When Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly denied a report that Tesla had canceled its work on the $25,000 “Mannequin 2” regardless of the mission ending weeks prior, Tesla executives had been “alarmed” by Musk’s public lie, in accordance with a brand new report by Reuters.
In April 2024, Reuters reported that the long-awaited $25,000 Tesla, nicknamed “Mannequin 2” by the general public, had been canceled.
Instantly after the report, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded, stating “Reuters is mendacity (once more).”
Nonetheless, when he made this assertion, Musk knew that the report was appropriate, and that he had cancelled the mission weeks earlier.
This new info comes from a report by Reuters immediately, citing firm paperwork and the usual “folks aware of the matter.”
The general public denial prompted confusion amongst Tesla executives, a few of whom questioned if the mission was again on, or who had been involved that prospects might delay purchases ready for a product that they and Musk knew would by no means come.
It additionally involved executives as a result of an settlement Musk made with the SEC which required a lawyer to supervise his Tesla-related tweeting actions, after he had beforehand been caught deceptive buyers into considering he had secured funding to take Tesla personal.
Musk’s lie in regards to the $25k Mannequin 2 mission stopped a decline in TSLA inventory, which had slid by 6% up to now that day, and the inventory recovered partially by the tip of the day. Given the market-moving nature of the assertion, and the subject material of being about Tesla’s future plans, it was thought that this might be one other clear violation of Musk’s settlement with the SEC.
Musk’s historical past attacking fact
Musk has a lengthy historical past of taking umbrage with the press and authorities regulators, and getting in public fights with folks for the smallest of slights. These assaults are sometimes immature, as within the examples of his lewd statements in regards to the SEC, or an pointless assault on a rescue diver.
Reuters has been considered one of his primary targets, however he has usually proven disdain for the media, and this perspective isn’t new.
In 2018, he floated the thought of making a web site to rank “fact” in media, proposing the title “Pravduh.” The concept got here after a collection of adverse studies about Tesla, making it clear that the hassle was much less about fact, and extra about Musk feeling slighted about current protection.
In an identical vein to his assaults on Reuters, he and the Tesla board not too long ago denied a WSJ report that they had been searching for a substitute for Musk as CEO. Musk responded personally, stating that it was an “EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS” for WSJ to publish a “DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to incorporate an unequivocal denial,” despite the fact that WSJ reached out to Tesla and was given no remark beforehand.
One of many causes WSJ couldn’t get remark beforehand is as a result of Tesla dissolved its PR division years in the past. Firms maintain PR departments in order that press can have a transparent a constant concept of an organization’s place on the matter, and in order that journalists can attain out to the corporate for remark beforehand. Musk’s anger at WSJ for not together with a denial from a division that he himself dissolved means that maybe he relishes the chance to strike out towards the media, as his personal actions have been answerable for the shortage of communication between Tesla and the media.
He even focused us right here at Electrek after we printed a real and truthful article critiquing Tesla’s plan to cost homeowners $1,500 for {hardware} they already purchased. After our report, many different media reported the identical story, and some days later Tesla lowered the worth to $1,000 (when it nonetheless must be zero, and not less than one proprietor has prevailed in small claims as a result of our report).
Instantly after Tesla lowered the worth of the improve, we discovered that Elon Musk had blocked our website’s account on Twitter, and in addition blocked my colleague Fred Lambert, who was not concerned in reporting the story. We had been additionally banned from future Tesla occasions as a result of our true and truthful report.
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