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

[Willrtsoon]

Yes, just fully understand what the vote means. I voted no because Elon shouldn't be bullied into realizing his gains from people who doesn't understand taxes and finances. He can sell for whatever reason, but for the reason of attempting to stop criticism gets a no vote from me. The guy already sold all his houses due to all the criticism and that didn't do crap. Unreasonable people will not stop until Elon redistribute all his wealth to all of his workers and the American people because "without x, y and z, he wouldn't be so wealthy".

I choose to believe in Elon and in fairness, not potentially conspiracy theories.

 

[ZachF]

Once starship launch system is perfected, it is going to soak up billions in capital building out the mars colonial fleet and associated infrastructure. Capital requirements will be much more cash than currently generated by SpaceX customers.

Elon is now in a position that he can fund it all himself, he doesn’t need the other SpaceX investors help, and he no longer needs nasa’s funding to start test launching ships to mars.

And he can also massively ramp up boring company projects, again without needing customers to fund it.

Yes I think he wants to give SX more money. $10b would put his ownership stake back above 50% and give a chunk of money large enough to fund Starship development for a few years.

He could also fund the Texas institute, which could be a good future source of charitable tax deductions.

 

[CorneliusXX]

abide(n)
Is not: abide(noun)
It's: a Biden
As in the president
At least, that was my take

Agree - my read is that he is voluntarily abiding by Biden's plan for billionaires to be taxed more - even though the law was dropped. Abide(n) is a nice little bit of word scrabble to give a nod to the President.

It sounds like wins all around.

• Elon has to sell some stock anyway to sort out his options position
• Elon appears to be considerate of the public concern about wealth concentration - which could be useful if there is another run for a billionaires tax
• Biden can save face over the removal of the Billionaires tax and will be less incentivised to try again if some stock is being sold voluntarily
• Elon is relatively cash poor and this is a politically free liquidity event for him
• Those most adamantly looking to tax billionaires will likely go after someone else for a while

 

[NicoV]

Isn’t the ‘No’ camp increasing? It’s at 46% now, I seem to remember it was at 45% earlier on.

47% now.

 

[EVDRVN]

Isn’t the ‘No’ camp increasing? It’s at 46% now, I seem to remember it was at 45% earlier on.

Wait until the shorts start voting.

 

[HG Wells]

The noun for abide is abode.
IE: dwelling
Elon is going to build something.

Space station, another factory etc.

 

[OrthoSurg]

this is more promising than I expected

 

[traxila]

Elon should absolutely sell 10% of his shares.

But the poll response should 100% be no.

Damn, he so smart!

Most hilarious part is he is going to use proceeds to fund all his other ventures which will make him EVEN RICHER!

 

[SN_8]

i could swear that abide is a verb, not a noun, thus to me, the meaning isn’t exactly clear as isinglass.
per’aps you could elucidate…..

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Elon loves the other thread more than this thread? snifffffff

The ‘other thread’ is not populated by bears. Most of the traders there also hold shares and many sell puts because they have faith in this company. So if the stock tanks on Monday there will be no joy in the other thread either.

 

[woodisgood]

No need to click through, but it looks like wild colors spotted at Giga Shanghai, likely the wrapping service they were going to roll out.

Tesla spotted building a bunch of cars in wild new colors

Tesla has been spotted producing a bunch of cars in wild new colors out of Gigafactory Shanghai. Could these be...

electrek.co

To see the colors, which appear to include pink, teal, etc., you can check Jason Yang’s latest flyover or click-through to Fredtrek if you desire.

 

[Skipdd]

I commend @Gigapress for presenting the case of ATT. The demise of Bell Labs was truly unfortunate - and by no means merely for Ma Bell and her progeny - but for this country and for the world. As a generator and incubator for such a myriad of ideas and products its role in bringing and maintaining the United States as a developer of benefits was staggering.

As far as shareholder value? The breakup probably created more value. We cannot be sure, because although those who kept their splintered shares in the emergent Baby Bells saw that group smartly outpace the S&P 500 for many years, we still only can make suppositions at how a unified ATT might have done. Me? I believe it would not have performed so well. Regardless: to have ensured the extinction of Bell Labs - that was the unnecessary and societally destructive shame.

I also - as anyone who reads my missives well knows - am well in @Gigapress’s camp regarding just what long term investing is...although for me his “forty years” is just one step. Even I expect still to be investing in forty years. Say what you will - and I do encourage such discussion - about multi-generational investing and its benefits and drawbacks both for one’s descendants as well as for society - I champion it and encourage others at least to use it conceptually as a framework for fashioning their own investment strategies and time horizons.

By the way, ATT’s research lab was not the sole one created in the 20th century. One of the reasons I long held that Jack Welch neither was the savior of GE nor the CEO of the Century but the Rasputin who would destroy it from within was that, during his 1980s & ‘90s time at the helm he systematically turned the company effectively into a mere financial services organization, and away from its glorious tradition (begun by, yes, that Mr Edison whom we at TMC like to denigrate) of having been at the forefront of development and innovation in so many industrial sectors: electrical, electronic, chemical, broadcasting, and many others. A full-fledged research lab unto itself.

I don't think I can be objective about this topic (forewarning) as I lived through the AT&T Divestiture, and 2 more subsequent divestitures (follow-on companies). I went to work for AT&T in 1981. Bell Labs was a bit like the innovation engine that Elon has created in Tesla. It was said that you could find anything out by asking 2 people in Bell Labs; the network was flat enough and the people smart enough, that you could get the info that quickly. Holmdel was an awesome facility. I miss it today. Working with people in the Labs was also amazing. It was first principles type thinking. As a twenty something being able to work with people like that was awe inspiring and loads of fun. One of the proudest moments of my career was working with Bell Labs resources to invent something for a market need I identified. I can never forgive both AT&T and Judge Greene for lighting the fuse that caused the destruction of Bell Labs.

My vote would be for Tesla to fight any such attempt at a break-up like Microsoft did in 1998. Microsoft prevailed.

 

[Mike Smith]

47% now.

It's narrowing extremely fast and I don't see why it would stop. Millions of people own TSLA either directly or in a fund and people who don't own TSLA probably aren't that interested.

 

[Rarity]

What’s he gonna do with all that cash???

Exercise more options. He has plenty. It probably doesn't really matter what the result of the poll is. It's a bit like choosing to roll over a 401(k) into a Roth.

 

[OrthoSurg]

I am part of the higher echelons in a popular finance discord. We saw a huge influx of new members in the past two months. The current stock market is basically converting everyone into a trader.

Well everybody is talking about how you cant hold cash during infalationary periods. Everybody is talking about ETFs since they have barely no fees compared to actively managed funds at banks that have always underperformed the S&P500. Once people have opened their brockerage account and bought some VOO, their interest to join TSLA FOMO is easy so satisfy. They are 4 letters away.

 

[Knightshade]

this is more promising than I expected

IIRC even TT007 called "too bullish" on that statement.

Which is... saying something.

Depending on whose math you use 5 years from now Tesla annual production is 5-10 million cars roughly... (6.834 million if you assume 900k this year, and 50% CAGR next 5)

To be 25% of total vehicle market new car sales would need to crater to about 27.3 million worldwide. From ~65 million a year in recent years.

 

[Willrtsoon]

Elon have to sale tsla stock to pay tax one way or the other,he done it before. This time he use the opportunity to explain why he needs to sell it. People are discussing,attracting good and bad from news media. All that is free advertising

 

[ggr]

Connection yes, but Starlink speed and privacy not the same as cell today. Like I said, it's an option for a new connection type. Could be for inter-vehicle video conf, FSD localized data or other.

What makes you think that Starlink privacy and security are in any way inferior to what 3G/LTE/5G provides?

 

[Cosmacelf]

Wait until the shorts start voting.

What, all three of them? I thought they were an endangered species by now.

 

[jeewee3000]

I voted no since Elon - if the posts are sincere- would sell because of social pressure.

I thought the US policy was : "We do not negotiate with terrorists."

By giving in to the masses, the haters/shorts win.

Of course Elon is allowed to sell, he can do what he wants, but selling because of outside pressure is a proposal I cannot get behind.