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LiDAR startup lured Tesla’s VP of Legal away with $30m compensation package
LiDAR startup Luminar Technologies, Inc. lured Tesla Vice President of Legal Alan Prescott away from the Austin-based electric vehicle leader with a massive $30 million compensation package.
Prescott left Tesla last April after just under four years to join Luminar as the company’s Chief Legal Officer. Prescott spent just one year with Ford as an engineer before leaving to pursue a law degree at Georgetown University. Prescott then returned to Ford for ten years, before leaving to join Tesla in 2017.
Tesla’s Autonomy Day highlights Elon Musk’s vision for a full self-driving future without LiDAR
The $30 million compensation package was outlined in a 10-K filing Luminar submitted with the SEC on March 1. Bloomberg Law says the bulk of Prescott’scompensation is comprised of more than $29.5 million in stock rewards over six years, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Prescott joined Luminar on April 26, and was given a new hire initial equity grant with the long-term stock incentives, the report said. Prescott’s combination of a cash salary with stock compensation “roughly matches what he had at Tesla and was necessary to bring on a lawyer with his automotive industry experience,” the report said, citing the inside source.
-->The 10-K states:
“On March 25, 2021, we and Mr. Prescott entered into an employment agreement, which was amended on November 11, 2021. Pursuant to this agreement, as amended, Mr. Prescott is entitled to a base salary of $300,000 per year and is eligible for a $50,000 annual bonus based on satisfactory achievement of performance goals and to participate in our employee benefit plans. Mr. Prescott’s employment is “at-will” and is terminable by either party at any time. Among other equity-based incentives in his employment agreement, Mr. Prescott was awarded 353,000 RSUs, scheduled to vest over four years from his start date, subject to his continued service on each vesting date, provided that in the event that Mr. Prescott is terminated, resigns for good cause, or we experience a change of control, he will be entitled to the immediate vesting of the remaining unvested shares of such RSU grant.”
Luminar will pay Prescott a $300,000 annual base salary with $50,000 in bonuses.
Several legal department employees within Tesla have vacated their positions in the past few years. Lynn Miller, Tesla’s former Deputy General Counsel, left the company last year to join autonomous trucking startup Plus. Additionally, Tesla lost Vice President of People Valerie Capers Workman, an HR professional, earlier this year.
LiDAR has long been criticized by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has called the technology “a fool’s errand.” “They’re all going to dump lidar,” Musk said at Tesla’s Autonomy Day in 2019. “Anyone relying on lidar is doomed.”
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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.
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.
-->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.
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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.
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.
-->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.
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 Short, and 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.
Tesla Europe rolls out FSD ride-alongs in the Netherlands’ holiday campaign
Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
