Oh dear. Tesla quietly looking for a new CEO…

[pdq]

…says the Wall Street Journal.

Elmo freaked out, in very Trumpian fashion:

"It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the [WSJ] would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors," he raged online.

Touched a nerve, it seems.

But considering the extremely biased nature of Tesla's board, which critics have accused of being lined with Musk's "sycophants," it's hard to get an exact read on what kind of discussions actually took place.

…Regardless of the legitimacy of the WSJ's sources — and we should point out that the paper's business reporting is some of the most reliable in the world, so we're doubtful at the claim that the story is completely false — Musk and the board's extremely heated reaction to the reporting does paint a picture of a company in chaos.

The ironic thing is if they replaced this now-anchor-around-the-neck of Tesla, the stock would likely soar. As it is, it’s been languishing around 40% off its peak.

[pdq]

In other business news,

McDonald’s just had its worst quarter since Covid. It said customers are getting nervous

You have to be pretty nervous to stop eating at Mickey D’s. Personally, while McDonald’s is my favorite FF burger, I’ve only been back once since they had that staged photo op with Trump and a fry basket last year. (Yeah, I know they can’t control their franchisees, but it pissed me off.)

Treasury Secretary Bessent says they have China on the ropes, and they’ll come crawling back any day now. Of note, the Chinese reported GDP growth of 5.4% in the first quarter, just a couple weeks ago, beating expectations (ours, of course, was -0.3%).

So who is more believable? The Chinese, or the Trump admin? :dunno:

Guess we’ll have to watch and see.

[pdq]

One more, from the Duh! file:

Recession Indicator: Bookings for the German Tour Bus in Los Angeles Are Down 30%

Heh. Yeeeaaahhhh, I would guess the international tourism business may be a little… thin in the States for awhile.

I’m surprised it’s only down 30%.

[Carnos Jax]

It doesn’t bode well for Tesla or SpaceX as long as Musk is at the helm. Musk is getting bored and tired of the two (at least for sure of Tesla). He f’cked around and found out. Ever since he turned to the dark side with Twitter back in 2022, all the successful management team that brought Tesla thus far has left. So now the burden is even more on him, but of course he’s an absentee leader.

This is all his own doing. Unless Tesla solves robotaxi, they are doomed (and even then they’ll only be a fraction of what could’ve been). I am at least glad I made my money and got out. I feel really bad for friends here on the forum and family that are still invested in it. Hopefully it’s only a small percentage of their portfolios.

[Carnos Jax]

And the last time the WSJ published an article that Musk claimed was a lie….turned out it was Musk lying.

[Numo]

Gee, I wonder where Musk learned to type in all caps.

[GGD]

My rule of thumb has always been: "Don't believe any rumor until it's been officially denied". It's always been pretty accurate.

[$tevie]

My understanding is that this all happened back in March and that it is why Musk announced he will be vastly reducing his DOGE activities. Musk is just pissed off that the board of Tesla wasn't kissing his pale Southern African ass.

[Lemon Drop]

Surrender Elmo. You jumped the shark.

[hal]

someone here posted a thought that this will end with Musk fleeing the country with emeralds sewn into his underwear - I cling to this idea - I want it SO BAD!