Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable

[StealthP3D]

Just a reminder that Tesla has 70,000 employees

Yeah, but how many of them worked at Tesla for 11 frickin' years...

Oh, wait... I've never made it longer than 1 1/2 years at any full-time job that I didn't have at least 6 months a year off!

Did he work more than 40 hours/week?

 

[uujjj2]

Zack and Elon's Technoking/Master of Coin salvo probably covered for it in the previous filing when he changed roles, but I'm guessing he had already turned in his badges, and was serving in what is called in Formula1 parlance a 'gardening leave'. It was time for him to part ways - and there probably wasn't an easy way to do this. And he had taken a sabattical previously too. Doug Field also took one before he left... this usually is how suits part ways.

It's probably the end of an era, Straubel, Jerome et all - part of the OG club at Tesla. I hope Drew and Zach stay around for years to come. Drew, especially.

Drew Baglino has been at Tesla longer than Jerome. 2006 vs 2010. Drew is one of the OGs from the Roadster days.

 

[Todd Burch]

Jerome was a pretty big deal with folks here back in the day. Was brought in to fix the customer communication issues and get production moving. To see him get demoted and quit is a big deal IMO. Especially when arrive and communication is still a problem.

Now that Energy guy.......that's nothing. He was barely even onboard. Bad got apparently....or he's fishing for SPAC millions.

Been around here since 2009 so I know him well. But we don’t know if he was demoted, burned out, ready to retire, wanting to try new things, or what…frankly, it doesn’t really matter. There are plenty of other competent people to take his place.

I don’t think the truck thing was necessarily a demotion. His history was in semi trucks so was a good fit. I think now that the majority of the semi program is wrapping up and getting close to production, he’s ready for something different.
Tesla has fostered a spirit of innovation that extends far beyond just a handful of people.

 

[Chenkers]

Back when Jerome moved into the Semi role I took it as an indication he wanted to take a step back within Telsa and work on an area he was passionate about.

Back then I took a look at the Insider Shareholder Transactions and noted that much of the recent activity had been by Jerome. Looking again today and I can see that trend has continued. In the past year Jerome has exercised around $75M worth of share options out of a total of around $90M.

Stock Screeners - Yahoo Finance

So I see today's announcement as the culmination of a process where Jerome has been gradually transitioning out of Tesla for a while. He's made a very sizable contribution to Tesla's success and so deserves the right to depart on his own terms and also be well rewarded.

Edit: The actual monetary value of exercises could be a much higher as most of the amounts are for exercising derivatives at low amounts, eg $55.32/share.

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

We don't even know what the debacle is. Chip shortage? Software delay? Drive trains reliability issues? No one knows and you are pinning this on the Semi guy like it's his fault. The guy is leaving and everyone on this forum acts like he from the savior of Tesla to the burden of Tesla without knowing much of anything.

He WAS the head of automotive during the planning, preparation, and execution of the refresh S/X. He didn't become the "Semi" guy until March( made public in March, likely happened in Feb) after he got demoted. It is HIS responsibility for the planning, preparation, and execution. Not sure why you're ignoring that.

I clearly never said he was a burden on the company and I would have been thrilled if he has stayed on to run the Semi business. I've been part of lot of large scale/large team projects and I've personally seen people in management positions be excellent leaders up until the team/project grew to a scale that overwhelmed them and they started making mistakes. If I had to guess what happened, that would be it. It says nothing about Jerome as a person and as an employee. I think he would have been an excellent leader again at a smaller part of the business such as the trucking division. But in a company like Tesla where you're putting your life, sweat, and blood into your work, it's very hard to be demoted because people get fuel off of the drive to have more impact on the business. I don't blame Jerome one bit for walking.

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

I have a feeling we’re heading south of $600 again this week. If we do, I’m buying calls. Just seems like we’re poised for a breakout with expectations of great delivery numbers, revenue growth, and nifty product updates on the way.

If the China numbers are real, we're not ending south of $600. Big IF of course.....but 44k production would be huge and everyone would need to start upping their Q1 estimates to above 200k at the bare minimum.

 

[Beltsbear]

You’re arguing with Tesla and math, not me.

Tesla stated a 4680 cell has 5X the energy and 6X the power vs a 2170 cell.

That would mean an 80 kWh 4680 pack can put out or receive 20% more power than an 80 kWh 2170 pack.

Receiving 20% more power means it charges more rapidly.

6X power and 5X energy increase is BY DEFINITION a 20% improvement in cell C Rate.

wrong again. Even worse now.

 

[MP3Mike]

You’re arguing with Tesla and math, not me.

Tesla stated a 4680 cell has 5X the energy and 6X the power vs a 2170 cell.

That would mean an 80 kWh 4680 pack can put out or receive 20% more power than an 80 kWh 2170 pack.

Receiving 20% more power means it charges more rapidly.

6X power and 5X energy increase is BY DEFINITION a 20% improvement in cell C Rate.

But that is only part of the equation. How long can it sustain those levels? 5 seconds? 5 minutes?

You don't have enough information to know if they will charge faster or slower.

 

[MrMoo]

I have a feeling we’re heading south of $600 again this week. If we do, I’m buying calls. Just seems like we’re poised for a breakout with expectations of great delivery numbers, revenue growth, and nifty product updates on the way.

Not sure what you are smoking but if Nasdaq rallies to ATH, while we break the 200 DMA and fall, buying calls is the last thing you want to do lol.

 

[Singuy]

He WAS the head of automotive during the planning, preparation, and execution of the refresh S/X. He didn't become the "Semi" guy until March( made public in March, likely happened in Feb) after he got demoted. It is HIS responsibility for the planning, preparation, and execution. Not sure why you're ignoring that.

I clearly never said he was a burden on the company and I would have been thrilled if he has stayed on to run the Semi business. I've been part of lot of large scale/large team projects and I've personally seen people in management positions be excellent leaders up until the team/project grew to a scale that overwhelmed them and they started making mistakes. If I had to guess what happened, that would be it. It says nothing about Jerome as a person and as an employee. I think he would have been an excellent leader again at a smaller part of the business such as the trucking division. But in a company like Tesla where you're putting your life, sweat, and blood into your work, it's very hard to be demoted because people get fuel off of the drive to have more impact on the business. I don't blame Jerome one bit for walking.

Because Elon is chief engineer. Jerome helps execute Elons vision to the best of his abilities. And we know damn well half of those s/x ideas didn't come from Jerome like smart shift. Those are quirky things that can cause delays and came straight out if Elons head. So no this delay is most likely Elons fault cause I guarantee Jerome has zero problem having the refresh come with stalks and gear selectors like a normal car.

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

Because Elon is chief engineer. Jerome helps execute Elons vision to the best of his abilities. And we know damn well half of those s/x ideas didn't come from Jerome like smart shift. Those are quirky things that can cause delays and came straight out if Elons head. So no this delay is most likely Elons fault cause I guarantee Jerome has zero problem having the refresh come with stalks and gear selectors like a normal car.

Lol.....dear lord man if Jerome is that much of a pushover to just do whatever Elon wants no matter if its feasible or not, then he shouldn't have been the Head of Automotive begin with. I don't care who is your boss/CEO, if that is the dynamic between the CEO and the Head of Automotive, there are serious issues going on that will lead to disaster at some point. Elon may be stubborn and push his employees to their max....but he's aware enough to listen to the people around him. And once again.....it's Jerome's role to be very aware of risks to execution.

Come on people, you can appreciate someone for how important they were in the past, how much they meant to you and the company, and still say they didn't execute well. There doesn't need to be excuses for Jerome. He's a big boy.

 

[jkirkwood001]

Maybe I don't understand EA's strategy, but it really seems like their whole goal is get everybody in an area to fast charge. There has to be 15+ stations all around Denver. They jampack their stations around big cities, but very sparsely in more rural areas. Seems their efforts would be better spent taking 5 away from Denver and putting one or two in Fort Collins, one in Cheyenne, one in Rock Springs, one in Evanston, one in Casper and one in Sheridan. Open up passing traffic on I80 and I25 to Montana without really changing the experience in Denver at all. Seems like a misuse of resources. My guess is they are trying to target revenue (eventually profitability) on stations where the people are, but it isn't tackling the root issue of EV road trips... at least right off. Maybe in a few years when they can afford to put chargers in a random little town.

Yeah, seems like another example of traditional companies making business decisions based on "gut instinct", know-it-all execs "with 50 years [legacy] experience", "my cousin lives in Denver and drives there a lot", and other biased inputs.

Tesla has done a great job IMO at developing product and strategy based on what the data tells them, for instance:

• developing its own, international charging network placed in locations between where people drive, at distances to match Tesla's models' range;
• replacing an interface with loads of proprietary tactile buttons with one more like the devices everyone under 45 is most used to using;
• insurance rates per driver's usage;
• removing passenger lumbar support (covers head from ovo projectiles);
• giving up the 500 mile range title once the industry has exceeded the max. distance people mostly drive;
• etc.

Sure, data-driven with an extremely healthy dose of Elon's inspiration and determination, but every strategic decision was informed by enterprise, industry, and / or scientific data.

 

[kbM3]

But that is only part of the equation. How long can it sustain those levels? 5 seconds? 5 minutes?

You don't have enough information to know if they will charge faster or slower.

I trust Tesla to have provided the most useful metric for power. Whether that is average or peak, I do not know, but to a first approximation we should definitely be able to assume an equivalent size 4680 pack can accept or generate 20 percent more power than a 2170 pack.

but like I also stated before, possibly Tesla made the same improvements to the 18650 cells that will be unveiled Thursday, such that they can generate even more power for the same size pack, because they wouldn’t have the offsetting heating problems of a larger diameter.

 

[Singuy]

Lol.....dear lord man if Jerome is that much of a pushover to just do whatever Elon wants no matter if its feasible or not, then he shouldn't been the Head of Automotive begin with. I don't care who is your boss/CEO, if that is the dynamic between the CEO and the Head of Automotive, there are serious issues going on that will lead to disaster at some point. Elon may be stubborn and push his employees to their max....but he's aware enough to listen to the people around him. And once again.....it's Jerome's role to be very aware of risks to execution.

Come on people, you can appreciate someone for how important they were in the past, how much they meant to you and the company, and still say they didn't execute well. There doesn't need to be excuses for Jerome. He's a big boy.

Execution failures have mostly been elons fault. He wanted falcon doors, he wanted robots to do everything, and now he wants smart shift. Everyone around him work their ass off to save any of these fatal mistakes Elon envisioned which caused numerous delays. So yeah many people, especially Jerome, cleaned up the Model 3 ramp mess caused by Elon. That's pretty well documented.

 

[Chunky Jr.]

Nice rally today FTW. A two game winning streak that we all hope is a sign of the season turning around.

Today
Score:	605.13
Margin of W/L:	6.08
Attendance:	22,543,682
High - Low:	27.12
Season
Record:	51-56
Total margin of wins:	1,087.80
Total margin of losses:	-1,188.34
YTD gain/loss:	-100.54	-14.25%
Best Win:	110.58	Mar 9
Worst Loss:	-68.83	Jan 11
Last 10:	5-5
Streak:	W2
Avg margin of victory:	21.33
Avg margin of defeat:	-21.22
Avg Attendance:	30,049,231
Avg Attendance of Last 10:	26,589,665
Avg High - Low:	37.24
Avg H - L of Last 10:	23.32

 

[JustMe]

If the China numbers are real, we're not ending south of $600. Big IF of course.....but 44k production would be huge and everyone would need to start upping their Q1 estimates to above 200k at the bare minimum.

Well, exactly. But that’s not going to be confirmed in the next 2-3 days.

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

Execution failures have mostly been elons fault. He wanted falcon doors, he wanted robots to do everything, and now he wants smart shift. Everyone around him work their ass off to save any of these fatal mistakes Elon envisioned which caused numerous delays. So yeah many people, especially Jerome, cleaned up the Model 3 ramp mess caused by Elon. That's pretty well documented.

The CEO of a company should be expected to want what he wants. It's up to the people in charge of the divisions of the company to get through to the CEO about the practicality and feasibility of what the CEO wants. The guy who was responsible for the initial model 3 production ramp was fired

I'll reiterate exactly what I said in the post you quoted me on. It's not healthy to have the Head of any division in Tesla saying yes to Elon not matter how unfeasible it is. It's very unhealthy and will almost assuredly turn into disaster at some point.

We don't have to do a back and forth on this. I don't want to occupy the thread. I think everyone knows my view on this and once again, I love Jerome. He was vital to Tesla at many points in the past. I wish him the best!

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

Well, exactly. But that’s not going to be confirmed in the next 2-3 days.

Highly likely it will be confirmed by tomorrow, if not Wed. The CPCA report usually comes out by the 2nd week of the month.

 

[dww12]

Brooks got an invite and is going. Probably best YT celeb to sell the speed of Plaid.

 

[Paul_SF]

You guys think it’s possible Jerome just wanted to retire and enjoy the fruits of his hard labor?

I know, crazy idea. Nobody wants to retire and enjoy life. Especially on this forum. Everyone here will work forever, so that means everyone at Tesla should do the same.

/s