I have some big issues with posts such as this one:
This post, which seems to receive a lot of Likes and Loves despite being at best aggressive in language and at worst straight-up offensive towards a fellow forum member, was a direct reply to
@Singuy , who said
Not "thats the dumbest thing I have heard in weeks". Be more like Zach.
We get a lot of commentary here on what Elon means when he makes certain statements. And then later, when some of the actions the company makes seem to directly contradict those previous statements, we again see commentary (oftentimes from the same forum members) claiming that those statements Elon made previously were misunderstood by
other forum members, who obviously are haters etc., and should obviously have been understood in a way that perfectly matches the new reality.
A very specific example may help.
During the CC on Jan 29, there was the following exchange:
Dan Levy
Hi, good evening. Thank you for taking the question. Just want to follow-up on the question on capital raise. So given the cheaper cost of capital – and this is a real competitive advantage for others – why wouldn't it make sense to raise capital to either pay down debt or to pursue acquisitions especially bolt- ons that could help you accelerate capabilities and autonomous and battery technology?
Elon Musk
I mean, if you know of any acquisitions, we'd love to hear about them. Yes, sure. Sounds great, whom should we acquire?
Dan Levy
Well, given the importance of autonomous I imagine that this is an area that you would want to accelerate, if you view it as a crucial competitive advantage?
Elon Musk
We're not aware of anyone that we'd want to acquire.
Dan Levy
And debt pay down?
Elon Musk
Diluting the company to pay down debt, doesn't sound like a wise move.
Dan Levy
I think the broader... there's been a couple of versions of this question over the course of the call. I think what we're saying more broadly is that as we look forward on the cash generation from the business relative to what our plans are, we are not constrained.
Elon Musk
Yes, we're going to pay down the debt just as time goes by and we paid down $0.5 billion worth the debt last quarter. So we'll just keep steadily paying it down and... yes, so... yes. But, yes, I don't think we have any more say on that part, all right?
Here are some posts from Jan 29, "live" commentary from the CC:
@Artful Dodger (among many others) Loved this post.
This below refers to the exchange quoted above, Elon replying to Dan Levy's questions:
@Artful Dodger (among many others) Loved this post.
So, on the night of the conference call multiple forum members agreed that Elon's comment on the suggestion of a capital raise was equivalent to calling that suggestion dumb, even though not using the exact word. Elon said "[it] doesn't sound like a wise move". Easy to imply he thought the idea was dumb.
And now here we are, a capital raise has indeed taken place, many forum members celebrate it as a great idea (and whether it is or not is not actually relevant to the discussion, I personally believe it helps that Tesla improved their cash reserves), and when someone mentions Elon's comments with their at-the-time agreed-upon meaning, they get dumped on and called names.
Can we please be kinder to each other, particularly when things are otherwise moving positively with Tesla? Do we really need to flex so much and claim intellectual superiority vs. other forum members while being borderline insulting? It seems to happen fairly frequently these days, and it only contributes to a toxic atmosphere where you risk being called out as ill-intentioned, self-loathing, frustrated, or even plain dumb for saying something slightly wrong or not entirely factual. It's ok to point out incorrect quotes etc. but I fail to see why we need to follow that up with personal insults.
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