News
Over $1 million of Elon Musk’s Burnt Hair perfume have been sold
Elon Musk announced that over 10,000 bottles of his new perfume, Burnt Hair, have been sold. Priced at $100 per bottle, this totals over $1 million in sales. Elon Musk also said that he couldn’t wait for the media stories about the sales of The Boring Company’s new product.
Following the release of the new fragrance, there have been reports of media outlets contacting Elon Musk’s fans, asking them if they really bought the fragrance and why.
Can’t wait for media stories tomorrow about $1M of Burnt Hair sold 🤣
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 12, 2022
Jonathan Preston is one such person who was contacted by The Wall Street Journal. He told Teslarati that he received an email, and after verifying the authenticity, he spoke with Joseph Pisani over the phone. In a Twitter message, Jonathan told Teslarati,
“When I saw his message this morning, I thought it was fake/spam because why would anyone really care? On Twitter, his account is verified, and I googled him and confirmed he’s with WSJ.”
Jonathan was asked why he bought it, how many he bought, and whether or not he thought Elon Musk would actually make it. He also told WSJ that he didn’t think the product existed yet.
“I think Elon threw it out there and is like, ‘holy shit, people actually want this!’ Now he’s probably scrambling to get this made. Again MY opinion, and I could be wrong. It’s Elon Musk. It’s well known if you order something new/not yet on the market, be prepared to wait, and I am. I waited almost a year for my Y.”
“I waited [for] over 1 1/2y for my 2 Starlinks it’s just how it is, and if you don’t want to wait, you don’t buy his products,” he added.
WSJ also asked if Jonathan was a fan of Elon Musk and Jonathan explained to me that this part is what he was worried the publication would take out of context. He explained that he didn’t consider himself a fan but as someone who has a lot of respect for Elon Musk.
https://twitter.com/intelligent_eat/status/1580253975839879168
“I believe he’s genuinely trying to better humanity, and I respect anyone who will disrupt ‘the system’ to do so. Everyone laughed and said he would fail, myself included, in Tesla’s early days. As time passed, he’s proven everyone wrong. Just look at legacy automakers struggling right now. Now, who’s laughing? I have other products and no problem pointing out flaws.”
Some of these flaws included ones Jonathan experienced when taking delivery of his Tesla Model Y in late 2021. He also added that he thought people were too serious about everything about Elon Musk.
“People can’t even laugh at themselves. MSM (mainstream media) seems to always put a negative narrative on everything. Yes, there are real issues going on globally with war and politics its just depressing. My opinion is Burnt Hair is just Elon saying, chill out, have a laugh, and share a laugh.”
Please buy my perfume, so I can buy Twitter
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 12, 2022
Have you purchased Elon Musk’s new fragrance? Why or why not? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Your feedback is essential. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.
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Elon Musk
Tesla locks in Elon Musk’s top problem solver as it enters its most ambitious era
The generous equity award was disclosed by the electric vehicle maker in a recent regulatory filing.
Tesla has granted Senior Vice President of Automotive Tom Zhu more than 520,000 stock options, tying a significant portion of his compensation to the company’s long-term performance.
The generous equity award was disclosed by the electric vehicle maker in a recent regulatory filing.
Tesla secures top talent
According to a Form 4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tom Zhu received 520,021 stock options with an exercise price of $435.80 per share. Since the award will not fully vest until March 5, 2031, Zhu must remain at Tesla for more than five years to realize the award’s full benefit.
Considering that Tesla shares are currently trading at around the $445 to $450 per share level, Zhu will really only see gains in his equity award if Tesla’s stock price sees a notable rise over the years, as noted in a Sina Finance report.
Still, even at today’s prices, Zhu’s stock award is already worth over $230 million. If Tesla reaches the market cap targets set forth in Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award, Zhu would become a billionaire from this equity award alone.
Tesla’s problem solver
Zhu joined Tesla in April 2014 and initially led the company’s Supercharger rollout in China. Later that year, he assumed the leadership of Tesla’s China business, where he played a central role in Tesla’s localization efforts, including expanding retail and service networks, and later, overseeing the development of Gigafactory Shanghai.
Zhu’s efforts helped transform China into one of Tesla’s most important markets and production hubs. In 2023, Tesla promoted Zhu to Senior Vice President of Automotive, placing him among the company’s core global executives and expanding his influence beyond China. He has since garnered a reputation as the company’s problem solver, being tapped by Elon Musk to help ramp Giga Texas’s vehicle production.
With this in mind, Tesla’s recent filing seems to suggest that the company is locking in its top talent as it enters its newest, most ambitious era to date. As could be seen in the targets of Elon Musk’s 2025 pay package, Tesla is now aiming to be the world’s largest company by market cap, and it is aiming to achieve production levels that are unheard of. Zhu’s talents would definitely be of use in this stage of the company’s growth.
News
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
Tesla has rolled out a price incentive in Norway, effectively offsetting a notable VAT increase that hit electric vehicle buyers at the start of 2026.
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
A “Tesla bonus”
Once the VAT increase kicked in at the start of 2026, Tesla Norway’s sales cooled almost immediately, as noted in a CarUp report. Tesla’s response was swift, with the electric vehicle maker rolling out what it calls a “Tesla bonus.”
This bonus effectively cuts prices by up to 50,000 kronor across eight model variants. All versions of the Tesla Model Y qualify for the incentive, along with most Tesla Model 3 trims, save for the base entry-level model.
This means that for Tesla Norway’s best-selling vehicles, the bonus effectively restores pricing to pre-VAT levels. This blunts the impact of the new tax and makes Tesla’s vehicle offerings competitive again in Europe’s most EV-saturated market.
Stabilizing demand
In addition to the “Tesla bonus,” the electric car maker is also offering a promotional interest rate for up to three years, with terms varying by model. The incentive applies to orders placed between January 9 and March 31, 2026, with delivery required by the end of the first quarter.
The stakes are high in Norway, where electric vehicles dominate new-car registrations. From the vehicles that were sold in 2025, 96% of new cars sold were fully electric. And from this number, Tesla and its Model Y made their dominance felt. This was highlighted by Geir Inge Stokke, director of OFV, who noted that Tesla was able to achieve its stellar results despite its small vehicle lineup.
“Taking almost 20% market share during a year with record-high new car sales is remarkable in itself. When a brand also achieves such volumes with so few models, it says a lot about both demand and Tesla’s impact on the Norwegian market,” Stokke stated.
Elon Musk
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
SpaceX emerged as a clear beneficiary of the Trump administration’s renewed push to accelerate military innovation, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth openly praised Elon Musk’s private space enterprise during a visit to the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas.
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
Hegseth embraces Elon Musk’s pace
Speaking at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, Hegseth criticized what he described as a “risk-averse culture” among traditional defense contractors and called for faster innovation modeled after Musk’s approach. He confirmed that the Department of Defense plans to integrate Musk’s Grok AI platform into Pentagon systems, which is part of the administration’s efforts to make the U.S. military an “AI-first warfighting force.”
Hegseth stated that the Pentagon intends to deploy AI models across both classified and unclassified networks, signaling a willingness to push past earlier efforts to limit military use of artificial intelligence. His comments aligned closely with President Donald Trump’s recent call for a $500 billion increase in defense spending, Bloomberg News noted. Trump has also warned major contractors that slower production and shareholder-focused practices could put future contracts at risk.
While Hegseth criticized legacy defense firms, SpaceX was held up as an example of how aggressive timelines, vertical integration, and iterative development could reshape defense strategies. “We need to be blunt here; we can no longer afford to wait a decade for our legacy prime contractors to deliver a perfect system. Winning requires a new playbook. Elon wrote it with his algorithm: question every requirement, delete the dumb ones and accelerate like hell,” Hegseth said.
SpaceX’s expanding defense role comes into focus
SpaceX has become one of the U.S. government’s most important aerospace partners. The company holds roughly $4 billion in NASA contracts to develop Starship into a lunar lander, while also serving as a key launch provider for sensitive national security payloads using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
During the visit, Musk highlighted that his ambitions extend beyond defense contracts, reiterating long-term goals of interplanetary travel and eventual exploration beyond the solar system. Still, the optics of the event reinforced how closely SpaceX’s capabilities now align with U.S. strategic priorities.
The appearance also marked another step in Musk’s political rehabilitation after a public falling-out with the White House last year. Since leaving his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has gradually reengaged with the administration, reconnecting with U.S. President Donald Trump during slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s tribute and attending events at the White House. Trump’s also recently suggested that Starlink could help restore internet access in Iran.
Tesla locks in Elon Musk’s top problem solver as it enters its most ambitious era
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
