PanamaTimes

Friday, Jul 26, 2024

Senator Warren, Tesla investor turn up heat over Musk's Twitter role

Senator Warren, Tesla investor turn up heat over Musk's Twitter role

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a longtime critic of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) boss Elon Musk, on Monday raised concerns that the automaker's board had failed to address the risks posed by his role as CEO of Twitter.

Musk's $44 billion takeover of the social media platform in October has been marked by chaos and controversy, with even Tesla bulls questioning if he is too distracted to properly run the EV maker, where he is personally involved in production and engineering.
Investors have urged Musk to step down as Twitter CEO and punished Tesla stock, which is down nearly 60% this year and hit a fresh two-year low on Monday.

Warren, a progressive Democrat who has previously clashed with Musk over her calls for billionaires to pay more taxes, said that a company's board was responsible for ensuring that its controlling shareholder did not treat it "as a private plaything."

"The first weeks of Mr. Musk's Twitter ownership have raised questions about possible violations of securities or other laws, including whether Mr. Musk is funneling Tesla resources into Twitter," she said in a letter to Tesla's board chair, Robyn Denholm.

James Murdoch, a Tesla director, testified in court last month that the company's audit committee discussed Musk's deployment of Tesla engineers at Twitter, saying this should not take away from their work at the car maker.

Denholm could not immediately be reached and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Musk did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.



Musk himself has sold $40 billion in Tesla stock this year, further frustrating investors.

Musk himself has mulled leaving the top job at Twitter. On a Twitter poll from Musk on Sunday asking whether he should step down as Twitter CEO, 57.5% of 17.5 million people voted "yes." He had said on Sunday he would abide by the results of the poll. He did not provide details on when he would step down if results said he should.

Musk has said that there is no successor yet.

Some investors and analysts say Musk stepping down as Twitter boss doesn't remove concerns.

Gary Black, a Tesla investor, warned on Monday that things wouldn't improve until Twitter appointed a credible CEO and its finances recovered so that Musk didn't have to keep selling his Tesla shares to fund it.


"DISAPPOINTMENT WITH ELON"


Warren, who has demanded a response from the Tesla board by Jan. 3, said Musk had not explained how he is managing conflicts of interest between his roles at the two companies as Twitter relied on advertising revenue from Tesla's rival automakers.

Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management and a big Tesla bull, said last week that he would run for Tesla board and had notified Tesla.

"I work with maybe a thousand investors ... Seeing the pain everybody is going through, the disappointment with Elon, unhappiness, it was just like the time for somebody to stand up and say what needs to be said," he told Reuters.

Leo KoGuan, a major individual Tesla shareholder, wrote on Twitter earlier that Musk had "abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO."

"The whole situation is just weird, and weird is being kind," said Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management.

"If I was a long term investor I would stay away, you never know what Elon is going to do, he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Mexican Drug Lords El Mayo and El Chapo's Son Arrested in Texas
World's Hottest Day Recorded on July 21
Joe Biden Withdraws from 2024 US Presidential Race
A Week of Turmoil: Key Moments in US Politics
Global IT Outage Sparks Major Concerns
Global IT Outage Unveils Digital Vulnerabilities
Secret Service Criticized for Lack of Sniper Protection During Trump Shooting
Colombian Court Annuls Amazon Tribes’ Carbon Credit Deal
Sunita Williams Safe on ISS, to Address Earth on July 10
Biden Affirms Commitment To Presidential Race
Boeing Pleads Guilty Over 737 MAX Crashes
Beryl Storm Hits Texas, Killing 2 and Causing Major Power Outages
2024 Predicted to Be World's Hottest Year
Macron Faces New Political Challenges Despite Election Relief
Florida Man Arrested Over Attempt to Withdraw One Cent
Anger mounts at Biden’s top team after disastrous debate
Bolivian President Luis Arce Denies 'Self-Coup' Allegations
Steve Bannon Begins 4-Month Prison Sentence
Biden Warns of 'Dangerous Precedent' After Supreme Court Immunity Ruling in Trump Case
Elon Musk Accuses Kamala Harris of Misleading Post on Trump's Abortion Stance
Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over 'Revenge Porn' Allegations
New York Times Editorial Board Urges Biden to Exit Presidential Race
US Supreme Court Overturns Obstruction Charges Against January 6 Rioters
US Voters Prefer Biden's Democracy Approach, Trump's Economy Plan: Report
Attempted Coup in Bolivia: President Urges Public Mobilization
Top-Secret US Underwater Drone 'Manta Ray' Revealed on Google Maps
United States Bans Kaspersky Antivirus
Inside El Salvador’s 40,000 Inmate Mega-Prison
Toyota, Mazda, Honda, and Suzuki have committed fraud; falsified safety test results
El Salvador's Bitcoin Holdings Reach $350 Million
Teens Forming Friendships with AI Chatbots
WhatsApp Rolls Out Major Redesign
Neuralink's First Brain Implant Experiences Issue
Apple Unveils New iPad Pro with M4 Chip, Misleading AI Claims
OpenAI to Announce Google Search Competitor
Apple Apologizes for Controversial iPad Pro Ad Featuring Instrument Destruction
German politician of the AFD party, Marie-Thérèse Kaiser was just convicted & fined $6,000+
Changpeng Zhao Sentenced to Four Months in Jail
Biden Administration to Relax Marijuana Regulations
101-Year-Old Woman Mistaken for a Baby by American Airlines: Comical Mix-Up during Flight Check-in
King Charles and Camilla enjoying the Inuit voice singing performance in Canada.
New Study: Vaping May Lower Fertility in Women Trying to Get Pregnant
U.S. DOJ Seeks Three-Year Sentence for Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao
Headlines - Thursday, 23 April 2024
Illinois Woman Wins $45M Lawsuit Against Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue for Mesothelioma Linked to Baby Powder
Panama's lates news for Friday, April 19
Creative menu of a Pizza restaurant..
You can be a very successful player, but a player with character is another level!
Experience the Future of Dining: My Visit to an AI-Powered Burger Joint
Stabbing rampage terror attack in Sydney, at least four people killed, early reports that a baby was among those stabbed.
×