Tesla obeys the SEC and adds Oracle founder Larry Ellison to its board

[mongeese]

Recap: After his misleading tweets about taking Tesla private with Saudi Arabia, Musk was hit with a $20 million fine and was forcibly replaced by Robyn Denholm as Tesla chairman. Now, the final part of Tesla’s deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission has been completed: adding two new independent members to its board.

The first is Musk’s personal friend and major Tesla shareholder, Larry Ellison. Ellison co-founded enterprise cloud software company Oracle in 1977, which has since grown to give him a net worth of $60 billion after becoming the world’s third largest software provider. The second is former Kellogg’s executive and current Vice President of Walgreens, Kathleen Wilson-Thompson. The two additions bring the board’s number up to eleven; eight men and three women.

Tesla’s board has long been viewed as weak by shareholders, as it’s mostly comprised of personal friends of Elon Musk, such as his brother, or people inexperienced in car manufacturing. Adding more independence to the board was the SEC’s goal, and the general consensus is that it’s mostly been achieved.

"Tesla intends to certify to the Commission that it and Elon have timely completed each of their respective actions required pursuant to the Settlement," Tesla said in a securities filing.

Excited to have Larry Ellison & Kathleen Wilson-Thompson join the Tesla board! pic.twitter.com/CQyvkgsCsT

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2018

However, several shareholders have raised concerns about Ellison’s close friendship with Musk. Charles Elson, director of the corporate governance center at the University of Delaware said to Reuters, “Why would you put a friend [on the board] if the idea of the two independent directors were to be objective. Investors who were hoping for two newly objective directors who could stand up to Mr Musk would be rather disappointed by the choice.”

Jay Dubow, a former SEC enforcement division branch chief, says that despite the friendship, the move will almost certainly be okay to the SEC. “A large stockholder would normally be a good director as he or she would have all stockholders’ interests in mind when making decisions.” He believes that most investors will respond positively.

Tesla shares jumped by 10% in the 24 hours following the news, taking them to over $330. With any luck, Tesla can put its woes behind it and go back to making great cars. If you’re interested in purchasing a new Tesla the time to do it is right now, because the US $7,500 electric car tax credit ends in 48 hours.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/78048-tesla-obeys-sec-adds-oracle-founder-larry-ellison.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Perhaps it is the drive for more, better, greater that also makes the inventive mind defiant to those that choose to rule. There is a natural rebellion towards those to try to control rather than sit back and admire. It has been seen in the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and so many others. The real question would be if their rebellion is based upon simple greed or the desire to be free to express themselves through their creations.

I often wonder just how much of these inventions are entirely of his own creativity like an Edison or are they his management ability to pull together so many elements into one successful achievement like Steve Jobs? Musk shows all these same signs and will certainly never fall into the "assigned path" that others would put upon him. The real question is, can a balance be found to harness his creativeness without stifling it while preventing him from running off the rails into self destruction?

 

[psycros]

Perhaps it is the drive for more, better, greater that also makes the inventive mind defiant to those that choose to rule. There is a natural rebellion towards those to try to control rather than sit back and admire. It has been seen in the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and so many others. The real question would be if their rebellion is based upon simple greed or the desire to be free to express themselves through their creations.

I often wonder just how much of these inventions are entirely of his own creativity like an Edison or are they his management ability to pull together so many elements into one successful achievement like Steve Jobs? Musk shows all these same signs and will certainly never fall into the "assigned path" that others would put upon him. The real question is, can a balance be found to harness his creativeness without stifling it while preventing him from running off the rails into self destruction?

The problems always start when a CEO becomes a "personality" and finds himself thrust into the limelight. The media loves to create heroes and then tear them down. They also love it with life imitates art and they have worked hard to portray Musk as a real life Tony Stark.

 

[xxLCxx]

Ellison and Musk, two of a kind. The most unsympathetic kind...

 

[Lew Zealand]

Perhaps it is the drive for more, better, greater that also makes the inventive mind defiant to those that choose to rule. There is a natural rebellion towards those to try to control rather than sit back and admire. It has been seen in the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and so many others. The real question would be if their rebellion is based upon simple greed or the desire to be free to express themselves through their creations.

I often wonder just how much of these inventions are entirely of his own creativity like an Edison or are they his management ability to pull together so many elements into one successful achievement like Steve Jobs? Musk shows all these same signs and will certainly never fall into the "assigned path" that others would put upon him. The real question is, can a balance be found to harness his creativeness without stifling it while preventing him from running off the rails into self destruction?

I'm under the impression hat Edison is practically a clone of Jobs, reasonably good ideas but an excellent marketer of other people's inventions. Someone who can take a good idea and package and sell it in the free market.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Perhaps it is the drive for more, better, greater that also makes the inventive mind defiant to those that choose to rule. There is a natural rebellion towards those to try to control rather than sit back and admire. It has been seen in the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and so many others. The real question would be if their rebellion is based upon simple greed or the desire to be free to express themselves through their creations.

I often wonder just how much of these inventions are entirely of his own creativity like an Edison or are they his management ability to pull together so many elements into one successful achievement like Steve Jobs? Musk shows all these same signs and will certainly never fall into the "assigned path" that others would put upon him. The real question is, can a balance be found to harness his creativeness without stifling it while preventing him from running off the rails into self destruction?

To add on what the previous poster said, you might want to research Edison a little more thoroughly.... while undeniably a genius, he was quite the self-promoter and was outstripped as an inventor by several of his peers.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

...There is a natural rebellion towards those to try to control rather than sit back and admire. It has been seen in the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and so many others. The real question would be if their rebellion is based upon simple greed or the desire to be free to express themselves through their creations.

I often wonder just how much of these inventions are entirely of his own creativity like an Edison or

You're joking, right? None of those people were critical for inventing anything. All of them were funded by rich bankster families and stole everything they could. Ford even told us this, himself, and anyone who's studied Edison knows him for a thief and a fraud. He didn't even know what electricity was in the first place, just as most people still don't know as a result. Maxwell was the man, he did the real work, not Edison.

As for Musk, do you really have to wonder what he has actually done? Spoiler alert: he hasn't done anything. Not one thing, other than front-man some companies his rich family bought his way into for PR. Just like Jobs, Gates, and Zucky, he's an absolute phoney.

 

[cliffordcooley]

You're joking, right? None of those people were critical for inventing anything. All of them were funded by rich bankster families and stole everything they could.

So the true inventors were the ones funding the projects, not the ones with high IQs.

 

[Darth Shiv]

...There is a natural rebellion towards those to try to control rather than sit back and admire. It has been seen in the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and so many others. The real question would be if their rebellion is based upon simple greed or the desire to be free to express themselves through their creations.

I often wonder just how much of these inventions are entirely of his own creativity like an Edison or

You're joking, right? None of those people were critical for inventing anything. All of them were funded by rich bankster families and stole everything they could. Ford even told us this, himself, and anyone who's studied Edison knows him for a thief and a fraud. He didn't even know what electricity was in the first place, just as most people still don't know as a result. Maxwell was the man, he did the real work, not Edison.

As for Musk, do you really have to wonder what he has actually done? Spoiler alert: he hasn't done anything. Not one thing, other than front-man some companies his rich family bought his way into for PR. Just like Jobs, Gates, and Zucky, he's an absolute phoney.

You're joking right? He has pioneered the Amazon seed funding approach to creating a credible EV manufacturer. That is HUGE.

Zucky is a sociopath. He has done jack I'll agree except give a very compelling case to do things like GDPR. Personally I hope Facebook crumbles under the weight of litigation this year.

Bill Gates got an affordable "OS" into mainstream and made PCs win the home market. The desktop market has belonged to Microsoft ever since and they have been absolutely atrocious for over a decade. Still Linux and MacOSX can't touch them.

You don't think Steve Jobs is revolutionary? He made touch screen devices mainstream. Made them user friendly and he knew how to polish a product line. Something everyone else has been particularly bad at. Knowing how to refine something for mainstream use. He was a walking UX guide.

 

[captaincranky]

So basically Tesla is "obeying the SEC", by hiring Musk's good buddy, and a token clone of Condaleezza Rice.

Or as George "Wubba" Bush might have said in confidence to a very close friend, (D!ck Cheney ?), "why some of my best secretaries of state have been African American"....

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]...Bill Gates got an "affordable" OS into mainstream and made PCs win the home market...[ ]....

I fixed that for ya. The shock quotes needed to go on "affordable" rather than "OS"

Here's why: (Attribution to "IT World Canada")

The Canadian pricing for Windows XP Home Edition upgrade (for users of Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition and Windows 2000 Professional) will be $159 (estimated retail price). Windows XP Home Edition standard price (full packaged product) for users without a Windows Operating system on their PC or Windows 95 will be $319 (estimated retail price). Windows XP Professional upgrade price for users of Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition and Windows 2000 Professional will be $319 (estimated retail price). Windows XP Professional price (full packaged product) for users without a Windows operating system on their PC or Windows 95 will be $499 (estimated retail price).

I realize not many paid the full MSRP, but "affordable", is a stretch.

Community College of Philadelphia used to sell their old computers, but obviously without their school/volume Windows license.. When you realized the OS would cost more than the machine, it took a lot of glimmer of the "bargain".

At the time you really did have to buy various hardware, (not peripherals), to be able to buy an OEM copy

 

[wiyosaya]

Perhaps it is the drive for more, better, greater that also makes the inventive mind defiant to those that choose to rule. There is a natural rebellion towards those to try to control rather than sit back and admire. It has been seen in the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and so many others. The real question would be if their rebellion is based upon simple greed or the desire to be free to express themselves through their creations.

I often wonder just how much of these inventions are entirely of his own creativity like an Edison or are they his management ability to pull together so many elements into one successful achievement like Steve Jobs? Musk shows all these same signs and will certainly never fall into the "assigned path" that others would put upon him. The real question is, can a balance be found to harness his creativeness without stifling it while preventing him from running off the rails into self destruction?

From my eyes, Musk has not done much. He made most of his "fortune" as a transaction processor for other people's payments. Then, he decided that he was going to take his collection of toys and upsize them. Really? you might say?

His cars run on AA batteries just like the R/C cars you can buy from your hobby shop. Literally all he has done in this arena, as I see it, is change the scale of the car so that it will carry real human passengers. There is very little, if any, innovation that he has done in this arena as I see it. Making a bigger R/C car just does not cut my definition of innovation.

Maybe he has innovated in the rocket arena by making the booster stages land, but that is not currently reliable.

In both of these arenas, others are working too. I would be hard pressed to say that anyone working in these arenas has done anything innovative so far.

No one in the EV arena has yet come up with the real game changer - efficient and compact energy storage that exceeds current battery technology. If Musk comes up with that, I'll be the first to say that he has innovated, however, I doubt he will. As far as we know Musk or Tesla are just not investing serious funding in the R&D required to do that. As I see it, it is a shame because he, if anyone, apparently can afford to invest the funds in the R&D to do so.

He disdains the SEC because they, rightfully so, IMO, called him on making statements that mislead potential investors. It is widely known that Musk hates those shorting Tesla stock, and his statements hurt those who were shorting Tesla stock at the time. Whether Musk likes it or not, it is legal to short stock and has been for many years. It is my bet that Musk said what he said to deliberately take a jab at those shorting his stock, however, there is no chance he will own up to that. It is not legal to make misleading statements to investors.

IMO, Musk has a long way to go to be in the league of extraordinary innovators.

 

[Lew Zealand]

His cars run on AA batteries just like the R/C cars you can buy from your hobby shop. Literally all he has done in this arena, as I see it, is change the scale of the car so that it will carry real human passengers. There is very little, if any, innovation that he has done in this arena as I see it. Making a bigger R/C car just does not cut my definition of innovation.

Your scope of innovation is pretty restrictive. Innovation is relative and in the car industry, nobody is selling anything with non-ICE in their cars with nearly the volumes and success as Tesla. That is innovative on it's own. Tesla is not about inventing new technologies, it's about selling a different kind of car. Actually selling it, unlike other pie in the sky dreamers whose ideas may be great but ultimately never go anywhere.

Steve Jobs was the same way. He didn't invent much of anything but he was able to manage ideas, discern what the public wanted, and most importantly sell them new (and newly-packaged) tech that apparently nobody else had the balls to attempt. Sure, after he broke the ice and showed everyone how to sell it, the copycats were able to sell something similar for a lower price. But the actual first person to get the marketing right is as innovative as the person inventing the underlying tech.

 

[wiyosaya]

Your scope of innovation is pretty restrictive. Innovation is relative and in the car industry, nobody is selling anything with non-ICE in their cars with nearly the volumes and success as Tesla. That is innovative on it's own. Tesla is not about inventing new technologies, it's about selling a different kind of car. Actually selling it, unlike other pie in the sky dreamers whose ideas may be great but ultimately never go anywhere.

Steve Jobs was the same way. He didn't invent much of anything but he was able to manage ideas, discern what the public wanted, and most importantly sell them new (and newly-packaged) tech that apparently nobody else had the balls to attempt. Sure, after he broke the ice and showed everyone how to sell it, the copycats were able to sell something similar for a lower price. But the actual first person to get the marketing right is as innovative as the person inventing the underlying tech.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion.

I am sure you know that Jobs pretty much stole every idea he sold. I suggest watching, if you can find it, something that Jobs did when he was actually humble - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2104994/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_6

Not to mention, the world would have survived without Jobs.

I really do not agree that "innovation" is being able to sell stuff to others. If that's the case, there are substantial numbers of people out there that buy because they have been marketed it by expert marketers. Marketing has been known to sell the worst crap to the naive with little difficulty, however, that really does nothing for the advancement of humanity, IMO.

For me, innovation has to include something that truly advances humanity in some form and not just the bank accounts of a company and its owners or stockholders. If you consider marketing innovation, well, I simply do not agree.

Give it time. As I see it, Tesla will be tomorrow's Edsel.

To expand on this a tiny bit, 1/3 of all cars sold in Norway were EVs last year with the Nissan Leaf being the top seller of all those. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ord-almost-a-third-of-all-sales-idUSKCN1OW0YP One country in one year sold an amount of pure EVs that was equivalent to 1/4 the number of Teslas that have been sold so far. Therefore, I have to doubt the assessment that "no one" is selling as many strictly EVs as Tesla. Maybe that is what Musk wants people to believe, however, I am not buying it.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I really do not agree that "innovation" is being able to sell stuff to others.

Give me one example of someone who has innovated without first learning from others to get where they are. From the dawn of man, we have innovated from other people's ideas. You are persecuting Musk for something that every inventor does. Innovation is bringing multiple ideas together to create something new and useful. There is no possible way anyone can innovate without extending their thoughts onto the thoughts of others.

 

[wiyosaya]

Give me one example of someone who has innovated without first learning from others to get where they are. From the dawn of man, we have innovated from other people's ideas. You are persecuting Musk for something that every inventor does. Innovation is bringing multiple ideas together to create something new and useful. There is no possible way anyone can innovate without extending their thoughts onto the thoughts of others.

When credit to the original inventor is given, that is certainly fine. When credit is not given, that is, IMO, unethical. One cannot just go about stealing things then claiming that they were inventions of their own even though it is done all the time. It is fraud. Many did this including people such as George Eastman. Has it really made for progress in humanity?

Sure, Musk has "innovated"; to me, however, his "innovation" is not really innovative. There is little to differentiate his work, especially in Tesla, from others doing similar work. The one thing, AFAIK, that would differentiate anyone in the field from others - finding more efficient and compact energy storage - there is absolutely no indication that he is doing anything at all in that realm.

People think that Jobs was so great. In many ways, at least as I see it, he did many of the same things that Musk is doing. He took existing inventions - cell phone, Pocket PC - and put them together making the smart phone. As I see it, if it was not Jobs, it would have been someone else. It was "innovation" waiting to happen.

From my viewpoint what remains of Jobs legacy is interesting. crApple has some $400+ bn in the bank, yet they think nothing of hiring Chinese companies who pay their workers what amounts to slave labor wages. In the long run, that holds those workers back, IMO. Maybe some of those workers are happy, maybe not. Maybe some of those workers appreciate what they have even though they are on dead-end street, maybe not. At least as I see it, as long as there is this kind of inequity, humanity will be little more than a bunch of co-dependent losers.

And as far as innovation in marketing goes, making people think that they will be more than they are if they have a product in order to prize money out of them is the very definition of co-dependency.

That said, people are doing the best that they can in situations, and I will continue to bash Musk because he seems to think that he should be able to do whatever he wants whenever he wants even if it disenfranchises others, and in some cases, like those shorting Tesla stock, especially if it disenfranchises those shorting Tesla stock.

Historically, there are cases that are very interesting. As far as crApple's practices, this case comes very close https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers_patent_war and we may be seeing the fallout effects of similar practices now catching up to crApple.

I am not against innovation by any means, however, when it comes at the expense of others due at least in part to the practices of the innovator, I think it does nothing to really advance humanity, and in some cases, historically, it has held humanity back, IMO.

As I see it, that won't change until humanity figures out how everyone can work together and bring out the latent talent in everyone, where it exists. Right now, it would seem that what looks like innovation is only possible by a gilded few.

Others keeping Musk and people like him on some sort of untouchable pedestal is fine by me, however, I will continue to rail against him and his practices. Time will tell what is going to happen to him and his companies. What people put out into the world tends to come back to them.

 

[captaincranky]

@wiyosaya Dear god man, how many words a minute can you type?

Well, it still always seems like your views on mankind's potential, have been gained by watching too many Star Trek original series reruns, after coming home from Sunday school.The real world isn't, and likely never will be, that way.

With that out of the way, try to get your head around the established fact that man is the most violent and vicious predator to ever foul the earth.And remember too, that the "meek shall inherit the earth", is a fantasy cherished by the meek. (Oh they'll inherit it sure enough, the trouble is, it will be in suppository form).

Here's the rub; technical knowledge is transmittable between generations, whereas moral knowledge is not. At the end of the day, the end result is basically an enhanced chimpanzee with the capability to precipitate a nuclear holocaust.

I truly wish I could connect with you on what the world is coming to. Metaphorically, I'd like to stomp on your rose colored glasses.

In any case, because tech knowledge is transmittable between generations, it's hard to avoid building on the worthwhile parts of it from the past. But I agree if you don't add anything of real value, it's just theft of intellectual property.

The techno-delinquents around the world, view Musk as some sort of Saviour, and sadly, it's because he told them to cherish that belief.

His tunnel project is the culmination of his brainwashing gift.

Anyway, toll booths are the biggest obstruction to traffic around the world. On a summer weekend, cars can get stacked up as much as 10 miles or more before a toll plaza. Now imagine what would happen if the cars had to mount an elevator, drop down a few stories, and get strapped to a sled before moving through a single lane tunnel.

And no kidz, Musk didn't use all his own money to sustain the "Boring" company. He fish caked you for a big chunk of change with his Tinkertoy flamethrower.

 

[wiyosaya]

@wiyosaya Dear god man, how many words a minute can you type?

@captaincranky Not sure. It's at least 50 or 60. I was really expecting the TL;DR from most.

Well, it still always seems like your views on mankind's potential, have been gained by watching too many Star Trek original series reruns, after coming home from Sunday school.The real world isn't, and likely never will be, that way.

Never is a long time.

With that out of the way, try to get your head around the established fact that man is the most violent and vicious predator to ever foul the earth.And remember too, that the "meek shall inherit the earth", is a fantasy cherished by the meek. (Oh they'll inherit it sure enough, the trouble is, it will be in suppository form).

Here's the rub; technical knowledge is transmittable between generations, whereas moral knowledge is not. At the end of the day, the end result is basically an enhanced chimpanzee with the capability to precipitate a nuclear holocaust.

That is the problem, isn't it? Even chimpanzees will revolt against bullying, though!

I truly wish I could connect with you on what the world is coming to. Metaphorically, I'd like to stomp on your rose colored glasses.

For me, though you might think I care, I don't. In the long run, with that mushroom cloud looming over humanity, its humanity that will have to come to a point where it cares - not, of course, that it would not be a difficult time to exist in the aftermath of a mass stupidity event where even one world-leading jerk thinks an outright nuclear war is survivable.

In any case, because tech knowledge is transmittable between generations, it's hard to avoid building on the worthwhile parts of it from the past. But I agree if you don't add anything of real value, it's just theft of intellectual property.

Why else would you and I bash Musk so much?

The techno-delinquents around the world, view Musk as some sort of Saviour, and sadly, it's because he told them to cherish that belief.

His tunnel project is the culmination of his brainwashing gift.

Trying to convince those who worship the ground that Musk walks on of this is even worse fallacy than believing in a world where humanity actually figures out how to get along with each other. At least as I see it anyway!

Anyway, toll booths are the biggest obstruction to traffic around the world. On a summer weekend, cars can get stacked up as much as 10 miles or more before a toll plaza. Now imagine what would happen if the cars had to mount an elevator, drop down a few stories, and get strapped to a sled before moving through a single lane tunnel.

I'm not sure about your area given your proximity to NYC, but in my area, E-Z Pass is a blessing even if I rarely use it.

And no kidz, Musk didn't use all his own money to sustain the "Boring" company. He fish caked you for a big chunk of change with his Tinkertoy flamethrower.

I can only imagine the GAS he shipped with that flamethrower.