News
Tesla 2023 shareholder meeting: Musk predicts economy will pick up after 12 months
Published
11 months agoon
By
New Yorker
In an aerial view, Tesla Corporate Headquarters are seen on January 03, 2023 in Travis County, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Tesla just kicked off its 2023 annual shareholders meeting at its Austin, Texas factory, on Tuesday with shareholders voting to add former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, who is now the CEO of Redwood Materials, to the automaker’s board of directors.
Redwood Materials recycles electronic waste and batteries, and last year struck a multi-billion dollar deal with Tesla supplier Panasonic.
After the shareholder vote, CEO Elon Musk kicked off his portion of the meeting with a commitment to conduct a third-party audit of Tesla’s cobalt supply chain, namely to ensure there is no child labor within any of Tesla’s cobalt suppliers.
Cobalt is a critical ingredient for production of batteries that go into Tesla’s electric cars and backup battery packs used at homes and for utility-scale energy projects. “Even for the small amount of cobalt that we do us, we will make sure six weeks til Sunday that no child labor is being exploited,” Musk said to the cheers of investors in attendance in person.
Musk also said that he expects a challenging economic environment to persist for the next twelve months, and that many companies will go bankrupt. But after that, he believes, the economy will recover and Tesla will be well-positioned. He also predicted that the Tesla Model Y would be “the number one best-selling car on Earth this year.”
Musk also announced that Tesla plans to produce a new kind of drive unit, which he said will require less silicon carbide than prior drive trains, and no rare earth elements. He added that Tesla will also switch to a new, low voltage architecture in its cars which should require less copper.
Later in his presentation, Musk boasted about the company’s energy storage business and said growth in the sales of “big batteries” was faster than growth in the company’s core automotive segment.
Since the electric vehicle maker’s last annual meeting in August 2022, Tesla’s largest retail shareholder, Leo Koguan, has criticized Musk for selling billions of dollars worth of his Tesla holdings to finance a $44 billion buyout of Twitter, the social media company.
Koguan, who is a billionaire and founder of the IT services firm SHI International, called for the company’s board to “perform shock therapy to resuscitate stock price,” namely by way of a share buyback late last year.
Musk is now serving as CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter concurrently, but recently announced that he has hired a new CEO for Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, the former head of advertising at NBC Universal. Musk plans to stay on at Twitter in the role of CTO.
Some institutional Tesla investors have admonished Musk for being too distracted with his new role as Twitter CEO to perform optimally at the helm of Tesla. They have also criticized the Tesla board, led by chairwoman Robyn Denholm, for failing to rein him in and protect shareholders’ interests.
Shares in Tesla closed at $228.52 on October 28, 2022, after Musk officially took over Twitter. They closed at $166.52 on May 16, 2023, as the meeting kicked off.
At the 2022 annual shareholders meeting for Tesla, Musk predicted an 18-month recession, teased the possibility of share buybacks, and told investors that electric vehicle business was aiming to produce 20 million vehicles annually by 2030, which he thought would require a dozen factories total with each one producing 1.5 million to 2 million units per year.
At that time, Musk also told investors the long-delayed Cybertruck would not have the same specifications and pricing that were originally promised when the company unveiled the angular pickup in 2019.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
Source: CNBC
Arsenal fans pray ‘hope this isn’t mind games’ after Pep’s team bombshell
Data protection giant Veeam moves HQ to Seattle region, tops $1.5B in annual recurring revenue
Dashcam video shows cement truck plowing into Texas school bus, killing boy and man
Mob in Mexican tourist city beats woman suspected of killing 8-year-old to death
5 people hurt in early morning synagogue fire
Baltimore Lost More Than a Bridge
King Charles Is ‘Utterly Determined’ to Show Unity Among the Royal Family Amid Health Battles
Los Angeles Theatre Week Provides Access to Affordable Productions
Living with an anti-reunification North Korea – Asia Times
Thousands of phones and routers swept into proxy service, unbeknownst to users
Kate Middleton’s Cancer Diagnosis Treated Like An Episode of ‘The Crown’: Commentator
Idle Bruins clinch a spot in 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Yes, You Really Need a Budget
Disney+ Has a New Look—Which Is No Look at All
NATO leaders need to Trump-proof their policies, now – Asia Times
Trending
-
Wellness22 hours ago
Is Masseter Botox Worth It? We Asked 8 People for Their Honest Reviews
-
Travel23 hours ago
Emirates embraces Easter onboard and in lounges
-
News23 hours ago
Xiaomi releases electric car $4K cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3 as price wars heat up
-
Travel24 hours ago
BTN Interview with Ramine Behnam , VP Development Europe Middle East & Africa, Minor Hotels
-
Auto21 hours ago
The New Toyota 4Runner Shows Its Back End for the First Time
-
Tech18 hours ago
Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison
-
Wellness21 hours ago
Are LED Light Masks Bad for Your Eyes?
-
Auto20 hours ago
Polestar Says More BST Performance Models Are Coming