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☆ Tom Zhu, who reportedly just became Tesla's 2nd most-powerful exec, slept at a Chinese factory during COVID lockdown — a habit he shares with CEO Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters reported Tuesday that Tesla has made executive Tom Zhu head of US plants and sales. The role effectively makes Zhu Tesla's second-most powerful executive after Elon Musk. Like Musk, Zhu has a habit of sleeping overnight in Tesla facilities, according to Reuters. Like Musk, Zhu's committment to Tesla has extended to overnight stays in Tesla facilities in the past. Zhu reportedly slept in Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory alongside other employees during the city's two-month COVID-19 lockdowns last year, in an effort to keep the plant running, per Reuters.

☆ My first time driving a Tesla showed me why people are so obsessed with Elon Musk's electric cars
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

First, the basicsThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe Model Y is Tesla's small SUV and its most popular product. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe display is super responsive to taps and swipes and features crisp graphics. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderPlus, the Model Y lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Our impressions: An excellent choice, but not the only optionThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderAs it turns out, the Tesla fans have a point. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe Model Y is a great choice for many buyers, but Tesla isn't the only game in town anymore.

☆ JP Morgan 'pulled the levers' of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking operation, US Virgin Islands says in new lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A new lawsuit alleges JP Morgan facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme. Earlier this year, the US Virgin islands settled a separate lawsuit, first brought in 2020, with Epstein's estate and its executors. "JP Morgan ignored numerous red flags and failed to comply with federal banking regulations until years later after JP Morgan was no longer benefiting from Epstein's business," the lawsuit says. In addition to the US Virgin Islands, an anonymous "Jane Doe" filed lawsuits against JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank in November, alleging the financial institutions benefitted from Epstein's sex-trafficking operation. That same company, Hyperion Air, is identified by the US Virgin Islands Attorney General as one of Epstein's accounts with JP Morgan.

☆ Where's Ye? The lawyers who dropped Kanye West after his antisemitic tirades can't locate him to say they've quit.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The lawyers can't find him to tell him they've quit, and West isn't responding to texts. Lawyers for Greenberg Traurig were able to serve West with documents telling him they no longer wanted to represent him. In that case, held in federal court in California, US District Judge George H. Wu allowed Greenberg Traurig to withdraw on December 2. In court documents first reported by The Sun and reviewed by Insider, lawyers for Thomas St. John said on December 19 that they couldn't serve West with the lawsuit. West's previous lawyers — presumably the ones at Greenberg Traurig — told the management firm they no longer represented West, and the firm couldn't locate any replacement firm.

☆ 2022 was the year the Overconfidence Man fell back to earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Maureen Tkacik | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Naturally, Elon Musk, the platonic ideal of the peculiar self-aggrandizing, self-parodying personality type that thrived during the Trump years and peaked during the pandemic, tops this list. By 2022, the media had pronounced him variously the next Warren Buffett, J.P. Morgan and Charles Koch. "bye bye @trussliz Congrats to lettuce", tweeted Putin's one-time stand-in Dmitry Medvedev, to which Elon Musk could not resist replying, "pretty good troll tbh." Elon Musk speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in March 2020. Elon MuskIt's weird to recall now that Elon Musk once seemed like, graded on the billionaire curve anyway, a net positive for a cursed American society.

☆ Tesla or Rivian? The pros predict what 2023 will look like for the two stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

It's been a tumultuous year for electric vehicle stocks, and two investor favorites, Tesla and Rivian , have been no exception. More recently, in early December, he told CNBC Pro that his price target for Tesla is $304. For now, we view this as short-term noise and, over the medium to long term, see Tesla's stock tied to Tesla's earnings." Evercore gave Rivian a price target of $35 for 2023, or 97% upside — lower than its 220% for Tesla. "The fact that Ford decided to sell Rivian stock rather than partner with Rivian is a long-term problem," he added.

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☆ Twitter has given new square business badges to some of its staff, news outlets, and a close friend of Elon Musk — but not Musk himself
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter introduced a new square badge to show where company verified accounts are employed. At least 10 Twitter staff have the new badge, but Elon Musk doesn't. Musk himself, however, has not got a square badge, despite owning the company and spearheading the verification changes. Musk retweeted the official announcement for the feature, but is yet to address the poll which saw Twitter users vote for him to step down as CEO. The news outlet Bloomberg also has access to the square badge, which is currently being used for different sections of the outlet's coverage, but not individual journalists.

☆ Elon Musk could lose control of Tesla if the automaker's stock keeps tumbling, ex-Facebook security chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk could face activist investors as Tesla's stock falls, an ex-Facebook exec warns. Activist investors buy up big stakes in public companies and then agitate for change — sometimes in the board room. Stamos was previously Chief Security Officer at Facebook and he was also previously Chief Information Security Officer at Yahoo. Last week, some Tesla investors expressed concern that Twitter had become too much of a distraction for the carmaker's CEO. Tesla's stock was trading a little over $150 a share late Friday.

☆ Tesla short sellers have made $11.5 billion profit this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Investors who took short positions in Tesla stock have made an $11.5 billion profit so far this year, according to Wall Street analytics firm S3 Partners, as Tesla shares lost about half their value. That’s a nearly 60% return on the $19.6 billion invested in short positions on Tesla this year. And it’s a nearly 180-degree reversal in how they did in 2021, when their short positions resulted in a combined $10.3 billion loss, after Tesla shares rose 50%. And let’s not forget the $40.7 billion loss short sellers suffered in 2020, when shares of Tesla climbed 743%. The problems for Tesla stock, and the gains for short sellers, actually began about a year ago.

☆ Tesla drivers say they've faced more incidents of road rage since they started driving the electric cars
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla drivers say they've faced harassment since they started driving the EV, The Guardian reported. Tesla cars are equipped with multiple cameras that have publicly documented the incidents. He told the publication that he'd faced incidents of road rage eight times in November, alone. Three more drivers said the instances of road rage are often perpetuated by individuals driving pickup trucks. The channel, called Wham Baam Teslacam, also depicts instances of people cursing out Tesla drivers, vandalizing the cars, and chasing them down.

☆ Twitter has grown under Elon Musk — mainly in the U.S., data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk has generated fresh interest in Twitter, and you don’t have to take his word for it. The growth was slower outside the U.S., though, with 14% growth from a month earlier and 4% growth from a year earlier, Apptopia data showed. Musk, who already had a huge following when he bought Twitter, has continued to add followers at a rapid clip. Those apps count their users in the billions, while Twitter has about 259 million daily users, according to Musk. But it may have already ended, with Substack downloads peaking Nov. 6, the firm’s data showed.

☆ Elon Musk’s Neuralink shows brain implant prototype and robotic surgeon during recruiting event
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The event showcased a video that Musk said showed a monkey using a brain implant to control a cursor and type on a computer. Musk noted during the “show and tell” event that the primary goal of the evening was to recruit talent to Neuralink. Musk, however, also tends to emphasize non-medical uses, such as using brain implants to even the playing field, if digital artificial intelligence becomes smarter than any human. During Wednesday’s event, Musk was asked if Neuralink would plan to make its tools available to neuroscientists. Before Neuralink’s brain implants are mass produced and hit the broader market, they’ll need regulatory approval.

☆ Elon Musk — who said Twitter would be the 'most accurate' — apparently snubs Jimmy Fallon's plea to stop #RIPJimmyFallon from trending
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Jimmy Fallon pleaded for Elon Musk to stop the false #RIPJimmyFallon from trending on Twitter. Musk tweeted back to Fallon on Wednesday morning as the hashtag was still trending. #RIPJimmyFallon," Fallon tweeted Tuesday night as the hashtag began trending like wildfire. It was not immediately clear how #RIPJimmyFallon began trending, but some Twitter users said it started with a tweet showing fellow late-night TV host James Corden with the words: "Gone but not forgotten. Early Wednesday, it sent out another tweet, saying: "Since this is seriously blowing up, thought I'd just comment that this is satire.

☆ Twitter begins a new wave of firings by letting go of contractors with no notice, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Some contractors told Axios they found out after being locked out of work accounts. Some of these contractors work in content moderation, which had already been hit with layoffs, sources told Axios. Melissa Ingle, a content moderation contractor, told Axios that she was worried about how the layoffs would affect her and her family financially. Some laid-off Twitter staff were asked to come back after the company realized that they were essential to operations. Other Twitter staff filed a lawsuit, saying they were not given enough advance notice before their firings.

☆ Elon Musk failed to give laid-off Twitter employees previously promised severance packages, lawsuit alleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Laid-off Twitter employees are suing the company saying they were promised a range of severance benefits. The lawsuit says they were assured these benefits would hold after Elon Musk bought Twitter. However, recently laid-off employees say Twitter reneged on the promised severance pay. Twitter employees "reasonably relied" on this promise in the weeks leading up to Musk's purchase and chose not to look for jobs elsewhere, the lawsuit shows. This claim appears to contrast a November 4 tweet from Musk, which said that all exited employees were offered three months' severance.

☆ 12 members of Congress have traded stock in Elon Musk's companies during 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

After formally acquiring Twitter on Thursday, Elon Musk now leads two companies — Twitter and Tesla — with popular stock. Insider found that a dozen members of Congress or their spouses traded stocks in one or both companies in 2022. After completing his purchase of Twitter on Thursday, serial entrepreneur Elon Musk — the wealthiest person in the world — is now the leader of two publicly-traded companies: Tesla and soon-to-be-private Twitter. Insider found that at least 12 members of Congress or their family members personally traded stocks in Twitter or Tesla in 2022. Here are the 12 members of Congress who reported stock trades in Twitter and Tesla in 2022, according to an Insider analysis of lawmakers' personal financial disclosures filed with Congress:

☆ US tech billionaires made a record $59 billion after Thursday's market rally, granting respite from a very bad year for tech stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US tech billionaires made a record $59 billion after Thursday's market rally, per Bloomberg. Thanks to this, 32 tech billionaires collectively added $59 billion to their net worth on Thursday, per Bloomberg, as much of the billionaires' fortunes is tied to their share holdings in listed tech companies. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came in at pole-position, netting the biggest one-day jump in net worth, as his fortune soared by $10.5 billion to $119.6 billion. About 80% of Bezos's net worth is derived from his stake in Amazon, per Bloomberg. Despite the one-day rally, tech stocks have been in a funk this year.

☆ Analysis: Midterm elections present a big test for newsrooms in the era of election lies and misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN Business —The first major test of the election denialism era has arrived. Tuesday’s midterms will be the first significant contest since conspiracy theories and lies about the US election process swallowed one of its two major parties whole. It’s difficult to put into words how dominant election lies are in the information universe in which Republicans almost exclusively get their news. There are different machines to cast and count ballots, there are different local election laws and procedures. Bad-faith media organizations and personalities, however, will exploit such situations to draw sweeping and incorrect conclusions that serve to benefit their political worldview.

☆ Twitter is now owned by Elon Musk — here's a brief history from the app's founding in 2006 to the present
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In this photo illustration, former U.S. President Donald Trump's archived Twitter account is shown on a phone screen with the Twitter logo in the background. And they happen to be the hands of Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and one of the app's most high-profile provocateurs. 2006In March, Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams created Twitter, which was originally a side project stemming from the podcasting tool Odeo. 2011Twitter became an essential social media tool used during the Arab Spring, the wave of antigovernmental protests throughout Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. The combined wealth of Williams, Dorsey, and Costolo hit roughly $4 billion.

☆ Elon Musk plans Twitter content moderation council as questions about Trump return loom
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

After closing a $44 billion transaction to take Twitter private, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — now the de facto CEO of Twitter — announced that he plans to form a "content moderation council" at the social networking company. He says he will not make any "major content decisions" or reinstate any accounts that were previously banned before the council convenes. Twitter rival Facebook has been roundly criticized for using a council approach to making content moderation decisions. Early in the Trump presidency, Musk served on a White House economic advisory board and a manufacturing jobs initiative council. The former president previously said he would not return to the platform, but that could change now that the company is run by Musk.

☆ Meet the members of Congress who've traded stock in Elon Musk's companies during 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Oracle is steering clear of talent from major tech hubs in the cloud giant's latest more to save money and curb labor costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

It's part of the cloud giant's plan to curb labor costs that insiders say is starting to hurt morale. Oracle is steering clear of job-seekers in major tech hubs. These guidelines come amid other hiring restrictions implemented at the cloud giant, which employees say are further tanking already low morale. In some cases, hiring managers are being asked to backfill formerly US-based roles with candidates from Eastern Europe to save money. Oracle is trying to cut $1 billion in costs and has already had two rounds of layoffs in recent months.

☆ Researchers who reverse-engineered Starlink to work as a backup for GPS found a security flaw in the system — using a video of tennis star Rafael Nadal — that could be exploited in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

SpaceX's Starlink signals have been long seen as a possible alternative to GPS. Researchers have succeeded in reverse-engineering the signals, MIT Technology Review reported. "The Starlink system signal is a closely guarded secret," Humphreys told MIT Technology Review. "Humphreys has done a big service to the navigation community identifying these sequences," Mark Psiaki, an aerospace professor at Virginia Tech and GPS expert told MIT Technology Review. "As time goes on and their dependence on Starlink deepens, Ukraine and its allies in the West are coming to appreciate that they have little control over Starlink and know little about it," Humphreys told MIT Technology Review.

☆ Elon Musk's pro-Russian peace deal is 'classic Putin,' and there's a clue of the Russian leader's role, Fiona Hill argues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's foray into the Russia-Ukraine war is being guided by Putin, according to Fiona Hill. The Russia expert told Politico that Putin frequently uses prominent people as intermediaries. "Putin plays the egos of big men, gives them a sense that they can play a role," Hill said. But in reality, they're just direct transmitters of messages from Vladimir Putin," Hill told Politico this week, noting that the Tesla billionaire has tipped his hand in an obvious display of Putin's influence. Musk's sudden emergence as an apparent player in foreign affairs may seem curious, but it's actually a "classic Putin play," Hill said.

☆ I drove a Tesla for the first time after testing 14 other electric cars. Now I get why people are so obsessed with Elon Musk's vehicles.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

That's the big question I sought to answer when I got behind the wheel of a new Tesla Model Y SUV earlier this month. First, the basicsThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe Model Y is Tesla's small SUV and its most popular product. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderPlus, the Model Y lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Our impressions: An excellent choice, but not the only optionThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderAs it turns out, the Tesla fans have a point. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe Model Y is a great choice for many buyers, but Tesla isn't the only game in town anymore.

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