越來(lái)越多的特斯拉投資者對(duì)埃隆·馬斯克創(chuàng)歷史新高的薪資感到不滿,,原因在于馬斯克一直在做“兼職”首席執(zhí)行官,。
股東們將于今年的股東大會(huì)上對(duì)馬斯克新的薪酬方案進(jìn)行投票,此前,,特拉華州法院已經(jīng)否決了2018年已經(jīng)通過的向其支付560億美元薪酬方案,。這是有史以來(lái)最高的薪酬金額,,比特斯拉自2020年首次發(fā)布凈利潤(rùn)以來(lái)的收入總和都要高,。
之所以出現(xiàn)這個(gè)令人咋舌的數(shù)字,,部分原因在于,,如果馬斯克拿不到這么高的薪資,,那么特斯拉就得主動(dòng)與SpaceX以及馬斯克旗下的其他一些公司競(jìng)爭(zhēng)其時(shí)間,。
不過,,最近,,這位首席執(zhí)行官似乎更熱衷于反對(duì)非法移民和多元化招聘,,而不是拯救特斯拉的核心業(yè)務(wù),。
在今年的前3個(gè)月,,季度車輛銷售出現(xiàn)了疫情以來(lái)的首次下滑,,令人吃驚的是,,美國(guó)市場(chǎng)需求呈現(xiàn)出了疲態(tài),。
本周發(fā)布的一篇研究稱,,部分問題源自于其線上人設(shè),。《巴倫周刊》發(fā)現(xiàn),,在銷量數(shù)據(jù)公布后,,馬斯克撰寫特斯拉的推文數(shù)量還不及迪士尼(Disney)。
亨寧·舒爾茨抱怨說:“重要的一點(diǎn)在于,,我們得讓這個(gè)薪酬計(jì)劃運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)起來(lái),只有這樣才能讓馬斯克專注于特斯拉,。”不過如今,,他的投資“明顯”縮水。
在本周第一季度災(zāi)難性的銷量發(fā)布之后舉行的太空論壇上,,這位IT專業(yè)人士對(duì)其他特斯拉投資者說:“我依然對(duì)馬斯克充滿信心。不過,,他得專注于特斯拉,而不是抱怨或批評(píng)邊境問題,。”
《財(cái)富》雜志聯(lián)系了多位特斯拉的老員工,,詢問他們是否擔(dān)心公司的走向。
反饋渠道出問題了
很多特斯拉老員工并不信任主流媒體,,認(rèn)為報(bào)道始終都有失公允,,而且將原因歸咎于汽車競(jìng)品對(duì)手利用其廣告經(jīng)費(fèi)購(gòu)買負(fù)面報(bào)道。
那些提供反饋的人士似乎已經(jīng)對(duì)此不抱幻想,。
盡管有人批評(píng)馬斯克在政治上的分歧,,但其意見主要集中在馬斯克并沒有盡到其作為特斯拉首席執(zhí)行官的職責(zé),而且他們感覺幾乎沒有人愿意站出來(lái)大聲疾呼這件事情,。
曾幾何時(shí),,推特(Twitter,現(xiàn)為X平臺(tái))可以作為一個(gè)有效的反饋機(jī)制,,用于迅速向馬斯克反饋外界的各種看法,。然而,,有人認(rèn)為這位特斯拉首席執(zhí)行官被自己在平臺(tái)上的熱度沖昏了頭腦。
電動(dòng)汽車駕駛網(wǎng)站Electrek主編弗雷德·蘭伯特表示:“反饋通道徹底癱瘓了,。如今,,馬斯克沉浸于其超級(jí)粉絲的贊頌之中,同時(shí)把所有正當(dāng)?shù)呐u(píng)聲音當(dāng)作攻擊,?!备ダ椎麓饲霸?wù)撨^過度崇拜馬斯克這一錯(cuò)誤行為,。
在與《財(cái)富》雜志交談時(shí),蘭伯特稱,,他剛進(jìn)入這一行業(yè)的時(shí)候,自己曾自愿擔(dān)任社交新聞網(wǎng)站 Reddit 特斯拉子版塊的版主,。
在近十年的時(shí)間中,他一直在負(fù)責(zé)公司的新聞報(bào)道工作,。這個(gè)刊物是當(dāng)時(shí)首批科技類在線刊物之一,由9to5Mac創(chuàng)始人賽斯·溫特勞布創(chuàng)辦,。
最近,蘭伯特開始遠(yuǎn)離馬斯克,,因?yàn)樵獾焦_的郵件顯示,,馬斯克一直贊成OpenAI成為一家盈利公司,而且是一家受他控制,,并非微軟控制的公司,。
蘭伯特在當(dāng)時(shí)寫道:“他始終都持有這種想法。這并非是那位從前被我視作英雄的人,?!?/p>
在與《財(cái)富》雜志交談時(shí),蘭伯特認(rèn)為這位首席執(zhí)行官犯了一個(gè)戰(zhàn)略錯(cuò)誤,,即將精力放在昂貴的不銹鋼賽博卡車上,,卻犧牲了在2020年9月電池日上曾調(diào)侃過的價(jià)值2.5萬(wàn)美元的入門車型。蘭伯特認(rèn)為該車型能夠進(jìn)一步推動(dòng)業(yè)務(wù)增長(zhǎng),。(馬斯克如今似乎將大部分精力放在了無(wú)人駕駛出租車Robotaxi上,,而此前路透社在周五報(bào)道稱,他已經(jīng)暫停了入門車型的開發(fā)工作,。)
4月5日,,馬斯克在X平臺(tái)上發(fā)文稱,,特斯拉機(jī)器人出租車Robotaxi將于8月8日面世,。
從蘭伯特的案例可以看出,,業(yè)界對(duì)于馬斯克看法的分歧正在擴(kuò)大,。
盡管大多數(shù)人并不在乎馬斯克如何分配自己的時(shí)間,,因?yàn)樗麄兪紫戎С值氖沁@個(gè)人,然后才是這家公司,,但呼聲日漸高漲的少數(shù)人希望馬斯克能夠完全投入到特斯拉最初的使命當(dāng)中,也就是實(shí)現(xiàn)交通的脫碳,。他們擔(dān)心這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃已被遺忘,,因?yàn)檫@位首席執(zhí)行官在X上發(fā)表自己看法之余,將重心轉(zhuǎn)移到了機(jī)器人和人工智能領(lǐng)域,。
馬斯克忘記背棄的諾言,轉(zhuǎn)投機(jī)器人和人工智能
在YouTube賬號(hào)“特斯拉經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家”賬戶里,,新西蘭用戶李(Lee)發(fā)布了900多條針對(duì)特斯拉的視頻,。
他告訴《財(cái)富》雜志,經(jīng)歷了無(wú)休止等待Semi卡車,、電動(dòng)敞篷跑車Roadster和入門款,馬斯克背棄一個(gè)又一個(gè)承諾后,,他對(duì)馬斯克的批評(píng)越發(fā)尖銳。
當(dāng)中最令人失望的,,或許是特斯拉大力宣揚(yáng)的新一代4680電池進(jìn)展極為緩慢,,創(chuàng)新的干式電極涂層也未能達(dá)到規(guī)模,,原本該技術(shù)可以顛覆資本支出和制造成本,。
“從那以后,公司一直在走下坡路,,”他說,。
然而,馬斯克主進(jìn)度計(jì)劃的第二部分尚未完成,,又下斷言稱特斯拉的未來(lái)在于機(jī)器人技術(shù),。
與此同時(shí),核心汽車業(yè)務(wù)進(jìn)展不順,,去年靠一系列降價(jià)才實(shí)現(xiàn)180萬(wàn)輛的銷量目標(biāo),。
“我相信他早預(yù)料到了,所以才會(huì)提前拋售股票,,”李說,。
他還批評(píng)馬斯克明知道自己發(fā)推文就能操縱價(jià)格,還在粉絲中推廣“狗狗幣”等模因加密貨幣,。
馬斯克推廣“柴犬”主題加密貨幣也是類似情況,,他懷疑馬斯克諸多失信之舉都是為實(shí)現(xiàn)巨額薪酬計(jì)劃(現(xiàn)已作廢)而拉高股價(jià)。
現(xiàn)在,,希望主要寄托于高級(jí)駕駛輔助系統(tǒng)“完全自動(dòng)駕駛”(FSD)軟件收入突然激增。
“公司的命運(yùn)似乎取決于FSD,,”這位專門制作特斯拉相關(guān)內(nèi)容的博主表示,“至于實(shí)現(xiàn)的可能性和具體價(jià)值,,就見仁見智了?!?/p>
本月,F(xiàn)SD去除了“測(cè)試版”字樣,,替換成“有監(jiān)督”,,很多人認(rèn)為此舉意味著軟件測(cè)試和驗(yàn)證已經(jīng)結(jié)束,如此一來(lái)就可以確認(rèn)9.26億美元遞延收入中很大一部分,,從而挽救充滿挑戰(zhàn)的一季度利潤(rùn),。
特斯拉穩(wěn)重的財(cái)務(wù)總監(jiān)離職讓人感覺沉重
長(zhǎng)期以來(lái),資產(chǎn)管理公司Gerber Kawasaki聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人羅斯·格伯一直大力支持特斯拉,。
然而,,跟很多公司的初心粉絲一樣,他對(duì)借債收購(gòu)?fù)铺乇硎九u(píng),,認(rèn)為該筆收購(gòu)占用了馬斯克大量時(shí)間,。
兩年前,格伯曾自薦擔(dān)任特斯拉董事會(huì)候選人,。
一季度銷售不佳,說明馬斯克轉(zhuǎn)移了注意力,,更關(guān)注為收購(gòu)?fù)铺乇成系?30億美元債務(wù),之后格伯呼吁大規(guī)模改組董事會(huì)并任命新獨(dú)立董事,。
4月2日,格伯在社交平臺(tái)表示,,“一年多來(lái),我一直在警告潛在的可能性?,F(xiàn)在已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)。是時(shí)候讓股東評(píng)判應(yīng)負(fù)的責(zé)任了,。按照法律規(guī)定,,特斯拉董事會(huì)應(yīng)立即改為獨(dú)立董事,。”
他直言不諱的回報(bào)是馬斯克死忠粉的連番辱罵,。
本周,,馬斯克也罵資產(chǎn)管理人格伯“太白癡,傻到不知道自己是白癡”,。
馬斯克向來(lái)喜怒無(wú)常和反復(fù)無(wú)常,要靠服用精神藥物氯胺酮控制,,然而只要性格沉穩(wěn)的財(cái)務(wù)總監(jiān)扎克·柯克霍恩在他身邊,,問題就不大。
去年5月,,《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》(Wall Street Journal)甚至稱扎克為“維持特斯拉經(jīng)營(yíng)的高管”,,暗示柯克霍恩在接替馬斯克的候選人中優(yōu)勢(shì)明顯,。
三個(gè)月后,,他突然離開了公司,,而且沒宣布任何理由。現(xiàn)在如果馬斯克出狀況,,董事會(huì)里沒有合適的接任者,。
“扎克是非常優(yōu)秀的高管,也是很有希望的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,。馬斯克卻放棄了他,”格伯告訴《財(cái)富》雜志,,“所以除了馬斯克,沒人能經(jīng)營(yíng)特斯拉——沒人夠優(yōu)秀,?!?/p>
呼吁日益分裂的粉絲團(tuán)結(jié)一致
《財(cái)富》雜志采訪了三位特斯拉資深人士,他們都因曾警告特斯拉有可能在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈的電動(dòng)車領(lǐng)域落后中國(guó)比亞迪等公司受到冷落,。
現(xiàn)在,小米新車也構(gòu)成了新的威脅,,這家頗受歡迎的手機(jī)制造商推出了運(yùn)動(dòng)型電動(dòng)車,,外觀跟保時(shí)捷Taycan電車幾乎一模一樣,價(jià)格比特斯拉Model 3還低數(shù)千美元,。
目前,各派粉絲很難統(tǒng)一起來(lái)確定公司未來(lái)發(fā)展方向:應(yīng)該堅(jiān)持從毀滅地球的化石燃料魔爪中拯救世界,,還是為男性、女性和孩子們?cè)鞕C(jī)器人,?
奧馬爾·卡齊是Third Row Tesla播客創(chuàng)始人之一,,也是能接觸到馬斯克本人的非官方品牌大使,本周他號(hào)召社區(qū)所有粉絲團(tuán)結(jié)起來(lái)支持特斯拉首席執(zhí)行官,。
“埃隆·馬斯克是特斯拉最重要的資產(chǎn),”他在論壇上告訴舒爾茨和其他人,。“股東情緒很大,,提出應(yīng)該把馬斯克趕走,應(yīng)該炒掉他,,我們有可能保不住馬斯克,?!?/p>
很多人早就聽膩了六年前Model 3量產(chǎn)期間馬斯克睡在工廠里的老故事,如果聽說馬斯克像過去一樣管理公司,,而不是浪費(fèi)寶貴的時(shí)間在X上討論引發(fā)分歧的政治問題,,人們會(huì)更滿意。
“這是判斷某人是特斯拉粉還是馬斯克粉的試金石,,他們認(rèn)不認(rèn)為特斯拉值得首席執(zhí)行官全職投入?”蘭伯特說,。“但如果馬斯克沒法擺脫有問題的反饋循環(huán),,我覺得以后他正面影響超過負(fù)面影響的機(jī)會(huì)不大?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
越來(lái)越多的特斯拉投資者對(duì)埃隆·馬斯克創(chuàng)歷史新高的薪資感到不滿,原因在于馬斯克一直在做“兼職”首席執(zhí)行官,。
股東們將于今年的股東大會(huì)上對(duì)馬斯克新的薪酬方案進(jìn)行投票,,此前,,特拉華州法院已經(jīng)否決了2018年已經(jīng)通過的向其支付560億美元薪酬方案,。這是有史以來(lái)最高的薪酬金額,,比特斯拉自2020年首次發(fā)布凈利潤(rùn)以來(lái)的收入總和都要高。
之所以出現(xiàn)這個(gè)令人咋舌的數(shù)字,,部分原因在于,,如果馬斯克拿不到這么高的薪資,那么特斯拉就得主動(dòng)與SpaceX以及馬斯克旗下的其他一些公司競(jìng)爭(zhēng)其時(shí)間,。
不過,,最近,這位首席執(zhí)行官似乎更熱衷于反對(duì)非法移民和多元化招聘,,而不是拯救特斯拉的核心業(yè)務(wù),。
在今年的前3個(gè)月,季度車輛銷售出現(xiàn)了疫情以來(lái)的首次下滑,,令人吃驚的是,,美國(guó)市場(chǎng)需求呈現(xiàn)出了疲態(tài)。
本周發(fā)布的一篇研究稱,,部分問題源自于其線上人設(shè),。《巴倫周刊》發(fā)現(xiàn),,在銷量數(shù)據(jù)公布后,,馬斯克撰寫特斯拉的推文數(shù)量還不及迪士尼(Disney)。
亨寧·舒爾茨抱怨說:“重要的一點(diǎn)在于,,我們得讓這個(gè)薪酬計(jì)劃運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)起來(lái),,只有這樣才能讓馬斯克專注于特斯拉?!辈贿^如今,,他的投資“明顯”縮水,。
在本周第一季度災(zāi)難性的銷量發(fā)布之后舉行的太空論壇上,這位IT專業(yè)人士對(duì)其他特斯拉投資者說:“我依然對(duì)馬斯克充滿信心,。不過,,他得專注于特斯拉,而不是抱怨或批評(píng)邊境問題,?!?/p>
《財(cái)富》雜志聯(lián)系了多位特斯拉的老員工,詢問他們是否擔(dān)心公司的走向,。
反饋渠道出問題了
很多特斯拉老員工并不信任主流媒體,,認(rèn)為報(bào)道始終都有失公允,,而且將原因歸咎于汽車競(jìng)品對(duì)手利用其廣告經(jīng)費(fèi)購(gòu)買負(fù)面報(bào)道,。
那些提供反饋的人士似乎已經(jīng)對(duì)此不抱幻想,。
盡管有人批評(píng)馬斯克在政治上的分歧,,但其意見主要集中在馬斯克并沒有盡到其作為特斯拉首席執(zhí)行官的職責(zé),,而且他們感覺幾乎沒有人愿意站出來(lái)大聲疾呼這件事情。
曾幾何時(shí),推特(Twitter,,現(xiàn)為X平臺(tái))可以作為一個(gè)有效的反饋機(jī)制,,用于迅速向馬斯克反饋外界的各種看法。然而,,有人認(rèn)為這位特斯拉首席執(zhí)行官被自己在平臺(tái)上的熱度沖昏了頭腦。
電動(dòng)汽車駕駛網(wǎng)站Electrek主編弗雷德·蘭伯特表示:“反饋通道徹底癱瘓了,。如今,馬斯克沉浸于其超級(jí)粉絲的贊頌之中,,同時(shí)把所有正當(dāng)?shù)呐u(píng)聲音當(dāng)作攻擊,?!备ダ椎麓饲霸?wù)撨^過度崇拜馬斯克這一錯(cuò)誤行為。
在與《財(cái)富》雜志交談時(shí),,蘭伯特稱,,他剛進(jìn)入這一行業(yè)的時(shí)候,,自己曾自愿擔(dān)任社交新聞網(wǎng)站 Reddit 特斯拉子版塊的版主,。
在近十年的時(shí)間中,,他一直在負(fù)責(zé)公司的新聞報(bào)道工作。這個(gè)刊物是當(dāng)時(shí)首批科技類在線刊物之一,,由9to5Mac創(chuàng)始人賽斯·溫特勞布創(chuàng)辦。
最近,,蘭伯特開始遠(yuǎn)離馬斯克,因?yàn)樵獾焦_的郵件顯示,,馬斯克一直贊成OpenAI成為一家盈利公司,,而且是一家受他控制,,并非微軟控制的公司。
蘭伯特在當(dāng)時(shí)寫道:“他始終都持有這種想法,。這并非是那位從前被我視作英雄的人,。”
在與《財(cái)富》雜志交談時(shí),,蘭伯特認(rèn)為這位首席執(zhí)行官犯了一個(gè)戰(zhàn)略錯(cuò)誤,,即將精力放在昂貴的不銹鋼賽博卡車上,卻犧牲了在2020年9月電池日上曾調(diào)侃過的價(jià)值2.5萬(wàn)美元的入門車型,。蘭伯特認(rèn)為該車型能夠進(jìn)一步推動(dòng)業(yè)務(wù)增長(zhǎng),。(馬斯克如今似乎將大部分精力放在了無(wú)人駕駛出租車Robotaxi上,而此前路透社在周五報(bào)道稱,,他已經(jīng)暫停了入門車型的開發(fā)工作,。)
4月5日,馬斯克在X平臺(tái)上發(fā)文稱,,特斯拉機(jī)器人出租車Robotaxi將于8月8日面世,。
從蘭伯特的案例可以看出,業(yè)界對(duì)于馬斯克看法的分歧正在擴(kuò)大,。
盡管大多數(shù)人并不在乎馬斯克如何分配自己的時(shí)間,,因?yàn)樗麄兪紫戎С值氖沁@個(gè)人,然后才是這家公司,,但呼聲日漸高漲的少數(shù)人希望馬斯克能夠完全投入到特斯拉最初的使命當(dāng)中,也就是實(shí)現(xiàn)交通的脫碳,。他們擔(dān)心這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃已被遺忘,,因?yàn)檫@位首席執(zhí)行官在X上發(fā)表自己看法之余,,將重心轉(zhuǎn)移到了機(jī)器人和人工智能領(lǐng)域,。
馬斯克忘記背棄的諾言,轉(zhuǎn)投機(jī)器人和人工智能
在YouTube賬號(hào)“特斯拉經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家”賬戶里,,新西蘭用戶李(Lee)發(fā)布了900多條針對(duì)特斯拉的視頻,。
他告訴《財(cái)富》雜志,經(jīng)歷了無(wú)休止等待Semi卡車,、電動(dòng)敞篷跑車Roadster和入門款,馬斯克背棄一個(gè)又一個(gè)承諾后,,他對(duì)馬斯克的批評(píng)越發(fā)尖銳,。
當(dāng)中最令人失望的,或許是特斯拉大力宣揚(yáng)的新一代4680電池進(jìn)展極為緩慢,,創(chuàng)新的干式電極涂層也未能達(dá)到規(guī)模,,原本該技術(shù)可以顛覆資本支出和制造成本,。
“從那以后,公司一直在走下坡路,,”他說,。
然而,馬斯克主進(jìn)度計(jì)劃的第二部分尚未完成,,又下斷言稱特斯拉的未來(lái)在于機(jī)器人技術(shù),。
與此同時(shí),核心汽車業(yè)務(wù)進(jìn)展不順,,去年靠一系列降價(jià)才實(shí)現(xiàn)180萬(wàn)輛的銷量目標(biāo),。
“我相信他早預(yù)料到了,所以才會(huì)提前拋售股票,,”李說,。
他還批評(píng)馬斯克明知道自己發(fā)推文就能操縱價(jià)格,還在粉絲中推廣“狗狗幣”等模因加密貨幣,。
馬斯克推廣“柴犬”主題加密貨幣也是類似情況,,他懷疑馬斯克諸多失信之舉都是為實(shí)現(xiàn)巨額薪酬計(jì)劃(現(xiàn)已作廢)而拉高股價(jià)。
現(xiàn)在,,希望主要寄托于高級(jí)駕駛輔助系統(tǒng)“完全自動(dòng)駕駛”(FSD)軟件收入突然激增,。
“公司的命運(yùn)似乎取決于FSD,”這位專門制作特斯拉相關(guān)內(nèi)容的博主表示,,“至于實(shí)現(xiàn)的可能性和具體價(jià)值,,就見仁見智了?!?/p>
本月,,F(xiàn)SD去除了“測(cè)試版”字樣,替換成“有監(jiān)督”,,很多人認(rèn)為此舉意味著軟件測(cè)試和驗(yàn)證已經(jīng)結(jié)束,,如此一來(lái)就可以確認(rèn)9.26億美元遞延收入中很大一部分,從而挽救充滿挑戰(zhàn)的一季度利潤(rùn),。
特斯拉穩(wěn)重的財(cái)務(wù)總監(jiān)離職讓人感覺沉重
長(zhǎng)期以來(lái),,資產(chǎn)管理公司Gerber Kawasaki聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人羅斯·格伯一直大力支持特斯拉。
然而,,跟很多公司的初心粉絲一樣,,他對(duì)借債收購(gòu)?fù)铺乇硎九u(píng),認(rèn)為該筆收購(gòu)占用了馬斯克大量時(shí)間,。
兩年前,,格伯曾自薦擔(dān)任特斯拉董事會(huì)候選人。
一季度銷售不佳,,說明馬斯克轉(zhuǎn)移了注意力,,更關(guān)注為收購(gòu)?fù)铺乇成系?30億美元債務(wù),,之后格伯呼吁大規(guī)模改組董事會(huì)并任命新獨(dú)立董事。
4月2日,,格伯在社交平臺(tái)表示,,“一年多來(lái),我一直在警告潛在的可能性?,F(xiàn)在已經(jīng)出現(xiàn),。是時(shí)候讓股東評(píng)判應(yīng)負(fù)的責(zé)任了。按照法律規(guī)定,,特斯拉董事會(huì)應(yīng)立即改為獨(dú)立董事,。”
他直言不諱的回報(bào)是馬斯克死忠粉的連番辱罵,。
本周,,馬斯克也罵資產(chǎn)管理人格伯“太白癡,傻到不知道自己是白癡”,。
馬斯克向來(lái)喜怒無(wú)常和反復(fù)無(wú)常,,要靠服用精神藥物氯胺酮控制,然而只要性格沉穩(wěn)的財(cái)務(wù)總監(jiān)扎克·柯克霍恩在他身邊,,問題就不大,。
去年5月,《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》(Wall Street Journal)甚至稱扎克為“維持特斯拉經(jīng)營(yíng)的高管”,,暗示柯克霍恩在接替馬斯克的候選人中優(yōu)勢(shì)明顯,。
三個(gè)月后,他突然離開了公司,,而且沒宣布任何理由?,F(xiàn)在如果馬斯克出狀況,董事會(huì)里沒有合適的接任者,。
“扎克是非常優(yōu)秀的高管,,也是很有希望的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。馬斯克卻放棄了他,,”格伯告訴《財(cái)富》雜志,,“所以除了馬斯克,沒人能經(jīng)營(yíng)特斯拉——沒人夠優(yōu)秀,?!?/p>
呼吁日益分裂的粉絲團(tuán)結(jié)一致
《財(cái)富》雜志采訪了三位特斯拉資深人士,他們都因曾警告特斯拉有可能在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈的電動(dòng)車領(lǐng)域落后中國(guó)比亞迪等公司受到冷落,。
現(xiàn)在,,小米新車也構(gòu)成了新的威脅,這家頗受歡迎的手機(jī)制造商推出了運(yùn)動(dòng)型電動(dòng)車,外觀跟保時(shí)捷Taycan電車幾乎一模一樣,,價(jià)格比特斯拉Model 3還低數(shù)千美元。
目前,,各派粉絲很難統(tǒng)一起來(lái)確定公司未來(lái)發(fā)展方向:應(yīng)該堅(jiān)持從毀滅地球的化石燃料魔爪中拯救世界,,還是為男性、女性和孩子們?cè)鞕C(jī)器人,?
奧馬爾·卡齊是Third Row Tesla播客創(chuàng)始人之一,,也是能接觸到馬斯克本人的非官方品牌大使,本周他號(hào)召社區(qū)所有粉絲團(tuán)結(jié)起來(lái)支持特斯拉首席執(zhí)行官,。
“埃隆·馬斯克是特斯拉最重要的資產(chǎn),,”他在論壇上告訴舒爾茨和其他人?!肮蓶|情緒很大,,提出應(yīng)該把馬斯克趕走,應(yīng)該炒掉他,,我們有可能保不住馬斯克,。”
很多人早就聽膩了六年前Model 3量產(chǎn)期間馬斯克睡在工廠里的老故事,,如果聽說馬斯克像過去一樣管理公司,,而不是浪費(fèi)寶貴的時(shí)間在X上討論引發(fā)分歧的政治問題,人們會(huì)更滿意,。
“這是判斷某人是特斯拉粉還是馬斯克粉的試金石,,他們認(rèn)不認(rèn)為特斯拉值得首席執(zhí)行官全職投入?”蘭伯特說,?!暗绻R斯克沒法擺脫有問題的反饋循環(huán),我覺得以后他正面影響超過負(fù)面影響的機(jī)會(huì)不大,?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
A growing number of frustrated Tesla investors are souring on the idea of another record payday for Elon Musk if he continues to operate as a “part-time” CEO.
Shareholders are expected to vote on a new compensation deal at this year’s annual meeting after a Delaware court voided a 2018 approval worth $56 billion, the biggest ever on record and more than the company has earned in its history since Tesla first reported a net profit in 2020.
The eye-popping number, in part, resulted from concerns that without giving Musk a big payday Tesla would have to actively compete with SpaceX and a bevy of his other companies for his limited time.
Lately, however, their CEO appears more interested in advocating against illegal immigration and diversity hiring than in fixing Tesla’s core business.
In the first three months of the year, quarterly car sales fell for the first time since the pandemic, with the big surprise coming from weak demand in the U.S. market.
A study out this week claims his online persona is partly to blame, while Barron’s found he tweeted more about Disney than Tesla since the numbers came out.
“It’s very important to get that comp plan up and running because that is what keeps him focused,” complained Henning Schulze, now “significantly” underwater on his investment after three years.
“Still believing in Elon, don’t get me wrong,” the IT professional told other Tesla investors in a Spaces forum held immediately after this week’s disastrous Q1 volumes, but “he needs to focus and not be complaining or ranting about borders.”
Fortune contacted several Tesla veterans about whether they were also worried about the company’s trajectory.
Broken feedback loop
Many Tesla veterans distrust mainstream media, believing coverage has been consistently unfair, and suspect much is due to rival automakers buying negative headlines with their advertising dollars.
Those who do respond tend to already be disillusioned.
And while some have been critical of his brand of divisive politics, their complaints focused on Musk’s lackluster enthusiasm as Tesla CEO, which they feel too few are willing to call out.
Twitter once served as a useful mechanism to provide quick feedback to Musk from the community, but now some believe the Tesla CEO has let his popularity on the platform go to his head.
“The feedback loop is completely broken and now Elon is basking in the praise of his super fans while branding all legitimate criticism as attacks,” says Fred Lambert, who has previously spoken about mistakenly putting Musk on a pedestal.
Speaking to Fortune, the editor-in-chief for EV motoring website Electrek says his involvement in the community goes back to the days when he volunteered as a Tesla subreddit moderator.
For nearly a decade he has run coverage for one of the very first online publications devoted to the technology, founded by 9to5Mac creator Seth Weintraub.
Recently, Lambert distanced himself from Musk after emails surfaced showing the tycoon had always favored OpenAI becoming a for-profit company—just one under his control and not Microsoft’s.
“He was always in it for himself,” Lambert wrote at the time, adding “This is not the man I used to consider my hero.”
Speaking to Fortune, Lambert believes the CEO made a strategic mistake by focusing on the expensive stainless steel Cybertruck at the expense of a $25,000 entry model teased at its September 2020 Battery Day, which he believes would have driven further growth. (Musk appears to now be prioritizing a robotaxi following a Reuters report on Friday that he’s put development of the entry model on ice)
Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8
Lambert is indicative of a growing schism in the community.
While most don’t care how Musk splits his time since they support the man first—and the company second—an increasingly vocal minority want to see Musk commit himself fully to Tesla’s original mission to decarbonize transport, fearing that this plan has been forgotten as the CEO pivots to robotics and AI—when he isn’t posting his thoughts on X.
Musk moves on to robots and AI, forgetting his broken promises
YouTuber Lee of New Zealand has published over 900 videos devoted to the company under the Tesla Economist account.
He tells Fortune he became increasingly critical after Musk broke one promise after the other, whether it is the never-ending wait for the Semi, the Roadster or the entry model.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment, however, has been the painfully slow progress made with Tesla’s vaunted next-generation 4680 cells and its related failure to reach scale with its innovative dry battery electrode coating, a game changer in terms of capital expenditure and manufacturing cost.
“The company itself has been going downhill ever since,” he says.
Musk still hasn’t delivered on the second part of his Master Plan, and yet he is already predicting Tesla’s future lies in robotics.
Meanwhile, the core car business has faltered and needed a series of price cuts just to hit its volume target of 1.8 million vehicles last year.
“I believe he saw this coming and dumped his stock early as a result” Lee says.
He also criticizes him for popularizing meme cryptocurrency like Dogecoin among his followers, knowing he can manipulate the price with a single tweet.
Much like his promotion of the Shiba Inu-themed digital token, he suspects a lot of Musk’s broken promises were little more than an attempt to pump the stock to meet the milestone targets of his mammoth (and now void) pay package.
Now hope mainly rests on a sudden surge in software revenue from its advanced driver-assist system called supervised Full Self-Driving.
“It would appear the fate of the company is down to FSD,” said the Tesla content creator, “and it’s up to you how likely you think that will occur and how much it would be worth”
This month’s move to drop the “beta” qualifier in front of FSD in favor of “supervised” is seen by many as an attempt to claim testing and validation of the software is over so that it can recognize a chunk of the $926 million in deferred revenue to rescue what will surely be an otherwise challenging Q1 for profits.
The loss of Tesla’s unflappable finance chief weighs heavy
Ross Gerber, a co-founder of asset manager Gerber Kawasaki, has long been a vociferous supporter of Tesla.
Yet like many fans of the company’s original mission, he is critical of the debt-funded Twitter acquisition that has sucked up so much of Musk’s time.
Gerber put himself forward two years ago as a candidate for Tesla’s board of directors.
After poor Q1 sales—suggesting Musk’s took his eye off the ball to focus on servicing the $13 billion in debt he shouldered to buy Twitter—Gerber called for a wholesale boardroom reshuffle with new independent directors.
For over a year I’ve been warning about this potential reality. Now it’s here. It’s time for shareholders to assess the blame where due. The tesla BOD should be replaced immediately with independent directors as required by law. $tsla
His reward for stepping out of line is a stream of abuse from Elon superfans.
Musk himself called the money manager this week “such an idiot that he can’t even tell he’s an idiot”.
The tycoon’s moodiness and volatility, for which he is on a ketamine prescription, were less of an issue so long as Tesla’s unflappable finance chief, Zach Kirkhorn, was at his side.
Last May, The Wall Street Journal even dubbed him “the executive who keeps Tesla rolling”, suggesting Kirkhorn led the field of potential candidates to replace Musk.
Three months later he was suddenly out at the company—no reasons given. Now the board has no clear successor should something happen to Musk.
“Zach was a great executive and potential leader. Elon eliminated him,” Gerber tells Fortune, “so there is no one to run Tesla other than Elon—no one good enough.”
Call for unity in the increasingly divided fan base
All three Tesla veterans Fortune spoke to have lost a good chunk of their standing in the Tesla community for warning the EV maker risks falling behind a competitive field led by China’s BYD.
A new threat in the form of Xiaomi has now also emerged, with the popular handset maker undercutting the Model 3 by thousands of dollars with a sporty electric car that looks suspiciously like the Porsche Taycan EV.
For now, the various factions are struggling to unite around a common direction for the company: should it stick to freeing the world from the clutches of the fossil fuel industry that’s destroying the planet—or build a robot for every man, woman and child?
Omar Qazi, one of the original figures behind the Third Row Tesla podcast and an unofficial brand ambassador with access to Musk himself, urged everyone in the community this week to unite behind their CEO.
“Elon Musk is the most important asset Tesla has,” he told Schulze and others in the forum. “And we’re in danger of losing him, in part because a lot of the sentiment of shareholders who say we should just kick the guy out, we should just fire him.”
Many are tired of hearing old war stories of how Musk would sleep in the factory during the Model 3 ramp six years ago, and would be more content if they knew he showed up every day to run the company like he used to rather than spend his limited time engaging in divisive political issues on X.
“That’s my litmus test to determine whether someone is a fan of Tesla or Elon—do they believe deserves a full-time CEO?” Lambert says. “But if he cannot snap out of this broken feedback loop, I just cannot see him having a more positive than negative impact going forward.”