Inside the bizarre Elon Musk call that slammed Tesla’s shares
Tesla’s billionaire chief executive lashed out at analysts during a wide-ranging earnings call Wednesday
Tesla’s billionaire chief executive Elon Musk lashed out at analysts during a wide-ranging earnings call on Wednesday, turning the session into what Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas called “the most unusual call I have experienced in 20 years on the sell-side.”
Tesla’s stock was down by as much as 8 per cent on Thursday morning.
The call started out normal enough. Here are the moments that made it a most unusual earnings call.
”Bonehead questions are not cool”
After answering a series of dense, dry questions from Wall Street analysts, Musk appeared to reach his limit midway through the call. During an exchange between an analyst and Deepak Ahuja, Tesla’s chief financial officer, about capital expenditures, Musk interrupted suddenly.
“Excuse me. Next. Boring, bonehead questions are not cool. Next?” he said.
“They’re killing me!”
Minutes later, when another analyst asked Musk about Model 3 reservations, the CEO paused – injecting an awkward situation with even more tension – before snapping back once again.
“We’re going to go to YouTube,” Musk retorted. “Sorry. These questions are so dry. They’re killing me!”