Monthly Archives: February 2021

Elon Musk, the maverick boss of Tesla, is no longer the worlds richest person after shares in the electric car company dropped 8.6% on Monday, wiping $15.2bn (10.8bn) off his fortune.

Musk, who last month leapfrogged Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to take the title of the worlds wealthiest person, dropped back into second place with a $183bn estimated fortune behind Bezos $186.3bn.

The 8.5% drop in Teslas share price on Monday the sharpest one-day fall since September was partly fuelled by Musk tweeting that the prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do seem high. Teslas shares were down a further 6% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.

His comments came just two weeks after Tesla bought $1.5bn of bitcoin, which sent the price of the cryptocurrency to fresh highs. Bitcoin, which reached a high of $58,000 on Sunday, has since fallen to $47,500 on Tuesday morning. The price is still up more than 500% over the past year.

Replying on Twitter to Peter Schiff, a stockbroker and gold investor, Musk said: Money is just data that allows us to avoid the inconvenience of barter. That data, like all data, is subject to latency and error. The system will evolve to that which minimises both. That said, bitcoin and ethereum [another cryptocurrency] do seem high.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which is managed by Tesla shareholder Baillie Gifford, was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday, down 11%. Baillie Gifford was the biggest faller on the FTSE 250, down 8%.

Musk had last week said Teslas decision to buy $1.5bn in bitcoin was a company decision not driven by him. Teslas action is not directly reflective of my opinion, Musk said, again on Twitter.

Having some bitcoin, which is simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash, is adventurous enough for an S&P 500 company ... When fiat [government-issued] currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldnt look elsewhere. Bitcoin is almost as bs [bullshit] as fiat money. The key word is almost.

Tesla disclosed the bitcoin holding in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last month. The company said it had updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximise returns to allow it to invest cash reserve in alternative reserve assets including digital assets.

It said that since the decision was approved by its audit committee it had invested an aggregate $1.5bn in bitcoin under this policy and may acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long term.

Musk has previously helped to drive the popularity of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and dogecoin, by regularly tweeting that he is a supporter of the cryptocurrencies. He has also joked that bitcoin is his safeword.

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Last month, the price of bitcoin soared after Musk said he was a supporter of the cryptocurrency in an interview carried on Clubhouse, a new social media app designed for wealthy people. I do think at this point bitcoin is a good thing, he said. And, so, I am a supporter of bitcoin. Like I said, I was late to the party, but I am a supporter of bitcoin. And I think, bitcoin is really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people.

He has previously changed his Twitter biography to #bitcoin.

Musk also tweeted on Monday that Teslas Model Y Standard Range SUV would still be available off the menu, following reports from electric vehicle newsite Electrek that the model had been removed as an option online.

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Elon Musk no longer worlds richest person as Tesla shares fall | Elon Musk | The Guardian

The Daily Caller reported:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk quipped back at The Washington Posts request for comment regarding an article about his future with the company, telling a reporter to give his regards to your puppet master.

The Posts piece wondered if Tesla can run on Autopilot and declared that Musk moved to Texas and embraced celebrity. The article elaborated on critics who have concerns that Musks schedule and public personality are beginning to show in the car company he runs.

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The company in question, Tesla, didnt respond to The Posts request for comment, the article notes. Musk, however, did with just one sentence presumably aimed at The Posts owner, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

WaPo reporter Josh Dawsey tweeted about Musks response:

Tesla did not respond to repeated requests for comment. In response to emails seeking comment, Musk replied only: Give my regards to your puppet master. https://t.co/pGF1cr0IgP

Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 23, 2021

Excerpt from:

"Give My Regards to Your Puppet Master" - Elon Musk to Washington Post Reporter

A question that has long bedeviled bitcoin observers is how to value it. Lately the answer to its worth has been whatever influential people like Elon Musk and star stock picker Cathie Wood say it is.

The original crypto asset bounced around this month as influencers weighed in. Bitcoin shot to a record high after Tesla revealed that the electric car company had converted $1.5 billion of its cash holdings into it. Then bitcoin got sucked into a downdraft when Tesla chief Musk suggested prices seem high. Prices lurched upward again after Wood, the investing rockstar and founder of ARK Investment Management, told Bloomberg she was very positive on bitcoin and glad to see a price correction.

Woods interview came after Square said it bought $170 million worth of bitcoin this month, and reported that about half of its revenue last quarter came from bitcoin. The payment company reiterated earlier comments founder Jack Dorsey made in an interview with Quartz that crypto asset has the potential to become the internets native currency. ARK has major stakes in Tesla, Square, and bitcoin in the funds it manages.

The difficulty in valuing bitcoin is, in some ways, a strength when it comes to speculation. The original crypto asset doesnt generate cashflows, a key metric for figuring the worth of a company. It isnt linked to a government, whose currency would typically fluctuate based on interest rates, economic growth, and inflation. Bitcoin hasnt caught on as a means of payment, but it has, throughout its dozen-year history, been a speculative object extraordinaire, and theres a case to be made that bitcoins price has bobbed around based on the trajectory of its sensational story. As Nobel prize winner Robert Shiller told Quartz during an earlier bitcoin boom in 2017, big things happen if someone invents the right story and promulgates it.

Wood, whose flagship fund has soared more than 140% in the past year, is dismissive of the bitcoin pessimists and says ARK sees many uses for it. The crypto assets supply is fixed, unlike fiat currencies, and she told Bloomberg that bitcoin is an even better bulwark against inflation than gold. She pointed out that its also resistant to confiscation, as bitcoin is decentralized and transactions take place outside the banking system. Often called digital gold, we believe bitcoin not only shares many of golds characteristics but also improves upon them, ARK analyst Yassine Elmandjra wrote in June.

Much, then, may hinge on whether bitcoin, created in 2009, can earn the kind of reputation for value protection that gold has developed over millennia. On Squares Cash App alone, more than 3 million customers bought or sold bitcoin last year; in January, more than 1 million of them bought bitcoin for the first time. Tesla, Square, and MicroStrategy have committed a chunk of their companies cash holdings to bitcoin. But other CFOs may not think its such a smart idea. Naresh Aggarwal of the Association of Corporate Treasurers in London told DealBook that doing so is more like putting money on a horse race than being prudent with cash reserves.

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Bitcoin price bobs on comments from Elon Musk and Cathie Wood - Quartz

In late January, Elon Musk said on Twitter that he'd donate $100 million toward a prize for best carbon capture technology. The announcement immediately brought attention to technologies that aren't new but remain relatively unknown.

Carbon capture at the source refers to a process where the carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels gets captured and stored. In carbon removal, the CO2 typically comes from the air, in what's called direct air capture, but it can also come from biomass. There are still very few companies working in the field, and the market is very small. Critics say that trying to remove carbon will always be less effective than simply transitioning to renewable energy. Proponents reply that this transition, while essential, won't be enough and that these technologies will be necessary to meet climate change reduction goals.

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Carbon is not the only greenhouse gas emission contributing to global warming, but it's the largest single one. That's why reducing its levels in the atmosphere is so important. Musk is not the only prominent supporter of these technologies. Bill Gates, who has a new book out, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, has endorsed them as well.

Continue reading here:

Elon Musk wants to remove carbon. What is he talking about? - CNET

It's just Tesla being Tesla again.

This week brought a new Tesla mystery, after the automaker quietly removed the Model Y Standard Range from its public configurator. The move came after the model was officially available for order via the website for less than two months, and got a $2,000 price drop last week. Needless to say, we joined prospective Tesla buyers in wondering what the hell happened.

CEO Elon Musk himself provided an explanation Monday evening after a Twitter user asked the Tesla boss what's going on. In Musk's words, "it's still available off menu." If that approach sounds familiar, it's because Tesla used it with the infamous "$35,000 Model 3." After some hoopla and fanfare welcoming the affordable EV's arrival, the electric sedan disappeared from the online configurator and became available for order by phone or in person. Effectively, Tesla didn't want to sell the particular version of the Model 3. Today, it's gone altogether.

Adding more context, Musk said in the same tweet, "I don't think the range, in many drive conditions, yet meets Tesla's standard of excellence." This seems to play back into Musk's thinking last year when he announced we weren't getting a Model Y Standard Range at all. Yet, this past January, the vehicle made a surprise debut online with a 244-mile estimated range. Musk in 2020 said the Model Y Standard Range would likely sport an "unacceptably low" 250-mile range, so he was on the money with that estimate. It sounds like Musk and friends had a change of heart. Or, it's another one of Tesla's epically creative no-money-spent marketing stunts.

If you're hoping for a reprieve in the form of a cheaper Model Y Long Range RWD, Musk shot that idea down in a followup tweet saying there's "too much product complexity" in Tesla's lineup as it stands. So, if you want a cheap Model Y, pick up the phone or head to a Tesla retail store. You won't see the company making any effort to sell the $39,990 electric SUV outright.

Tesla does not operate a public relations department to field requests for comment.

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Elon Musk explains what happened to Tesla Model Y Standard Range - CNET

This is awesome. I didnt even know it existed a week ago. Thats how a lot of people are reacting to Clubhouse, the social-media startup thats becoming asensation. Except in this case, the new fan was Elon Musk, who had just made his first appearance on the app, a voice-and-audio driven platform that lets people hold live discussionsbased on any number of topics and interests, with thousands sometimes in attendance. Musk was aJan. 31 gueston Good Time,a talk showco-led by a panel of venture capitalists and a Facebook Inc. tech executive.Days later, Facebook Chief Executive OfficerMark Zuckerbergmade a surprise appearance on the same program.Last month, I wrote abouthow Clubhousewas poised to become the next big social media powerhouse, citing the doubling of its weekly active user base to 2 million over a couple of weeks in January asa sign of its booming popularity.This latest wave of influential new users fromtechnology titans such as Musk and Zuckerberg topolitical figures and leaders in entertainment is driving another wave of exponential growth for Clubhouse, not only in the U.S. but around the world.

On Sunday, co-founder Paul Davison said the service reached 10 million weekly active users, which means its user base has blossomed fivefoldin a month. These numbers are all the more impressive given that the app still requires an invitation from a current user and is available only on iPhones (an Android version is planned).Davison alsonoted that overseas markets were key contributors in the companyslatest surge, with the app rocketing to the top of the App Store charts in dozens of countries. There may be profound implications.

According to mobile-app analytics research firm App Annie, Clubhouse reached No. 1atApple Inc.s App Store in more than 30 countries this year, meaning it is now a more popular download than Instagram, TikTok, Zoom or WhatsApp in those markets. It is not just one geography either: Clubhouse is doing well across cultures, be it South Korea and Japan orGermany and Italy.

What is most striking is Clubhouses success in areas with more autocratic governments across the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. This may be an important development as it shows the tremendous thirst for open audio-based social conversation inside more authoritarian countries. In recent weeks, I have spoken withseveral users based in the Middle East. They were all extremely curious abouthow the rest of the world works while also extollingthe vibrancy of Clubhouse discussion rooms in their respective countries. One person in Saudi Arabia said there were hundreds of rooms some with thousands of participants talking about political and social issues. These kinds of live gatherings would be difficult if not impossible to hold in person.

The intimacy and back-and-forth nature of the voice-based mediumon Clubhouse may be a game-changer for political discourse. The one-on-one audio conversations fostered by the platform encouragerelationship-building in a way that text-based social networks such as Twitter and Facebook cant. And because there are no official records after discussions end, it will be more difficult for authorities to curb or censor specific topics.That may lead toeasier mobilization and coordination of new movements. In this way, its even possible that Clubhouse may finally help fulfill the promise of the Arab Spring demonstrations from a decade ago.

Thatpotential hasnt gone unnoticed. Earlier this month, users based in China noticed they could not access the service without using workarounds such asvirtual private networks to get around the countrys firewall. It suggests Chinahas decided to block access to Clubhouse.But asmy colleague Tim Culpan wrote, the generallycordial political discussion and sharing of viewpoints amongthousands of Chinese-speaking people around the world for a few weeks exemplified the best of what the platform could be.While similar restrictions may spring up elsewhere, Isuspect manycountries that allow Facebook and Twitter will keep the doors open for Clubhouse because of its rising popularity.

Clubhouses recent success does bring its own set of difficulties, includinggrowing pains as it builds outits infrastructure to serve its rapidly growing user base. Over the past week, the app frequently has become glitchy and unresponsive nearly every day.Davison has said the company hasslowed the development ofnew features to focus on keeping the service running and hiring new staff. And it is only a matter of time before Clubhouse will face serious trust and safety problems as it deals with the rising tide of charlatans and bad actorswho mayincreasingly try to inhabitthe platform.

I am optimistic that Clubhouse will become a platformof choice for healthier conversations compared withother social media platforms. The main problem with the traditional players such asFacebook and Twitter is that their advertising-focused business models incentivize the worst types of content. Because they generate more revenue from increased page views and ad impressions, they are more likely to turn a blind eye toconspiracy theories, harassment and misinformation that drive the most engagement on their platforms.Further, binary angry rants on Twitter and Facebook tend to getamplified over nuanced substantive discussions.

Clubhouse, on the other hand, is targeting a different model. From the beginning, the co-founders have said they wontpursue advertisingto generate revenue because it mightlower the quality of conversation and lead to bad behavior. Instead, the startup plans to pursue a transactional model whereusers can pay speakers directly through tipping, subscriptionsand event ticketing. Its the right move.

Many corners of the social-media world are toxic, especially wherepeople are able to fire off broadsides anonymously from behind their screens.But people tend to interact more politely in live conversation; Clubhouse may turn out to be the perfect antidote to the contentious climate. The startups game plan may be good for business, too. With its stunning emergence this year, Clubhouse has already become the biggest U.S. social-mediasuccess story in nine years after the Instagram, Twitter Inc. and Snap Inc. era. Theonly other new app to rival its recent ascendance is ByteDanceLtd.s TikTok which, notably,is alsoknown for its feel-good vibes. Clubhouse may surpass its U.S.-based peers over the next few years if it can truly perfect a better collegial environment on the internet.

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Clubhouse won over Elon Musk, now its conquering the world - HT Tech

Warren Buffett recently invested billions into big oil with his $4.1 billion stake in Chevron, which leads us to think that he just not into clean energy any more. In 2014, he invested billions more into renewables, but one would think that if you really cared about making the world a cleaner place, youd go all-in on renewable energy. This includes Tesla.

In light of Buffetts investment, Gali Filche from Hyperchange reshared a 2017 video he made titled, Dear Mr. Buffett, Buy Tesla. Gali asked this question: How much of Warren Buffetts empire is at risk if Elon Musks vision for the future is realized?

Gali mentioned that GEICO and BNSF Railway would have to compete with self-driving trucks. Gali also concluded that 48% of Berkshire Hathaways revenue was at risk of disruption due to Tesla. After looking over Berkshire Hathaways income statement from 2017, Gali noted that the first line of that statement was insurance premium earned.

These represent about $46 billion of Berkshires $233 billion of 2016 annual revenue. Approximately 21% of the total of Berkshires sales, and of that $46 billion of insurance premiums earned, about half of them 56% to be exact were related to GEICO, whose main business is car insurance. That means, in total, about 11% of the entire revenue of Berkshire is correlated to GEICO as insurance premiums earned, Gali said. This, Gali predicted, would be an issue due to self-driving cars.

He shared a clip from CNBC of Warren Buffett himself sharing how self-driving cars could hurt GEICOs business significantly.

Self-driving cars will be adopted if theyre safer. If theyre safer, theres less in the way of insurance costs. That brings down premiums significantly. So if the day comes when a significant portion of the cars on the road are autonomous, it will hurt GEICOs business very significantly, Buffett said. Gali pointed out that Buffett may think were 10 years away from full autonomy, but this will not be the start of the impact on GEICOs business model.

We think the impact is going to start happening right now. In fact, Teslas already begun offering its own insurance product. Because of their new Autopilot features, their cars are much safer than anything else on the road. Legacy insurance companies are slow to react to this and adjust the rates. Therefore, Tesla had to step in and create their own customized insurance product to accurately reflect the risks and safety of their vehicles. Teslas vehicles are only getting safer by the day as the company continues to invest in its Autopilot and autonomous driving software, and even if the car is never fully autonomous, even partial autonomy could result in as much as 90% improvement in safety, or 10, according to Elon Musk. This would be enough to flip the entire economics of insurance on their head, Gali said in the video.

Gali also believes that GEICO is at risk of losing almost the entirety of its business as the auto insurance market shrinks during the advent of self-driving cars.

This is just one example Gali gave as to why Warren Buffett should invest in Tesla. One key fact that Gali presented in his video was that two-thirds of Berkshires energy generation of the 30,000 megawatts that the company produced in 2016 were related to coal and natural gas. So, one-third was related to renewables, which is great, and I actually want to give Buffett a lot of credit for pushing renewables in his energy companies. Although, hes done it questionably with NV Energy in Nevada, kicking out SolarCity. Gali noted that was a different story for a different time.

If you think that Teslas solar roofs and their vision of a distributed energy system will take off, then thats going to pose an immediate threat to the entirety of your utility business, or at least compete with them to lower rates, Gali explained in the video.

In a much more recent video a few days ago Gali shared his thoughts on Buffetts investment into Chevron. You know Warren Buffett someone Ive said is an idol of mine, someone Ive looked up to, Ive recommended his book, The Snowball, on this channel. Hes what got me into investing, he said at the beginning of his video.

If Warren Buffet would have spent $5 billion on TSLA when it was $300 a share pre-split, his investment would have gone up more than 10, Gali pointed out. Ive been pounding the table Warren Buffett, buy Tesla, buy Tesla, buy Tesla! This is the future. Were all going electric. Its the next great American brand. And then next thing you know, he bought Chevron.

This hurt Galis heart simply because Gali believes in value investing in the companies you believe in that will change the world, whereas it seems that Buffett is value investing just to make money. Its as if Buffett doesnt care about the impact his billions will have on the rest of us.

Gali speaks of the mindset of investors in New York and why he left. They just live on a spreadsheet, I dont give a crap what business Im buying, I just want my investment to go up the most as possible. You know, its just about me, my perspective, not about whats good for the planet, not a systems approach, not thinking about other stakeholders, and I just think thats such a wrong mentality and I think everything about Buffett buying Chevron now leans into that mentality, and thats why its so frustrating.

Link:

How Much of Warren Buffetts Empire is at Risk if Elon Musks Vision for the Future is Realized? - CleanTechnica