 

[PopSmith]

Where is this "silicone valley" he speaks of?

I got a kick out of that too. :tongue:

Does it bother anyone else that most places never mention the profitable July that Tesla had? Cramer does just that at 3:55 saying:

Tesla has yet to turn a profit.

While a single profit for the company isn't that great, isn't it far better to say "They've turned a profit once" than to say "They've never turned a profit."? Maybe this is why most places "forget" about the single profit and just say that Tesla has never been profitable.

I'm going to have a good long laugh in 18-24 months when the Model S begins to roll out of NUMMI. I wonder what arguments the naysayers will switch to then.

 

[Cobos]

However much I hate to admit it I sort of agrees with Cramer. Tesla's stock in the short term (which is what most investors like Cramer cares about) is probably going to fall. They've got a massive amount of investing to do in the Model S plant and not much income lined up until 2012. Looking at Tesla's finances in 2011 probably isn't going to be very happy reading. There are also a lot of hype in relations to Tesla and investing in them is a pretty risky business.

That doesn't say I wont do it, or as I've got a Model S queue number I haven't already done it. For me the whole point is kind of silly. I wont get any shares at the pre-IPO price and will have to deal with the market price. I might consider picking up a small amount of shares but I guess I'll be sitting on the fence a few days until the prices have stabilised.

Cobos

 

[graham]

Btw, some TMC regulars show up in the video near the beginning of the presentation.

This is true!

I am curious if this is all the video there is... Tesla filmed at our house for a good 2 or 3 hours - and I assume they spent that much time with the others as well.

I wonder if this was always intended to be boiled down to 2 minutes just for this presentation, or they have other plans for the rest of the footage as well.

 

[Doug_G]

This is true!

I am curious if this is all the video there is... Tesla filmed at our house for a good 2 or 3 hours - and I assume they spent that much time with the others as well.

I wonder if this was always intended to be boiled down to 2 minutes just for this presentation, or they have other plans for the rest of the footage as well.

This is pretty typical. Years ago I was interviewed for a five minute spot on the local TV news. It took almost two hours to actually film. They get lots of material then edit it down to the stuff they want to use.

 

[vfx]

The whole time they are just searching for bits that fit into their preconceived narrative. Often when they get to the edit bay the way they tell the story changes based on what they have on tape. In this case they just picked quick sound bites that extolled the Roadster for a two minute introduction to Elon's presentation.

They could easily cut a half hour, even an hour piece with interviews and sexy car footage for a trade show kiosk or a store video, the TM website or in-house use.
And they still might...