Tesla Boss Elon Musk Facing 2 Lawsuits

Is it just me, or does it seem like Elon Musk has been stirring things up lately in the news (and not with good news)? I've grown to dislike this guy more and more as time goes on.

Perusing BBC news this morning, I found this article discussing 2 lawsuits that Elon's company is currently facing (I know Tesla has a number of them going on currently). I hadn't heard of these two cases.

Exhibit A:

In one case, a former employee that Tesla accused of sabotage has hit back with his own lawsuit accusing it of "dangerous and wasteful" behaviour.

Some more detail about this ongoing case:

In June, the carmaker filed a lawsuit accusing Martin Tripp, a former technician at Tesla's Nevada factory, of hacking into its systems and passing confidential information to third parties. Now Mr Tripp is suing for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

He is seeking at least $1m. Mr Tripp maintains he was a whistleblower who leaked information to the Business Insider website because of environmental and safety issues.

The counter-claim, like the original lawsuit, was filed in the federal court in Nevada. In it, Mr Tripp says he acted because of Tesla's "high levels of waste and scrap", as well as what he called "unnerving, dangerous and wasteful business practices".

Exhibit B:

In the other, ex-employees of its SolarCity subsidiary say they were wrongfully dismissed after uncovering evidence of fake sales records.

This one sounds juicy!

...three former SolarCity workers say they were fired after their own attempt to blow the whistle on wrongdoing.

In a lawsuit filed in the San Diego Superior Court, they say they discovered fake sales accounts that were used to inflate the company's valuation and justify bonuses for certain employees. They say they told Mr Musk and other managers of their concerns, but were then dismissed in May 2017.

Tesla said it had fully investigated the issues and the facts did not support the allegations.

Some of you also probably remember the very recent incident where Musk got into it with one of the divers who helped rescue the boys' soccer team in Thailand, calling him a "pedo" because the diver stated he didn't think Elon's idea to save them with a submarine was feasible (link).

He is hot-headed, and really doesn't like when anyone challenges him or his ideas.

Back in May, Musk made headlines for some comments he made during Tesla's earnings call (Highlights from Elon Musk's Earnings Call).

Link to original article OP is based on ~ Link (BBC)

Do we have any Elon fans here (it's okay, I'd love to hear your thoughts!)?

Looking forward to hearing from my ATS crowd about this dude and his company's practices.

Tesla a great concept but failed when put into practice like a lot of things in silicone valley. I lost all respect for Musk when he called that thai cave diver a "pedo" because the diver poked fun at the impractical sub Elon built as a PR stunt.

I know this won't hurt him in the wallet but it has the potential to seriously damage his credibility which runs deep in the tech industry. Just my guess though. I don't like him in the slightest bit, a egotistical con-man selling overpriced junk and slaps "innovation" on it to make it worth spending 5x than everything else.

In my belief, his arrogance and show-boating will be his downfall.

I think some of the things Musk is doing purposely in order to devalue company stocks so he can buy them back cheaply.

originally posted by: Grimpachi
I think some of the things Musk is doing purposely in order to devalue company stocks so he can buy them back cheaply.

Wouldn't that be an unconventional "chess-like" move.... interesting thought. But I am of the belief that he has a short fuse and his ego has outgrown him and his reputation

a reply to: FamCore

As long as SpaceX is up and running he can weather anything coming from the car company. He has made several comments in the past that point to him not liking investors there. So I do think he is making a move to reclaim the company. Just recently he purchased 400 million in shares of Tesla when stocks dipped.

a reply to: FamCore

I'm no fan of musk, I think he's a con man.
But.
When you run a business you will get lawsuits all the time. Most are just money grabs that will cost lawyer fees.

a reply to: Grimpachi

I do think he is making a move to reclaim the company.

Did this guy sell too many shares and lose his majority and control?

I would love to see this trickster and con artist get his comeuppance.

Won't happen though thanks to his frankly amazing ability to self promote. At least he can run out of money so he can no longer prop up his pyramid schemes. He will still be a "golden boy" in the eyes of the media.

a reply to: ofleming

Even though he has control he does have people he answers to and I think he hates that.

a reply to: FamCore

Opinions are purposely formed in the media to move the population in a certain direction. Doesn't really matter if it is Hillary in the last election or Trump being pro Russian or/and now Musk.

The media is in control of what we are supposed to think, talk about and act on.

works like a charm (except the 2016 election 'maybe')

I hadn't heard about the claims of fake sales at Solar City. But there have also been claims that the production numbers for Tesla vehicles are inflated.

Some of the whistleblower claims are pretty serious. It has been claimed that Tesla deliberately installed damaged battery cells into vehicles, creating an increased fire risk. Others claims are that Tesla began to skip standard vehicle safely checks in order to get cars out of the gate faster.

a reply to: FamCore

I'm with you--I'm starting to think that the guy is a shady business man and doesn't seem to have the best moral character.

That said, though, I can't deny his intelligence, his genius, and his willingness to be more than just an idea man.

Well, it just may be that Elon is a bit high-strung; today’s after-closing quarterly earnings’ report just may be the crux of his outbursts etc. — those short sellers are laughing all the down (Tesla stock is gonna get hammered) and happy to true up their margin calls!

Link[ editby]edit on 1-8-2018 by BeefNoMeat because: ATS mobile repping