*cough* I actually believe the SEC had a case in September -- not over "funding secured", which was definitely defensible, but rather over Musk's claim that he could let all existing investors stay in Tesla after going private -- that was something where he absolutely should have known better, since anyone can look up the rules, and it's just not possible.
The exact quote was: "My hope is *all* current investors remain with Tesla even if we’re private. Would create special purpose fund enabling anyone to stay with Tesla. Already do this with Fidelity’s SpaceX investment."
He was clearly misled by the current Fidelity arrangement with SpaceX (which basically allows SpaceX investment but heavily dilutes it).
The idea that he released the $35K car now, as soon as he possibly could, *because he wants to keep his promise the reservation holders who have been waiting for it*, is just alien to the profits-uber-alles mentality on Wall Street.
More specifically:
- He previously announced a Model Y unveiling around mid March.
- Who would believe the base price on the Model Y if they hadn't delivered it on the Model 3?
- I believe that they have a serious interest in unveiling it now because it's further along than people like Adam Jonas think - that it's more like Gerber says, a launch around the end of this year with peak rates by the end of next year. So they have to launch it soon, so that people who would have an interest in it avoid making alternative vehicle purchases (said people clearly aren't M3 buyers, or the vast majority already would have bought).
- More on that launch timeline in a second...
Excellent points! Your thoughts on Lathrop?
This question isn't addressed to me, but since I've raised Lathrop several times before, a few notes:
- I don't believe for a second that it's just a "warehouse". The place is freaking huge.
- Tesla keeps hiring manufacturing people to work there - generally engineers, not line workers. It's been said that there's some part manufacturing done there, and I'll believe that, but again, I can't believe that this uses up that whole space, or even a large fraction of it.
- A number of the job ads for Lathrop have included requirements for work at multiple locations. For example, there was a job ad for someone at Lathrop to build an alumium parts foundry for the Model Y, which involved regular travel to Giga.
- All together, this makes me think that they're developing tooling at Lathrop to transfer to Giga. E.g. that Lathrop is doing something similar to what Grohmann does.
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