13 votes

Elon Musk’s funding for Tesla wasn’t so secure

17 comments

  1. [3]
    39hp
    Link
    Slightly off topic, but what the heck happened to Musk? A few months ago he was IRL Tony Stark and now it’s like he can’t stop committing own-goals. Has something about him changed or has the...

    Slightly off topic, but what the heck happened to Musk? A few months ago he was IRL Tony Stark and now it’s like he can’t stop committing own-goals.

    Has something about him changed or has the scrutiny just reached the point that we’re now looking at these aspects of him?

    16 votes
    1. lol
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      He just needs to gtfo twitter. I honestly don't think he's cracked or whatever like others are implying, he's always kind of been this way, but the platform really seems to bring out the dumbass...

      He just needs to gtfo twitter. I honestly don't think he's cracked or whatever like others are implying, he's always kind of been this way, but the platform really seems to bring out the dumbass in him

      5 votes
    2. Amarok
      Link Parent
      Musk's always been that guy. He doesn't live or think in the 'present'. He's future-oriented, so most of the things he says are musings about the future. That's why he's always over-promising and...

      Musk's always been that guy. He doesn't live or think in the 'present'. He's future-oriented, so most of the things he says are musings about the future. That's why he's always over-promising and under-estimating. I know plenty of people who act like this, and I'll bet you do too. They can be good planners and they can also get utterly lost in their own heads. In his mind if he's talked to someone about investment and they responded well, the deal is done, someone else can work out the stupid, boring, insignificant details.

      What's changed lately is that Musk's clearly overdosed on Fuckidol. He doesn't care what people think, he doesn't care to censor himself anymore, and he doesn't give a rat fuck about his shareholders, responsibilities, or anything else that isn't immediately furthering his race to Mars. He wants Tesla to become like SpaceX, doesn't like external actors 'meddling' with his vision.

      Essentially, it's a nerd tantrum, saying what he likes and damn the rules and social norms. If you've ever seen this guy talk in an interview... he can barely form coherent sentences because his brain is trying to say three things at once and they get spliced on the way to his mouth. Seriously, go watch his Ted talks and old interview footage.

      5 votes
  2. Deimos
    Link
    This article's title is... awfully similar to this other one I posted a couple of days ago, but this is a much better article. It's by Matt Levine, who's one of my favorite writers about financial...

    This article's title is... awfully similar to this other one I posted a couple of days ago, but this is a much better article. It's by Matt Levine, who's one of my favorite writers about financial topics (including some great cryptocurrency articles).

    It's not covered in this article, but Elon also tweeted that he was working with Silver Lake and Goldman Sachs, and that seems to be in question as well.

    This situation is continuing to escalate, with it looking like the SEC has subpoena'd them now.

    11 votes
  3. [13]
    myk
    Link
    So, I guess we’re not going to Mars then.

    So, I guess we’re not going to Mars then.

    3 votes
    1. [12]
      spctrvl
      Link Parent
      SpaceX is on a lot better financial footing than Tesla is. And man that sentence would've sounded bizarre ten years ago.

      SpaceX is on a lot better financial footing than Tesla is. And man that sentence would've sounded bizarre ten years ago.

      13 votes
      1. [11]
        myk
        Link Parent
        But we need Tesla to supply the on-the-ground tech, Solar City to supply and store solar power, and the Boring Company to construct the underground habitats. Every time I think about how all his...

        But we need Tesla to supply the on-the-ground tech, Solar City to supply and store solar power, and the Boring Company to construct the underground habitats.

        Every time I think about how all his corporate plans come together for that one goal, I really do think we have a real-life Tony Stark.

        4 votes
        1. [2]
          spctrvl
          Link Parent
          Eh, as much praise as he gets for his ideas on vertically integrating the Mars colonization effort, tunnel boring machines aren't exactly groundbreaking technology, if you'll excuse the pun....

          Eh, as much praise as he gets for his ideas on vertically integrating the Mars colonization effort, tunnel boring machines aren't exactly groundbreaking technology, if you'll excuse the pun. Likewise with solar panels and electric vehicles. Plenty of other companies make those things, so even if Tesla goes under there's plenty of places to source them from that would be thrilled to have their stuff going to Mars. SpaceX is the only key company, as there's fewer places to source a 150 ton fully reusable launcher.

          7 votes
          1. myk
            Link Parent
            No, none of them are massive leaps individually, but having them all at your disposal when you need to focus their efforts is comic-book level planning. Whether he ends up being the hero or the...

            No, none of them are massive leaps individually, but having them all at your disposal when you need to focus their efforts is comic-book level planning. Whether he ends up being the hero or the villain remains to be seen...

        2. [8]
          Amarok
          Link Parent
          Honestly, people aren't looking at his long game. Tesla and Solar City are tiny chump-change projects compared to Starlink. Musk's projecting 30 billion in revenue from that doubling of the...

          Honestly, people aren't looking at his long game. Tesla and Solar City are tiny chump-change projects compared to Starlink.

          Musk's projecting 30 billion in revenue from that doubling of the terrestrial internet's transmission capacity by the early 2020s (or in the real world outside his head, 2030ish). He'll probably get it too, the launch capacity was the hard part and that's already done. It'll be entertaining watching Wall Street begging him for sat capacity since that network will be faster than any fiber cable can ever be.

          That's the cash cow he plans to use to shore up any shortcomings with Tesla and Solar City and any other projects, with plenty left over to pay for Mars. Nobody's talking about the consequences of SpaceX owning half of the internet's bandwidth in a couple decades. That's always bugged me.

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            spctrvl
            Link Parent
            I seriously hope Musk is going to be looking beyond rockets once the Starlink profits start rolling in. 30 billion a year is easily orbital ring money, and that's what we're going to need for...

            I seriously hope Musk is going to be looking beyond rockets once the Starlink profits start rolling in. 30 billion a year is easily orbital ring money, and that's what we're going to need for space colonization to ever be anything but an Earth escape hatch for the rich.

            1 vote
            1. Amarok
              Link Parent
              The first step is building a literal city in space. Everyone who's going to work up there needs a place to live. The strangest part? That might be in tents. That's an idea that's just not sexy...

              The first step is building a literal city in space. Everyone who's going to work up there needs a place to live. The strangest part? That might be in tents. That's an idea that's just not sexy enough for science fiction.

          2. [5]
            myk
            Link Parent
            I wasn’t even aware of that project. So he’s got the comms network planned too! Will satellite be of interest to Wall Street? I would have thought that the latency would be a poor match for high...

            I wasn’t even aware of that project. So he’s got the comms network planned too!

            Will satellite be of interest to Wall Street? I would have thought that the latency would be a poor match for high frequency trading.

            1. Amarok
              Link Parent
              We talked about that the other day, here's the thread. Turns out fiber is slower over long distances.

              We talked about that the other day, here's the thread. Turns out fiber is slower over long distances.

              2 votes
            2. [3]
              spctrvl
              Link Parent
              It's a LEO constellation, so the latency should be comparable to or better than dedicated fiber lines over a distance of more than a few hundred kilometers, especially when you factor in the 50%...

              It's a LEO constellation, so the latency should be comparable to or better than dedicated fiber lines over a distance of more than a few hundred kilometers, especially when you factor in the 50% higher speed of light in vacuum.

              1 vote
              1. [2]
                myk
                Link Parent
                Thanks, I’d not appreciated that there was such a difference in orbits (2000km for LEO vs 35,000 km for geo-stationary).

                Thanks, I’d not appreciated that there was such a difference in orbits (2000km for LEO vs 35,000 km for geo-stationary).

                1 vote
                1. spctrvl
                  Link Parent
                  It's even lower than that. The main constellation's going to be at 1200km, and they're working on on building aerodynamic satellites for another constellation orbiting at less than 350km.

                  It's even lower than that. The main constellation's going to be at 1200km, and they're working on on building aerodynamic satellites for another constellation orbiting at less than 350km.

                  1 vote
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