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Elon Musk visits CureVac in Germany, explores Tesla’s role in vaccine development

(Credit: Til Schwarze/Twitter)

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Elon Musk’s trip to Germany appears to have started on a high note, as the CEO experienced nothing short of a rockstar welcome during his visit to the headquarters of CureVac in Tübingen on Tuesday evening. Local reports indicate that the internal visit was aimed at discussing cooperation between the biotech company and Tesla subsidiary Grohmann Automation for the production of RNA mini-factories that could be used for the development of vaccines. 

In a statement to SWR News, a CureVac spokesperson noted that the talks between Musk and the biotech company were held without any media present, as per the Tesla CEO’s request. CureVac is currently running a large-scale effort to develop a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus for the market in about two years. By then, the biotech company expects to have the capability to deliver billions of doses of vaccines for those in need. 

Musk’s visit was highly-anticipated by Tesla fans in the area. Since Tuesday morning, a crowd of onlookers and photographers were already present at the CureVac site in Tübingen. Fans ended up waiting for hours for the CEO, at times even weathering some rain. Musk finally arrived in a black Model X at about 4:27 local time, followed by his entourage riding in another Tesla. Fortunately, at about 8:18 pm local time, Musk emerged from the facility, strolling between the CureVac headquarters and the Tübingen observatory. 

Musk’s rockstar welcome was evident during his brief time with his fans. Surrounded by young Tesla enthusiasts, some of whom were holding signs indicating their intention to eventually work for the CEO, Musk seemingly interacted with some of his fans in a candid manner. Images from the event showed Musk, donning a bandanna in place of a face mask, walking with a group of about 30 people. Til Schwarze, one of those who waited for the CEO, later noted on Twitter that the long wait for Musk was well worth it. 

https://twitter.com/tilschwarze/status/1300859654394830850?s=20

Musk’s visit to Germany has several goals. In a post on Twitter, the CEO noted that conversations with Harvard epidemiology have indicated that the high-speed RNA printer technology has the potential to be helpful for the development of vaccines. Tesla and CureVac, incidentally enough, are currently developing and building RNA microfactories, which could greatly help in the ongoing fight against the pandemic. Back in July, Musk noted that with synthetic RNA and DNA, the solution to many diseases essentially becomes a “software problem.”

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“In principle, I think synthetic RNA (and DNA) has amazing potential. This basically makes the solution to many diseases a software problem. Tesla, as a side project, is building RNA microfactories for CureVac & possibly others,” Musk wrote. 

While Tesla and CureVac’s collaboration has been placed on the spotlight due to the pandemic, a joint patent application from 2018 reveals that the two companies have already been working on RNA-related innovations long before the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Descriptively titled “Bioreactor for RNA in vitro Transcription,” the patent outlined how Tesla’s mastery in automation could help expedite the manufacturing of RNA. 

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Tesla schedules Roadster unveiling event, and you won’t believe when it is

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Tesla has tentatively scheduled its unveiling event for the Roadster’s next-generation iteration, and you will not believe the date the company picked for it.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the 2025 Annual Shareholders Meeting that the company is aiming for an April 1 demo event.

Yes, April Fools’ Day.

Tesla originally aimed for its “most epic demo” to take place at the end of this year. However, the writing on the wall as 2025 winds down seemed to indicate the company was not quite ready to show off everything it plans to implement into the Roadster.

Its capabilities have been teased quite heavily throughout most of the year, but the biggest hints came last week when Musk appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.

He said:

“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one…I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. [It will be unveiled] hopefully before the end of the year. You know, we need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”

The Roadster has been somewhat of a letdown, at least in its newest version, thus far. Tesla has routinely delayed the project, putting those who put lofty down payments on the car in a weird limbo, lost at what to do.

One notable pre-orderer cancelled his reservation last week and got in a spat with Musk about it.

Now that there is a definitive date for the Roadster unveiling, Musk and Co. should have a more definitive cutoff date for features and capabilities. Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen said earlier this year that when they showed Musk what they had done with the Roadster, the CEO encouraged them to do even more with it.

This delayed things further.

Musk also said he believes production would begin between 12 and 18 months after the unveiling, putting it out sometime in 2027.

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Tesla (TSLA) shareholders officially approve Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award

To earn his landmark pay package, Musk would be required to lift Tesla’s market capitalization from about $1.1 trillion today to $8.5 trillion over the next decade.

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Justin Pacheco, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has officially approved his 2025 Performance Award, a landmark pay package that could make him the world’s first trillionaire and make Tesla the most valuable company in the world by a mile. 

The 2025 CEO Performance Award was officially approved by Tesla shareholders at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting.

Elon Musk‘s landmark pay package

As per Tesla, more than 75% of the shareholders approved Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award. It was then unsurprising that the approval of Elon Musk’s pay plan received overwhelming applause from the event’s attendees.

The CEO took to the stage with much enthusiasm, welcoming every shareholder to the event and dancing briefly on stage. Optimus also danced on stage smoothly, demonstrating its improved movements to much appause.

Elon Musk’s 10-year targets

To earn his 2025 CEO Performance Award, Musk would be required to grow Tesla’s market capitalization from about $1.1 trillion today to $8.5 trillion over the next decade. At that level, Tesla would surpass every major public company in existence. The compensation plan also requires Tesla’s operating profit to grow from $17 billion last year to $400 billion annually. 

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Apart from leading Tesla to become the world’s biggest company in history, Musk is also required to hit several product targets for the electric vehicle maker. These include the delivery of 20 million Tesla vehicles cumulatively, 10 million active FSD subscriptions, 1 million Tesla bots delivered, and 1 million Robotaxis in operation.

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Tesla 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting: How to watch

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Credit: @YunTaTsai1 | X

The 2025 Tesla Annual Shareholder Meeting from Gigafactory Texas is set to kick off at 4 p.m. EDT, 3 p.m. CDT.

The company will be having its typical presentation for the event, where CEO Elon Musk, along with other executives will discuss things like future products, the outlook of its self-driving development, potential releases for next year, and some current events within the company.

However, this year’s Shareholder Meeting has slightly more implications than others, as Investors and Shareholders have spent the last several months petitioning and supporting one of the proposals on the docket that could be the deciding factor in Musk staying or leaving Tesla.

Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation

Proposal four outlines a new compensation package for Musk that could give him $1 trillion in shares if he is able to complete a variety of lofty goals related to production, self-driving, and other important company projects.

Musk has said that he is truly after more influence on company decisions, especially as the Tesla Optimus program is ramping up and becoming a more relevant part of the company’s story.

The CEO said during the Q3 Earnings Call that he would not feel comfortable developing an “army of robots” if he did not have a comfortable amount of influence in some of the decisions. He could be voted our or out-influenced by what he calls “activist shareholders.”

One of those investors came after his past pay package, which was approved by shareholders not once, but twice. Musk still was not able to obtain the pay because of a Delaware Chancery Court ruling.

Nevertheless, this is one of the last ditch efforts Tesla is making to get Musk the compensation that he wants.

The meeting is set to kick off at 3 p.m. local time in Austin. You can watch it via the livestream on X:

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