It might be time for Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s own fork in the road.

The electric carmaker is set to report quarterly earnings Tuesday afternoon that may say a lot about which direction Musk and the company he has ridden to immense wealth will go next.

The company will update investors on revenue, profit and other key figures after months of turmoil as Musk continues to dedicate a large portion of his time to the Trump administration’s attempt to radically remake the federal government, far away from his corporate responsibilities at Tesla, SpaceX and his other companies.

With Tesla’s stock and brand reputation getting pummeled — and with Trump’s tariff policy threatening to upend the automotive market, Tesla included — many Tesla investors have called on Musk to scale back or end his government work entirely and return his focus to business.

  • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.org
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    1 day ago

    With Tesla’s stock and brand reputation getting pummeled … many Tesla investors have called on Musk to scale back or end his government work entirely and return his focus to business

    As long as he’s associated with Tesla, even if he steps out of government work, the damage is done. Even if the board boots him as CEO, it’s going to take a LOT of work, PR, outreach, and time to undo the stink Musk has left on the company.

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Not in this lifetime for me, though the world has generally forgiven the auto brands who helped run the Axis Powers war machine like BMW, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, etc.

        Tesla could do a complete about-face, oust Musk and his cronies, start adhering to better market practices, and build themselves back up as a reputable brand. But not for a long while.

        Better that there actually be a better path to take which could lead somewhere in the future, otherwise they may as well double down on his stupidity and profit while they can before the whole company just implodes.

          • Bezier@suppo.fi
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            1 day ago

            What a group of bozos. But that’s not what I meant at all. I wouldn’t hold a grudge against an inanimate object, or an imaginary constuct, regardless of if some malicious law defined them as people.

            • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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              1 day ago

              I do. I haven’t been to an Exxon gas station in 35 years, nor a BP in 15, and I’ve never used a gas station flying a confederate flag. Fuck those imaginary constructs and anyone who flies their banners.

              • Bezier@suppo.fi
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                1 day ago

                So no VW, no Mercedes, no Toyota, no Ford, and so on. Confederate flag still actively stands for some real garbage, so it doesn’t count.

                • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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                  1 day ago

                  Yeah well actually that’s all true. Have never owned any of those and probably never will. I’m not sure who you’re counting in and so on, but unless it includes GM and Chrysler it has turned out that way mainly by happy coincidence.

                  • Bezier@suppo.fi
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                    1 day ago

                    I started with whichever I can at least loosely link to ww2 atrocities off the top of my head. GM destroyed a lot of public transit, but there’s probably better reasons that I just don’t know.

        • Redfox8@mander.xyz
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          They don’t exist without them though, and it is sometimes necessary to make a point to all companies and their sentient rulers by e.g. boycotting them, forever.

          • Bezier@suppo.fi
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            1 day ago

            Yeah, I’d classify about everyone still at tesla a pos or worse. 30 years from now, maybe not.

        • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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          1 day ago

          they’re something much worse. they’re a collection of sentient beings influencing the world without accountability because no single one of them is the responsible party

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      They’ll probably just retire the brand, slap on a new name and logo and keep business as usual and just have Muskrat in the background like some sort of evil wizard, like Saruman casting spells from his dark cave and collecting money

      • Bezier@suppo.fi
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        • Boot musk
        • Stop all cyber bullshit that reeks of him
        • Redesign the cars and the brand

        VW managed to transition from nazi image to hippies.

        • Billiam@lemmy.world
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          Not just VW; lots of European brands (and some American!) have successfully managed to atone (or bury, depending on how charitable you feel) their actions before and during WWII.

          If a company is older than a century, look at their history and see how many of them kinda pretend they didn’t exist from 1930-1945.