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Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTesla's founders on Elon Musk and the early daysElon Musk is the most famous CEO of Tesla, but he's not the company's founder. The original executives, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, founded the company in 2003. CNBC sat down with them to talk about the idea for Tesla Motors, the battery, Elon Musk and building its first car, the all-electric Roadster.

☆ Elon Musk tries to explain why Tesla shares are tanking
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Long-time Tesla bull Ross Gerber wrote in a tweet , "Tesla stock price now reflects the value of having no CEO. But Tesla's stock has dropped more than other larger automakers since Musk announced his plans to buy Twitter in Apr. Since that date, Tesla shares are down 59%, versus 26% for Ford and 12% for GM . Musk sold billions of dollars of his Tesla holdings to finance the Twitter deal, including a $3.6 billion sale earlier this month. Those, among other challenges, led Mizuho Securities and Evercore ISI to reduce their Tesla price targets on Tuesday.

An image of new Twitter owner Elon Musk is seen surrounded by Twitter logos in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on 08 November, 2022. On Sunday, Twitter's new owner and CEO Elon Musk posted an informal poll of users of the social media platform asking if he should step down as head of the company. In court in November, Musk said, "I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time." "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," he wrote. Tesla's largest retail shareholder, Leo Koguan, wrote in a tweet on Dec. 14, that "Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO."

☆ Elon Musk sells chunk of Tesla shares worth $3.6B
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold about 22 million more shares in his electric vehicle business worth around $3.6 billion, according to a financial filing out Wednesday night. After Musk’s Twitter takeover, he told employees there that he sold Tesla shares to “save” their business. Tesla shares have been declining this year and sliding even further since he took on that new responsibility. Shares of Tesla closed down 2.6% on Wednesday at $156.80, dropping the company’s market capitalization to $495 billion. Tesla shares were down 55% year-to-date as of Wednesday’s close.

☆ Elon Musk sells another huge chunk of Tesla shares
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold about 22 million more shares in his electric vehicle business, which were worth around $3.6 billion, according to a financial filing out Wednesday night. Earlier this year, Musk told his millions of followers on social media that he had "no further TSLA sales planned" after April 28. After Musk's Twitter takeover, he told employees there that he sold Tesla shares to "save" their business. Tesla shares have been declining this year, and sliding even further since he took on that new responsibility. Tesla shares were down 55% year-to-date as of Wednesday's close.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s resources to fight child sexual exploitation content online (and what is sometimes called child pornography or child sexual abuse materials) are thin, following layoffs, mass-firings and resignations from the company. Child sexual exploitation content has remained a problem for Twitter, though most major social media platforms continue to deal with it in some form or another. Moderation of this content usually relies on a combination of automated detection systems and specialized internal teams and external contractors to identify child abuse content and remove it. “So, I mean, that is disheartening.”It’s unclear how many Twitter employees remain to work on child safety issues. A search on LinkedIn for current Twitter employees who say they work on child safety turned up only a few accounts.

Less than a month after taking control of Twitter , Elon Musk said addressing child sexual exploitation content on the social media platform was "Priority #1." "It is a crime that they refused to take action on child exploitation for years!" Meanwhile, Twitter's resources to fight child sexual exploitation content online (and what is sometimes called child pornography or child sexual abuse materials) are thin, following layoffs, mass-firings and resignations from the company. Twitter's imperfect efforts fighting child sexual exploitation content were well documented. Stroppa said he felt Twitter's previous efforts were lacking and that it now moves quickly to find and suspend accounts that post child sexual exploitation content.

☆ Tesla shares have fallen 28% since Elon Musk took over Twitter, lagging other carmakers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022. U.S. electric truck maker Rivian has fallen by 27% over that period. Shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla have fallen 28% since October 27, when CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter and appointed himself "Chief Twit," or CEO, of the social media business. Musk sold billions of dollars' worth of his Tesla holdings to finance the Twitter takeover. Since he took over the company, Musk has been regularly posting incendiary tweets, especially aimed at people who hold center-to-left political values, and whom Musk often paints as enemies with a "woke mind virus."

☆ SpaceX, Tesla, and Boring Company execs are helping Elon Musk at Twitter, records reveal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ever since, he has enlisted high-ranking executives and engineers from his other businesses, including SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company, to help out at the social media company, according to internal records obtained by CNBC and conversations with recent Twitter employees. Musk has also enabled partners from investment firms who participated in the Twitter buyout access to work within the social media company. In his testimony, Musk characterized Tesla employees' work for him at Twitter as "just a voluntary thing." He also said: "This was sort of an after-hours, just if you're interested in evaluating the -- helping me evaluate Twitter engineering, that would be nice. In addition to Tesla employees, Musk has also enlisted execs and employees from SpaceX, the reusable rocket and satellite internet services company he founded in 2002, to help him at Twitter.

Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. Taibbi has an exclusive podcast deal with Musk's friend and Twitter investor David Sacks via his podcasting platform, Callin. Taibbi and Weiss both write newsletters on Substack, which is partly funded by Andreessen Horowitz, a co-investor in Twitter with Musk. Musk has even gone so far as to say that Twitter, which he now owns and leads, interfered with U.S. elections. During a Twitter Spaces discussion, Musk suggested more files would be released regarding how Twitter handled the 2020 presidential election, the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the Covid-19 pandemic.

☆ Some Meta employees claim they're not getting promised severance
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The employees are members of Meta's Sourcer Development Program, intended to help workers from diverse backgrounds obtain careers in corporate technology recruiting. The Sourcer Development Program is part of Meta's Pathways program, which helps people with non-traditional professional backgrounds obtain apprenticeships at the social networking giant for various roles. Several members of Meta's Sourcer Development Program told CNBC they joined Meta in April as part of the company's latest cohort. After completing the 12-month program, the employees would then be converted to full-time employees if they met the necessary criteria. The impacted Meta workers said they have not received any replies from Meta's human resources and management staff explaining their situation.

☆ Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicks off first Semi truck deliveries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicks off deliveries of the company's heavy-duty truck, the Semi, at the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off deliveries of the company's first few production Semi trucks on Thursday, speaking on stage at the company's factory in Sparks, Nevada, with Dan Priestly, the company's senior manager for Semi truck engineering. He later thanked and the handed the mic to representatives from PepsiCo Frito Lay , which is Tesla's first customer to receive and use production Semi trucks. While the Tesla Semi was in development, other fully electric heavy-duty trucks launched into the market. The new fast-charging tech will eventually be installed at Tesla SuperCharging stations and used to power up Cybertrucks, the consumer pickup truck Tesla is planning, Musk revealed.

☆ Elon Musk has criticized Apple for years. Apple has mostly ignored him.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kif Leswing | Lora Kolodny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

This week, Musk claimed in a tweet that Apple had mostly stopped advertising on the Twitter platform. Apple is not alone in reducing its campaigns on the social media platform since Musk took over. If the so-called “Apple Car” ever came to market, Tesla and Apple would be direct competitors. Cook and MuskHave Apple CEO Tim Cook and Musk ever spoken in depth? Around 2016, according to the book, Musk and Cook spoke about Apple potentially acquiring Tesla.

This week, Musk claimed in a tweet that Apple had mostly stopped advertising on the Twitter platform. Apple is not alone in reducing its campaigns on the social media platform since Musk took over. Whether accurate or not, Musk's allegation that Apple has "threatened to withhold" Twitter from its App Store may resonate with other developers. One of the most notable people to switch sides was Doug Field, who started at Apple, joined Tesla and then rejoined Apple. In case anybody missed the reference to Apple's App Store, which Apple maintains as the exclusive way to distribute apps to its devices, Musk then faked a cough and said, "Apple."

A Tesla Model 3 vehicle is on display at the Tesla auto store on September 22, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. The data firm found that Tesla's market share of new registered electric vehicles in the U.S. stood at 65% through the third quarter, down from 71% last year and 79% in 2020. S&P forecasts Tesla's EV market share will decline to less than 20% by 2025, with the number of EV models expected to grow from 48 today to 159 by then. A drop in Tesla's U.S. market share was expected, but the rate of the decline could be concerning for investors in Elon Musk's autos and energy company. "Given that consumer choice and consumer interest in EVs are growing, Tesla's ability to retain a dominant market share will be challenged going forward."

☆ Tesla shares rise on Citi upgrade, Elon Musk talk of a new factory in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla shares jumped almost 8% on Wednesday after hitting a 52-week low a day earlier. The rally followed an upgrade by analysts at Citi and an indication from Tesla CEO Elon Musk that South Korea is a top candidate for a new factory the company hopes to build in Asia. Some dips in Tesla shares followed massive stock sales by Musk as he liquidates in part to finance the Twitter deal. Earlier this month, Musk sold another $3.95 billion in Tesla shares, telling Twitter employees he was doing so to save the social media company. The firm still recommends buying Tesla shares and has a $330 price target.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter Blue relaunch delayed, may use different color checks for organizations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Todd Haselton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter owner Elon Musk said on Monday evening that the company is planning to delay the relaunch of its $8 per month Blue Verified service. Musk said Twitter will "probably use different color check for organizations than individuals." It allowed users to pay for a Blue checkmark, previously reserved for verified users. Musk had earlier said he planned to relaunch Twitter Blue on Nov. 29. The paid Blue subscription service led to a plethora of pranksters creating imposter accounts on Twitter.

Elon Musk's Twitter account displayed on a mobile with Elon Musk in the background are seen in this illustration. Leaders of major civil rights groups are denying accusations made by Elon Musk, who said they broke an agreement with him by encouraging companies to halt advertising on Twitter . "The main person responsible for the Twitter advertiser exodus is Elon Musk. "We're basically asking Elon Musk, who we all know is a rather creative person, to take leadership in this area," Cooper said. Under Musk's leadership, Twitter rolled out and promptly rolled back a Twitter Blue Verified subscription service, after users who purchased the badges were able to impersonate celebrities, politicians and brands.

☆ Elon Musk says he will reinstate Twitter account of former President Donald Trump after online poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

New Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk announced that he will reinstate the Twitter account of former President Donald Trump on Saturday. Musk ran a straw poll on the social media platform starting late Friday asking his followers to vote on whether to reinstate former U.S. President Donald Trump's account on the platform. At its conclusion, Musk wrote in a tweet, "The people have spoken. Under previous ownership, Twitter had issued a lifetime ban on President Donald Trump's account in January 2021. For his part, former President Trump said earlier this year that he would not return to the social media platform even if Musk reversed the ban.

☆ After Twitter planned to close offices for the day, Elon Musk asks engineers to come in
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Twitter logo is displayed on the exterior of Twitter headquarters on October 26, 2022 in San Francisco, California. After Twitter told employees it would be closing its offices until Monday, new owner and CEO Elon Musk has called engineering staff into the San Francisco headquarters office, according to internal emails obtained by CNBC. Late on Thursday, Twitter sent out a companywide email saying its offices would be closed from Friday until Monday, and badge access would cut off during that temporary closure. After the initial call for engineers to come into the office, he also sent a followup encouraging people to fly to San Francisco to present in person. The mixed messages on returning to the office come after a wave of Twitter employees resigned on Thursday.

☆ New wave of resignations hits Twitter after Musk ultimatum
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lora Kolodny | Jason Abbruzzese | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A new wave of Twitter employees resigned on Thursday after Elon Musk issued an ultimatum telling them they would need to be willing to commit to a "hardcore" work environment. Three Twitter employees who spoke with CNBC asked to remain nameless, citing fear of professional retaliation. It was not clear exactly how many Twitter employees resigned. Musk has asked some top engineers who opted to resign to consider staying on, according to one Twitter engineer familiar with the situation. The recent wave of resignations adds to what is now a combined mass layoff and voluntary exodus from Twitter, leaving the company significantly smaller than when Musk first took over in late October.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter employees must commit to 'hardcore' culture by 5 p.m. Eastern time
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In this photo illustration, the image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen and the logo of twitter on a mobile phone in Ankara, Turkiye on October 06, 2022. Elon Musk asked Twitter employees to commit to a "hardcore" culture, where they are expected to work "long hours at high intensity," or resign. The company shared a "frequently asked questions" document overnight with employees, telling them "If you do not click 'yes' you are confirming your decision to resign. The document answer questions raised after Musk sent a companywide email on Wednesday to remaining employees, demanding they agree to working "long hours at high intensity" or receive "three months of severance." Musk closed the $44 billion purchase of Twitter at the end of October and swiftly moved to cut about half of the company's workforce, amounting to roughly 3,700 jobs.

SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during a conversation with legendary game designer Todd Howard (not pictured) at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, California, June 13, 2019. A pair of new emails from Elon Musk to Twitter employees says managers must meet in-person with employees -- even exceptional ones -- at least monthly, and says managers can be terminated for allowing employees to work remotely if they are not "exceptional." But at the time, employees told CNBC they had not gotten formal guidance from HR on remote work. Here are the emails, transcribed by CNBC:From: Elon Musk To: Team at Twitter Date: Nov. 17, 2022 [Time Stamp removed] Subj. re: Fork in the Road Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval isthat your manager takes responsibility for ensuring thatyou are making an excellent contribution.

☆ Elon Musk demands Twitter staff commit to 'long hours' or leave
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

This week, he also fired veteran engineers at Twitter after they criticized him in public, or in the company’s internal Slack channels. Since Musk took over on Oct. 28, he has announced sweeping changes planned for Twitter. One change that he insisted the company roll out quickly, called Twitter Blue verification, had to be rescinded, however. Musk now plans a revised Twitter Blue Verified release on Nov. 29th. Here’s the full email that Elon Musk sent to Twitter employees on Wednesday (transcribed by CNBC):

☆ Should I delete my DMs? What Twitter has on you, and what you can and can't do about it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Lora Kolodny | Kevin Collier | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It's not that easy to delete your direct messages on Twitter . Private communications sent between individuals or to groups through Twitter's "Messages" system, commonly known as direct messages, can only be eliminated if all the people involved in the conversation delete those messages, according to Twitter's system. That means users looking to delete their DMs will need to make sure all of their counterparts do so as well. Twitter has never encrypted its direct messages, despite calls from cybersecurity activists to do so. Cutler recommended that Twitter users proceed with caution.

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