Connect with us
musk companies musk companies

News

In Elon Musk’s intertwining web of companies, Twitter is the latest addition

Published

on

Elon Musk recently added Twitter to the list of companies he currently controls. Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Company, and others have all worked as an intertwining web of entities with Musk acting as the spider. With the addition of Twitter, Musk adds another dimension to his list of companies that work with one another, all of which will ultimately culminate in the creation of X, a parent company.

While Musk’s ownership and control of Twitter are less than two weeks from its beginnings, employees of the social media network are learning a new lesson: just because it does not deal with cars, rockets, or tunnels, doesn’t mean those will not somehow come into the picture later on.

Twitter engineers learned this lesson faster than anyone as reports circulated late last week that Tesla employees were heading to downtown San Francisco to work side-by-side with the social media platform’s software people. The move was met with mixed reviews: some literally could not care less, but others felt Tesla engineers already had enough on their plate. After all, Musk said earlier this year he’d be very surprised if Tesla did not solve its Full Self-Driving suite by year’s end, and less than two months remain in 2022.

For anyone seasoned with Musk and his many ventures, the move was not all that much of a surprise. The Tesla CEO’s companies have never been wholly individualized, per se. While Tesla builds cars, SpaceX builds rockets, and the Boring Company builds underground tunnels, the three companies all have a little piece of each other. It’s more than likely just an advantage of having your hands in a lot of different buckets.

Take Tesla and SpaceX for example. The Model X drove NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the launchpad for the SpaceX Demo-2 launch last year. Tesla has used SpaceX welding techniques to improve the strength of aluminum parts in the Model Y. According to CNBC, Tesla sold SpaceX $2 million worth of vehicle components in Q1 2021.

Advertisement
-->

NASA shows off Tesla Model X astronaut transport vehicle ahead of historic launch

Tesla and the Boring Company have an obvious connection due to the latter’s use of the former’s vehicles within its tunnels. Most notably, the Vegas Loop, which aims to revolutionize commuter and tourist travel in the Sin City, utilizes an array of Tesla vehicles to improve its express-style travel, helping to accommodate for groups of all sizes.

One of the advantages of having so many different companies in so many different industries is that eventually, situations will arise that may hint toward a conjuctive effort to solve a problem. Twitter is no different. A company that has obvious struggles in its DNA, evident through its battle with bots and spam accounts, Twitter is getting attention from some highly talented engineers at Tesla.

There are criticisms, too. Of course, Tesla investors may not love hearing that company employees are devoting time to a project that many of them disagreed with, to begin with. It is no secret that some of Musk’s biggest supporters have questioned the Twitter saga, referring to it as a distraction or a mistake. Musk, on the other hand, believes Twitter’s status as a modern-day town hall that highlights free speech is essential, and it is just one more thing he saw that he felt needed fixing.

For what it is worth, the workload and daily calendar Musk keeps is pretty impressive. A string of companies all helping one another is also a big plus and a huge advantage.

Advertisement
-->

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla Europe rolls out FSD ride-alongs in the Netherlands’ holiday campaign

The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla Europe has announced that its “Future Holidays” campaign will feature Full Self-Driving (Supervised) ride-along experiences in the Netherlands. 

The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.

The Holiday program was announced by Tesla Europe & Middle East in a post on X. “Come get in the spirit with us. Featuring Caraoke, FSD Supervised ride-along experiences, holiday light shows with our S3XY lineup & more,” the company wrote in its post on X.

Per the program’s official website, fun activities will include Caraoke sessions and light shows with the S3XY vehicle lineup. It appears that Optimus will also be making an appearance at the events. Tesla even noted that the humanoid robot will be in “full party spirit,” so things might indeed be quite fun. 

“This season, we’re introducing you to the fun of the future. Register for our holiday events to meet our robots, see if you can spot the Bot to win prizes, and check out our selection of exclusive merchandise and limited-edition gifts. Discover Tesla activities near you and discover what makes the future so festive,” Tesla wrote on its official website. 

Advertisement
-->

This announcement aligns with Tesla’s accelerating FSD efforts in Europe, where supervised ride-alongs could help demonstrate the tech to regulators and customers. The Netherlands, with its urban traffic and progressive EV policies, could serve as an ideal and valuable testing ground for FSD.

Tesla is currently hard at work pushing for the rollout of FSD to several European countries. Tesla has received approval to operate 19 FSD test vehicles on Spain’s roads, though this number could increase as the program develops. As per the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Tesla would be able to operate its FSD fleet on any national route across Spain. Recent job openings also hint at Tesla starting FSD tests in Austria. Apart from this, the company is also holding FSD demonstrations in Germany, France, and Italy.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges

New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla China

Tesla’s sales momentum in China strengthened in November, with wholesale volumes rising to 86,700 units, reversing a slowdown seen in October. 

New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month. This was partly driven by tightened delivery windows, targeted marketing, and buyers moving to secure vehicles before changes to national purchase tax incentives take effect.

Tesla’s November rebound coincided with a noticeable spike in Model Y interest across China. Delivery wait times extended multiple times over the month, jumping from an initial 2–5 weeks to estimated handovers in January and February 2026 for most five-seat variants. Only the six-seat Model Y L kept its 4–8 week estimated delivery timeframe.

The company amplified these delivery updates across its Chinese social media channels, urging buyers to lock in orders early to secure 2025 delivery slots and preserve eligibility for current purchase tax incentives, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Tesla also highlighted that new inventory-built Model Y units were available for customers seeking guaranteed handovers before December 31.

This combination of urgency marketing and genuine supply-demand pressure seemed to have helped boost November’s volumes, stabilizing what had been a year marked by several months of year-over-year declines.

Advertisement
-->

For the January–November period, Tesla China recorded 754,561 wholesale units, an 8.30% decline compared to the same period last year. The company’s Shanghai Gigafactory continues to operate as both a domestic production base and a major global export hub, building the Model 3 and Model Y for markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, among other territories.

Continue Reading

Investor's Corner

Tesla bear gets blunt with beliefs over company valuation

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.

“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Shortand was portrayed by Christian Bale.

Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”

Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation

For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.

Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.

While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.

Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.

In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.

Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.

It closed at $430.14 on Monday.

Continue Reading