Nickname | $TSLAQ, TESLAQ |
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Named after | Tesla ticker symbol + "Q" which is NASDAQ notation for bankruptcy |
Formation | July 24, 2018 |
Type | Anti-Tesla, networked advocacy, fraud deterrence, pro-shorting |
Origins | |
Region | International |
Key people | Lawrence Fossi (@montana_skeptic), Randeep Hothi (@skabooshka), Martin Tripp, @Paul91701736, @TESLAcharts |
Website | https://www.tslaq.org |
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Companies In popular culture
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TSLAQ (pronounced "Tesla Q") is a loose, international [1] collective of largely anonymous short-sellers, [2] skeptics, and researchers who openly criticize Tesla, Inc. and its CEO Elon Musk. [3] The group primarily organizes on Twitter, often using the $TSLAQ cashtag, and Reddit to coordinate efforts and share news, opinions, and analysis about the company and its stock. [4] Edward Niedermeyer, in his book Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors (2019), establishes the catalyst for the formation of TSLAQ in July 2018 to be the doxxing by a Twitter user of Lawrence Fossi, a Seeking Alpha writer and Tesla short seller who uses the pseudonym Montana Skeptic. [5]
TSLAQ highlights what it claims to be a variety of dangerous, deceptive, unlawful and fraudulent business practices by Tesla. On occasion, TSLAQ has exchanged hostilities with Tesla fans over social media. An online group, TSLAQ's activities at times include taking aerial photography and visiting parking lots used by Tesla for storage.
According to the Los Angeles Times in 2019, TSLAQ members believe Tesla is a fraudulent company and its stock would eventually crash, while also specifically claiming that Tesla was experiencing a "demand cliff" for its products and has had to regularly distort its sales numbers. [6] Their self-reported main goal as of 2019 [update] was to "change the mind of Tesla stock bulls and the media." [6] Tesla was the most shorted stock in the U.S. in December 2020, with over $34.5 billion in shorted share value at its peak. [7] Business Insider described TSLAQ member activity in 2019 as consisting of "exchang[ing] research, news articles, and sometimes outlandish conspiracy theories about the company" and that members were "betting on the company's death and have found much success in irritating the billionaire executive." [8]
Tesla under Musk's leadership has been involved in a number of lawsuits and controversies, [9] including investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice. [10] News of such investigations and subsequent litigation, the alleged fraud and insider-dealing in connection with Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, are major organizing points for TSLAQ members. [11] Tesla later won the SolarCity case. [12] Notably, Elon Musk revealed a "solar roof" shingle in October 2016 that later turned out to be fake, as originally speculated by TESLAcharts. [11] [13] The group has also raised questions about accounting irregularities related to warranty reserves, accounts receivables, and regulatory credits. [14]
TSLAQ has highlighted a California judge's ruling in 2019 that Tesla had violated labor laws by unfairly disciplining employees who engaged in pro-union activity. [15] [16] [17] According to TSLAQ member Paul91701736, Tesla has frequently failed to achieve overly optimistic production projections. [6] Following Musk's statement that "Tesla does not need to ever raise another funding round" in 2012, [18] TSLAQ and others argue Tesla has had a total negative cash flow of over $8 billion and subsequently raised over $18 billion in additional debt and equity via subsidies and other means. [19] Musk also planned to build a fully automated factory for mass production of the Tesla Model 3, [20] describing the factory as an "unstoppable alien dreadnought ... [the] machine that builds the machine." [21] However, footage produced by a TSLAQ member of activity at the Fremont factory revealed that cars were largely being built by hand. [22]
In April 2019, Tesla filed a lawsuit and a request for a restraining order against TSLAQ member Randeep Hothi, [23] also known as skabooshka. [22] The allegations spanned two episodes:
In response to the allegations, TSLAQ members led by Lawrence Fossi ran a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $100,000 for Hothi's defense fund. Tesla eventually dropped the lawsuit and the request for a temporary restraining order against Hothi after they refused to produce footage from within the test car on the grounds it "risked the safety and privacy of the employees involved in the case". [27] After reviewing the surveillance camera footage of Tesla parking lot from the February date in question, Fremont police declined to press charges. [28]
In August 2020, Hothi sued Elon Musk for defamation over his accusations, in an email exchange with PlainSite's owner Aaron Greenspan, that Hothi had almost killed Tesla employees. [29] The presiding judge rejected Musk's motion to strike the lawsuit in January 2021, therefore allowing for the trial to move forward [30] and Musk's later attempt on appeal at an anti-SLAPP judgment were repudiated. [31] In April 2023, the parties settled with Hothi receiving $10,000. [32]
Elon Reeve Musk is a business magnate and investor. Musk is the founder, chairman, CEO and chief technology officer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO, product architect and former chairman of Tesla, Inc.; owner, chairman and CTO of X Corp.; founder of the Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI; and president of the Musk Foundation. He is the wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$226 billion as of September 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and $249 billion according to Forbes, primarily from his ownership stakes in both Tesla and SpaceX.
Tesla, Inc. is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles, stationary battery energy storage devices from home to grid-scale, solar panels and solar shingles, and related products and services. Its subsidiary Tesla Energy develops and is a major installer of photovoltaic systems in the United States and is one of the largest global suppliers of battery energy storage systems with 6.5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) installed in 2022.
Gary Gensler is an American government official and former Goldman Sachs investment banker serving as the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC). Gensler previously led the Biden–Harris transition's Federal Reserve, Banking, and Securities Regulators agency review team. Prior to his appointment, he was professor of Practice of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Martin Eberhard is an American inventor, engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Tesla, Inc. with Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Eberhard served as Tesla's original chairman, and its CEO until late 2007. In 2015, he was inducted into the University of Illinois Engineering Hall of Fame.
Tesla Energy Operations, Inc. is the clean energy division of Tesla, Inc. that develops, manufactures, sells and installs photovoltaic solar energy generation systems, battery energy storage products and other related products and services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.
The Tesla Model Y is a battery electric mid-size crossover SUV built by Tesla, Inc. since 2020.
This is the corporate history of Tesla, Inc., an electric vehicle manufacturer and clean energy company founded in San Carlos, California in 2001 by American entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. The company is named after Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla is the world's leading electric vehicle manufacturer, and, as of the end of 2021, Tesla's cumulative global vehicle sales totaled 2.3 million units.
Gigafactory New York is factory leased by Tesla, Inc. in the Riverbend section of Buffalo, New York. The factory, owned by the State of New York, was built on brownfield land remediated from a former steel mill. Construction of the factory started in 2014 and was completed in 2017. It produces the Tesla Solar Roof and Tesla Superchargers. Additionally, Tesla employs data analysts for its Autopilot software at the site.
The Tesla Roadster is an upcoming battery electric four-seater sports car to be built by Tesla, Inc. The company has said that it will be capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds. The Roadster is the successor to Tesla's first production car, the 2008 Roadster.
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car that served as the dummy payload for the February 2018 Falcon Heavy test flight and became an artificial satellite of the Sun. A mannequin in a spacesuit, dubbed "Starman", occupies the driver's seat. The car and rocket are products of Tesla and SpaceX, respectively, both companies headed by Elon Musk. The 2010 Roadster is personally owned by and previously used by Musk for commuting to work. It is the first production car launched into space.
Alexander Benjamin Spiro is an American attorney. He is a partner at the New York office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an upcoming battery electric full-size pickup truck to be built by Tesla, Inc. First announced in November 2019, three models are expected to be offered, with EPA range estimates of 250–500 miles (400–800 km) and an estimated 0 to 60 mph time of 2.9–6.5 seconds, depending on the model.
PlainSite is a US based website dedicated to legal data transparency advocacy developed in conjunction by Think Computer Corporation and the charitable organization Think Computer Foundation. PlainSite provides both free and paid access to legal documents and information about the US legal system on a variety of subjects and caselaw. The website previously collected legal documents via the Free Law Project's RECAP archive until the archive adopted a fee-based approach.
Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors is Edward Niedermeyer's non-fiction book about Tesla, Inc., published in 2019. The book traces Tesla's inception along with episodes and controversies from the first fifteen years of the company under the leadership of Elon Musk. In it, Niedermeyer uses original research, anonymous insider accounts, and industry analysis to explore "Tesla's attempt to merge Silicon Valley arrogance with automotive industry standards". The Wall Street Journal noted that the book's sources have "refused to be quoted out of fear of Mr. Musk". The book devotes a significant portion of its contents to a cultural account of the ongoing "confrontation" between Tesla's fans and its skeptics.
Elon Musk, the CEO or owner of multiple companies including Tesla, SpaceX, and X Corp, has expressed many views on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from politics to science.
Tesla, Inc. has been criticized for its cars, workplace culture, business practices, and occupational safety. Many of the criticisms are also directed toward Elon Musk, the company's CEO and Product Architect. Critics have also accused Tesla of deceptive marketing, unfulfilled promises, and fraud. The company is currently facing criminal and civil investigations into its self-driving claims. Critics have highlighted Tesla's downplaying of issues, and Tesla's alleged retaliation against several whistleblowers.
Edward (Ed) Niedermeyer is an American author, analyst, and critic who focuses on the automotive industry and mobility innovation. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Truth About Cars, and The Wall Street Journal, and in 2019, his book Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors was released. Niedermeyer cohosts The Autonocast, a podcast about autonomous vehicles technology and its effects.
Linette Lopez is an American journalist who focuses on U.S. politics and economics, and writes columns for Business Insider. As a senior finance editor, she has investigated companies involved with public-facing controversies, and is most widely known for her coverage of Tesla, Inc. A regular contributor to Marketplace produced by American Public Media, Lopez teaches as an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has also been a frequent commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and Real Time with Bill Maher.
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