Elon Musk Is the New ‘Technoking of Tesla’
The chief executive will retain his role while changing his title at the electric-vehicle maker
3 min
Tesla Inc. said Chief Executive Elon Musk has changed his title at the company to “Technoking of Tesla,” extending an irreverent streak in the 49-year-old’s leadership of the electric-vehicle maker.
The company also said Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn will have the title of “Master of Coin.” Both Mr Musk and Mr Kirkhorn will maintain their respective positions as CEO and financial chief, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The company didn’t explain the meaning of the titles and didn’t respond to an inquiry. Mr Kirkhorn’s new title might carry echoes of Tesla’s ambitions around cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, Tesla said that it had invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and that it aims to start accepting bitcoin as payment from car buyers.
Over the weekend, bitcoin crossed $60,000 for the first time Saturday before falling back. A steady stream of institutional demand has been credited with driving much of bitcoin’s rally since the start of 2020, when it traded near $7,000.
Other companies have also embraced bitcoin in recent months. Square Inc., which shares bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey as its CEO with Twitter Inc., acquired about $50 million worth for its corporate treasury in October. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. said it would start treating bitcoin like any other financial asset, and Mastercard Inc. said it would integrate bitcoin into its payments network this year.
Most job titles for corporate leaders conform to a narrow set of variations, but some Silicon Valley companies have previously used fanciful language to describe workers’ roles. For years, some companies have used terms such as “guru,” “jedi” or “ninja” to colour job descriptions that involve expertise or mental agility. Other colourful titles to emerge include chief happiness officer, chief futurist and chief digital evangelist.
Tesla disclosed the title changes amid signs of a bumpier road ahead than in 2020. Rivals are showing early signs of eating into its market-share lead in electric-vehicle sales. The company briefly shut down some of its car production at its lone U.S. plant last month due to parts shortages. Tesla also has said it expects lower Model S sedan and Model X sport-utility vehicle output this quarter as it introduces updated versions of the vehicles, though it is increasing output of its Model Y compact sport-utility vehicle in China.
Shares in Tesla soared more than 700% last year, then fell more than 25% earlier this month and are little changed for the year. The company last year achieved record car deliveries, posted its first full-year of profit and landed a spot on the S&P 500 index.
Mr Musk’s new title could be intended to reflect Tesla’s view that it is the source of technology disruption over the long term, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a research memo, pointing to the company’s autonomous-driving work and its strides in battery technology.
Mr Musk’s role as Tesla’s public face hasn’t kept him from pulling cheeky provocations. Breaking away from the mould of big-company CEOs who make carefully worded public statements, Mr Musk often posts Twitter messages with freewheeling thoughts about subjects ranging from Tesla’s share price to science-fiction topics and online memes.
Tweeting has gotten Mr Musk in trouble with regulators. In 2018 he announced on Twitter that he was considering plans to take the auto maker private, a claim later deemed misleading by the SEC after it became clear he didn’t have funding finalized for such a move.
He denied wrongdoing but eventually settled with a deal that included him giving up his position as chairman of Tesla and agreeing to have any of his Twitter messages relating to the auto maker’s business reviewed before publishing them.
Mr Musk’s ownership stake in the company helped him surpass Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man this year.
Also, Tesla on Monday named Jerome Guillen, who has run the company’s automotive business, as its president of Heavy Trucking. He oversaw the truck project in a previous role and, before joining Tesla in 2010, worked on trucks at Daimler AG.
The appointment comes as the car maker ramps up activity around its delayed semitrailer truck.
Tesla over the weekend tweeted a video of the electric cab driving on a test track. Mr Musk has said the supply of sufficient batteries has been holding back the truck. “If we were to make the Semi like right now, which we could easily go into production with the Semi, but we would not have enough cells for it right now,” Mr Musk said on the company’s latest earnings call in January.
Copyright 2020, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. LEARN MORE
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
But leading Australian economist says there are five reasons for investors to be optimistic about the future
3 min
A 291-point or 3.69 percent dive in the benchmark ASX 200 index over April has all but wiped out the Australian share market’s gains for 2024. There was a 140-point or 1.81 percent drop in the ASX 200 on Monday and a minor further fall yesterday. The Australian market has followed the US lead this month, with the S&P 500 also down significantly, losing 232 points or 4.42 percent since 1 April.
The catalysts include last week’s hotter-than-expected US inflation data. Although analysts think Australian inflation is unlikely to follow suit, stickier-than-expected inflation in the US may delay the first interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve. As the US is the world’s largest economy, this may have implications for central bank decisions in other nations like Australia.
“ … uncertainty over when the Fed will start to cut rates has been increased by three worse than expected monthly CPI inflation results in a row …,” said AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver. “This has seen money market expectations for 0.25 percent rate cuts this year scaled back from seven starting in March this year to now less than two starting in September. And in Australia they have been scaled back from nearly three starting in June to no rate cut until late this year/early next.”
On top of that, Iran’s retaliatory strike on Israel and Israel’s insistence that a response will be forthcoming despite many Western nations’ objections have made investors nervous. If Iran were to become more involved in the ongoing war, this may have ramifications for oil prices.
“Another sharp spike in oil prices would be a threat to the economic outlook as it could boost inflation again … potentially resulting in higher than otherwise interest rates and act as a tax hike on consumers leaving less to spend on other things,” Dr Oliver said.
Also, in Australia, the pandemic savings buffers people have been using to cope with the cost of living crisis are being depleted and China’s weak property sector is impacting demand for iron ore. All of this makes shares vulnerable to a pullback amid stretched valuations and more trading volatility ahead, Dr Oliver said.
On balance though, Dr Oliver thinks an upward trend is likely to remain for shares. “From their lows last October, it has been relatively smooth sailing for shares – with US shares up 28 percent, global shares up 25 percent and Australian shares up 17 percent to recent highs.”Dr Oliver said the past few weeks have “seen a rough patch” but the share market is likely to continue its bull run.
Markets have been strong since November 2023 due to falling inflation and optimism that the interest rate cycle is at its peak. Many economists have expressed surprise that the jobs market in many Western countries has remained strong despite weaker economic conditions. Some are terming this “immaculate disinflation” because it goes against the traditional trend of many people losing jobs when economies slow down.
Dr Oliver says there are five reasons to be optimistic about the share market’s strength:
In this climate, Dr Oliver recommends that investors stick to an appropriate long-term investment strategy and accept that share market pullbacks are “healthy and normal”.
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
