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(CNBC)   Elon Musk accidentally admits he's a terrible businessman   (cnbc.com) divider line
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    More: Obvious, Elon Musk, Tesla's newest car factories, Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley, Automobile, supply chain disruptions, Both Berlin, Factory  
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1418 clicks; posted to Business » on 23 Jun 2022 at 1:20 PM (32 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



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NewportBarGuy [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-06-23 1:10:23 PM  
17 votes:
I'm no Elon defender at all, but no... Not even close.

He's just saying that production costs a f*cking sh*tload of money. Building, staffing, hiring, running a new plant is insanely expensive and it's a long time before you see the money back that you sink into them.

It's why PE and Corporate America didn't build new factories here in America when they needed to, they just went overseas where it was cheaper to do that and hire workers... In hindsight, it made them a ton of money but f*cked all of us in the future. Which is nice :)

But, he's just saying that building those giant things is just throwing a ton of cash into a fire... but it's a bad analogy. Assuming you do it right, somewhere down the road they pay themselves off and you start making money from them.

THAT used to be what investing was. You dump in money and work hard and pray you got it right and eventually you make a ton of money from it... or you break even or go broke...

Nowadays if you don't profit from a move in ten second, the shareholders call for your head.

It's a terrible way to run a company and a country.
 
whidbey
2022-06-23 1:08:26 PM  
10 votes:
Well he does worship TFG...
 
The Ocho
2022-06-23 1:47:44 PM  
9 votes:
Welcome to owning a manufacturing company. It requires capital. It requires upkeep. All reduce your ability to stay cash flow positive. You're not in tech country anymore, Elon. You're dealing with mature industry issues now.

Manufacturing companies plan capacity and expansion at 10-20 year scale.
 
Chief Superintendent Lookout
2022-06-23 1:52:45 PM  
7 votes:

Ivo Shandor: He said some of the tools required to make some cars are "stuck in a port in China" because of a resurgence of Covid there and the resulting lockdowns.

[Fark user image image 643x216]
[Fark user image image 642x225]


Yup.  It's funny watching Teh Smrtst Tek Bruh EVAR imploding day by day.
 
Corydon
2022-06-23 2:51:09 PM  
7 votes:

Ivo Shandor: He said some of the tools required to make some cars are "stuck in a port in China" because of a resurgence of Covid there and the resulting lockdowns.


You know, it's almost as if basing your economy on both global supply chains and just-in-time logistics makes production incredibly brittle and prone to break at the slightest disruption.

All of this was, of course, entirely foreseeable.  Murphy's Law is known to everyone, even morons with MBAs.  But try telling that to shareholders who are laser focused on profits NOW!  NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW!

The good news is that some labor organizer really ought to be able to take full advantage.  Corporations have gotten soft.  They assume they're always going to get their way.  It wouldn't take much for a well-placed strike or two to bring things completely crashing down.

Ganon D. Mire: Texas and Berlin are in regions where slavery is abolished, at least on paper.


Berlin, maybe.  But Texas? The home of Texas Correctional Industries?  You may want to reconsider that statement.
 
jayphat
2022-06-23 3:55:59 PM  
7 votes:
He's saying this so he can buy back Tesla stock on the cheap. Yes, I'm serious.
 
Mad_Radhu
2022-06-23 3:45:36 PM  
6 votes:

Ivo Shandor: He said some of the tools required to make some cars are "stuck in a port in China" because of a resurgence of Covid there and the resulting lockdowns.

[Fark user image image 643x216]
[Fark user image image 642x225]


I feel like there are some alien brain bugs going around the top tiers of government and business right now that are working their asses off to exterminate the human race. That's the only way some of the shiat that they say makes sense anymore.
 
LrdPhoenix
2022-06-23 4:31:32 PM  
5 votes:

NewportBarGuy: I'm no Elon defender at all, but no... Not even close.

He's just saying that production costs a f*cking sh*tload of money. Building, staffing, hiring, running a new plant is insanely expensive and it's a long time before you see the money back that you sink into them.

It's why PE and Corporate America didn't build new factories here in America when they needed to, they just went overseas where it was cheaper to do that and hire workers... In hindsight, it made them a ton of money but f*cked all of us in the future. Which is nice :)

But, he's just saying that building those giant things is just throwing a ton of cash into a fire... but it's a bad analogy. Assuming you do it right, somewhere down the road they pay themselves off and you start making money from them.

THAT used to be what investing was. You dump in money and work hard and pray you got it right and eventually you make a ton of money from it... or you break even or go broke...

Nowadays if you don't profit from a move in ten second, the shareholders call for your head.

It's a terrible way to run a company and a country.


Plus, it can make a lot of business sense to run in the red, at least in other instances, if you got the money to do so.  Bezos intentionally ran Amazon deep in the red for years as it was starting up, in order to successfully undercut all the competition into oblivion and cement its status as the go to place to buy and sell books online.
 
Muta
2022-06-23 4:46:26 PM  
5 votes:
Musk says Tesla's factories in Berlin and Texas are 'gigantic money furnaces'

... and he is right which is why auto companies have P/E's in the low teens and not in the high 70's (or whatever Tesla is at now).
 
Mr. Eugenides [BareFark]
2022-06-23 1:42:57 PM  
4 votes:
There are times an oversized infrastructure is more efficient. If I need to get 60 kids to school, a full sized school bus is more efficient than 20 trips with a Prius. If I need to get 6 kids to school, the Prius is more efficient.

The large monolithic factory concept works efficiently when it can run at full capacity building a single product. But if you need to make modifications to the line, or run at less than capacity it introduces its own inefficiencies.

Tesla's just learning a lesson that the legacy automakers learned 6 decades ago. And Abbot labs learned just this year.
 
shroom
2022-06-23 2:16:20 PM  
4 votes:

Ganon D. Mire: Texas and Berlin are in regions where slavery is abolished, at least on paper.


Shiat, don't give him any ideas.  He'll probably want prison chain gangs building his cars next.
 
Ivo Shandor [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-06-23 1:37:50 PM  
3 votes:
He said some of the tools required to make some cars are "stuck in a port in China" because of a resurgence of Covid there and the resulting lockdowns.

Fark user imageView Full Size

Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Olympic Trolling Judge
2022-06-23 2:05:26 PM  
3 votes:

aleister_greynight: And that should do a lot of good for Tesla stock value...


How else is he supposed to get out of buying Twitter?
 
Robo Beat
2022-06-23 3:10:07 PM  
3 votes:
This is only indirectly related but I'mma post it anyway:

Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Ed Willy
2022-06-23 4:20:54 PM  
3 votes:

The Ocho: Welcome to owning a manufacturing company. It requires capital. It requires upkeep. All reduce your ability to stay cash flow positive. You're not in tech country anymore, Elon. You're dealing with mature industry issues now.

Manufacturing companies plan capacity and expansion at 10-20 year scale.


Unfortunately tech investors only think in terms of things that can exponentially the span of three years at most, even if those things eventually burn to the ground. The key is to sell it off to some sucker before it implodes. 

//Hopefully Ford and Volkswagen get to pick up Tesla buildings for pennies on the Dogecoin
 
OhioUGrad
2022-06-23 2:21:04 PM  
2 votes:

NewportBarGuy: it's a long time before you see the money back that you sink into them


you mean taxpayers?
 
shroom
2022-06-23 3:10:23 PM  
2 votes:

Hawk the Hawk: Anyone know the exchange rate for a Berlin dollars?


Those would be euros.

/I know you're joking
//probably
 
RubyOffTheRails
2022-06-23 9:34:53 PM  
2 votes:

Mad_Radhu: Ivo Shandor: He said some of the tools required to make some cars are "stuck in a port in China" because of a resurgence of Covid there and the resulting lockdowns.

[Fark user image image 643x216]
[Fark user image image 642x225]

I feel like there are some alien brain bugs going around the top tiers of government and business right now that are working their asses off to exterminate the human race. That's the only way some of the shiat that they say makes sense anymore.


Yeah, I've been wondering more and more if the people in charge (just about everywhere) regularly drink lead martinis or give themselves TBIs for fun. A lot of them have always managed to be dumb and out-of-touch, but now it's like they have rabies.
 
aleister_greynight [TotalFark]
2022-06-23 1:02:52 PM  
1 vote:
And that should do a lot of good for Tesla stock value...
 
jjorsett
2022-06-23 3:25:41 PM  
1 vote:
Elon Musk accidentally admits he's a terrible businessman

Apparently there are savvy businessmen somewhere out there who know how to overcome China's shutdowns that destroy their incoming and outgoing supply lines. I'll bet they even know how to operate factories without energy.

/Subby is an idiot
 
Mr. Eugenides [BareFark]
2022-06-23 8:47:17 PM  
1 vote:

jayphat: He's saying this so he can buy back Tesla stock on the cheap. Yes, I'm serious.


I don't think this helps him since he's financing other deals by borrowing against Tesla stock. He can't afford to let the stock drop and it's about to because the 2nd quarter numbers are going to suck.

I suspect this is the reason he just slashed payroll like he's Neutron Jack Welch. He's trying to get ahead of the bad news.
 
shroom
2022-06-23 8:50:22 PM  
1 vote:

Mr. Eugenides: jayphat: He's saying this so he can buy back Tesla stock on the cheap. Yes, I'm serious.

I don't think this helps him since he's financing other deals by borrowing against Tesla stock. He can't afford to let the stock drop and it's about to because the 2nd quarter numbers are going to suck.

I suspect this is the reason he just slashed payroll like he's Neutron Jack Welch. He's trying to get ahead of the bad news.


And just like every other CEO who uses layoffs to raise the stock price, I bet he's gonna start biatching when his productivity drops next week after slashing jobs this week.
 
NewportBarGuy [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-06-23 9:23:56 PM  
1 vote:

Mr. Eugenides: jayphat: He's saying this so he can buy back Tesla stock on the cheap. Yes, I'm serious.

I don't think this helps him since he's financing other deals by borrowing against Tesla stock. He can't afford to let the stock drop and it's about to because the 2nd quarter numbers are going to suck.

I suspect this is the reason he just slashed payroll like he's Neutron Jack Welch. He's trying to get ahead of the bad news.


The way that stock works, it probably goes up 30% at earnings.
 
mistahtom
2022-06-24 6:53:26 AM  
1 vote:
I had a family of Jesus freaks move from one Tesla factory to another Tesla factor in an (obviously) shiattier state than the original factory.

If they get laid off, at least they have their Jesus people to pray for them 🤣🤣🤣
 
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