INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Over the last five days, Tesla shareholders watched the value of their stock decline by roughly 16 percent and saw nearly $8 billion in
value erased, as the company celebrity chief executive, Elon Musk, had what amounts to a very public breakdown.
However, Musk is not the
only person responsible for the collapse of Tesla stock price
AsThe New York Timesarticle which precipitated the latest slide in Tesla value on the public markets makes clear, the company board is also
to blame.
For months, Musk has been showing signs of strain (generously speaking), and has been accused of making questionable decisions to
drive growth and stifle criticism or dissent at the revolutionary electric vehicle company he founded.
During that time, as Shira Ovide
notes in her piece from Bloomberg, Tesla board (primarily composed of Musk friends, relatives and initial investors) took no public steps to
control or manage the situation.
Some Tesla board members are reportedly concerned about Elon Musk's workload and his use of Ambien
If so, here's a solution for directors: Do your jobs
https://t.co/fQaENm9tS7
mdash; Shira Ovide (@ShiraOvide) August 17, 2018
Privately and on background the board (or certain members)
expressed concern over Musk recent behavior, drug use (both medicinal and recreational) and Twitter habits.
Those concerns should have been
aired at the board level and the company directors should have exercised their ability to manage the mercurial Musk as his public actions
became increasingly unmoored.
Something could have happened after the disastrous earnings call with analysts
It could have happened around the time of the strange active shooter allegations that were made against a Tesla whistleblower
It could have happened after Musk called a diver involved in the rescue of trapped and starving children a &pedo.
At any of those moments
the board could have stepped in and demanded that Musk face the consequences for actions that cost his company billions of dollars
They did not, and now Tesla position is more precarious than ever.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Musk for his
public statements around privatization plans for Tesla that may or may not have been real.
It another distraction for the company chief
executive at a time when he is already under tremendous pressure to meet production targets for the company troubled Model 3 rollout (even
as it begins to hit its targets).
Tesla hits Model 3 production goal
The problem is that Musk cult of personality is so intertwined with
Tesla corporate identity, there a fear that as Musk goes so goes Tesla
That no way to run a business, and it no way to ensure long-term value for shareholders (either as a public or private company).
Ultimately
the board at Tesla needs to step in and take a more active role in overseeing the company, before the next decision they find themselves
confronted with is the company liquidation.
