Elon Musk
OPINION: Tesla Vandalism lawsuit should be the first of many
The filing of a lawsuit by a Tesla owner who had his vehicle vandalized by a brainwashed member of what is being called the “Tesla Takeover” movement should be the first of many.
For the past few months, we have seen so many instances of intimidation by those who oppose Tesla, CEO Elon Musk, and President Donald Trump. These occurrences have been incredibly frequent and have varied in terms of their severity. It’s been as arbitrary as keying a car, and as violent as gunshots and Molotov cocktails being shot and thrown at showrooms.
The side of the perpetrators seems to be under the impression that President Trump and Musk are punishing those who have differing viewpoints as if their very livelihoods are under attack. The problem is, although government spending and some government programs are being modified or eliminated, there is no specific group being targeted, which is a big reason the use of the word “Nazi” has been baffling to me over the past few months.
That other side will have you believe there is a right-wing force that has taken over the government and aims to violate the rights of everyone who is unlike them. Ironically, it is precisely what the “protestors” are doing. Don’t agree with us? Okay. We’ll damage your vehicle.
Although the Trump administration and the FBI have set up specific measures to investigate instances of vandalism and hopefully eliminate it altogether, things have not truly calmed down. In fact, it seems it is getting worse.
However, a lawsuit filed by a victim of one of these senseless attacks has set a new precedent: damage my car, you will find yourself in a lawsuit:
🚨 The first-ever lawsuit against a man caught on video using Sentry Mode as he vandalized a Tesla has been filed.
An anonymous Tesla owner has sued Rafael Hernandez, who was arrested after Sentry Mode caught video of him keying a vehicle.
The Plaintiff is suing for infliction…
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 26, 2025
In actuality, this might be the best strategy for minimizing the instances of vandalism we have seen over the past several months. Nothing seems to be working, and the attackers, who appear to be of all shapes, sizes, and ages, only seem to be doing it more often, despite being caught on camera by Sentry Mode.
The suit that was filed against Rafael Hernandez, who keyed a Model X at DFW Airport, seeks $1m in damages. While it is unlikely he will be awarded that significant sum, what Hernandez ends up paying could be significantly more than just the amount of repairing the scratch.
This all funnels down to one specific point: Tesla drivers are simply that, people who drove to buy and drive a Tesla. Driving a car is not a political statement; it is, in many ways, simply a choice of convenience. People choose EVs for many reasons, with home charging, performance, and look being several of them.
Ask 100 Tesla owners why they bought the car, and I’m sure many would not say, “Because I love Elon Musk and agree with everything that comes out of his mouth.”
I am an Elon Musk fan, but I don’t agree with everything he has done or will do. I don’t agree with everything my parents, my friends, or my family do. I am not a loyalist to anyone except myself. This is where I find the vandalism to be so distasteful.
If Toyota’s CEO came out and said things that were controversial, for example, “We’re not transitioning to EVs because we don’t feel it’s the right time with demand,” something that was stated a few years ago as a part of their strategy, do you think Tesla owners were keying Toyotas? No.
Support brands that line up with your ideologies. Avoid ones that don’t. People of all ages do this peacefully. If you want to hurt a brand, don’t give them or their customers your money. Keying a Tesla might result in both with this initial lawsuit.
The point is, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about this. Vandalism is not the right way. Not only are you disrupting someone’s life who has nothing to do with Tesla, but now you’re putting yourself in the line of fire for a particularly substantial sum of money. Additionally, you’re not winning over any fans with this type of reaction. Nobody said “I now see their point since they keyed my car, I agree with them.”
I am hopeful that this lawsuit will encourage Tesla to go after the violent vandals who have attacked its stores. I am hopeful that this lawsuit will encourage Tesla owners to go after the violent vandals who have had their cars damaged by senseless people who have differing political views.
Perhaps this is the move that will start to bring down the frequency of these attacks.
Elon Musk
How much of SpaceX will Elon Musk own after IPO will surprise you
SpaceX’s IPO filing confirms Musk will maintain his voting power to make key decisions for the company.
Elon Musk will retain dominant voting control of SpaceX after it goes public, according to the company’s IPO prospectus that was filed with the SEC. The filing reveals a dual-class equity structure giving Class B shareholders 10 votes each, concentrating power with Musk and a handful of other insiders, while Class A shares sold to public investors carry one vote.
Musk holds approximately 42% of SpaceX’s equity and controls roughly 79% of its votes through super-voting shares. He will simultaneously serve as CEO, CTO, and chairman of the nine-member board after the listing. Beyond that, the filing includes provisions that may limit shareholders’ influence over board elections and legal actions, forcing disputes into arbitration and restricting where they can be brought.
The case for Musk holding this level of control is grounded in SpaceX’s actual history. The company’s most important bets, from reusable rockets to a global satellite internet constellation, were decisions that ran against conventional aerospace thinking and would likely have faced resistance from a board accountable to investor gains. Fully reusable rockets were considered economically irrational by established industry players for years. Starlink, which now generates over $4 billion in annual operating profit, was widely dismissed as financially unviable when it was proposed. The argument for concentrated founder control seems straightforward, and the decisions that built SpaceX into what it is today required someone willing to ignore consensus and absorb years of losses.
SpaceX files confidentially for IPO that will rewrite the record books
For context, Musk’s position is significantly more dominant than Zuckerberg’s at Meta. The comparison with Tesla is also worth noting. When Tesla did its IPO in 2010, it did not issue dual-class shares. Musk has only recently pushed for enhanced voting protection, proposing at least 25% control at Tesla in 2024 after selling shares to fund his Twitter acquisition left him with around 13%.
SpaceX has clearly learned from that experience and structured the IPO differently by planning to allocate up to 30% of shares to retail investors, roughly three times the typical norm for a large offering. The roadshow is expected to begin the week of June 8, with a Nasdaq listing rumored to be a $1.75 trillion valuation and a $75 billion raise.
Elon Musk
ARK’s SpaceX IPO Guide makes a compelling case on why $1.75T may not be the ceiling
ARK Invest breaks down six reasons SpaceX’s $1.75 trillion IPO valuation may be justified.
ARK Invest, which holds SpaceX as its largest Venture Fund position at 17% of net assets, has published a detailed investor guide to why a SpaceX IPO may be grounded in a $1.75 trillion target valuation.
The financial case starts with Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation, which has surpassed 10 million active subscribers globally as of early 2026, with 2026 revenue projected to exceed $20 billion. ARK’s research puts the total satellite connectivity market opportunity at roughly $160 billion annually at scale, and Starlink is adding customers faster than any telecom network in history. That growth alone would justify a substantial valuation.
Additionally, ARK notes that SpaceX has reduced the cost per kilogram to orbit from roughly $15,600 in 2008 to under $1,000 today through reusable Falcon 9 hardware. A fully operational Starship targeting sub-$100 per kilogram would represent a significant cost decline and open markets that do not currently exist. SpaceX executed a staggering 165 missions in 2025 and now accounts for approximately 85% of all global orbital launches. That infrastructure position took decades to build and would be nearly impossible to replicate at comparable cost.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
The February 2026 merger with xAI added a layer to the valuation that straightforward financial models struggle to capture. ARK argues that at sub-$100 launch costs, orbital data centers could deliver compute roughly 25% cheaper than ground-based alternatives, without power grid delays, permitting friction, or land constraints. Musk has stated a goal of deploying 100 gigawatts of AI computing capacity per year from orbit.
The $1.75 trillion figure itself is not a conventional earnings multiple. At roughly 95x trailing revenue, it prices in Starlink’s adoption curve, Starship’s cost trajectory, and the orbital compute thesis together. The public S-1 prospectus, due at least 15 days before the June roadshow, will give investors their first complete look at the financials to test those assumptions. ARK’s position is that the track record earns the benefit of the doubt. Fully reusable rockets were considered unrealistic for years. Starlink was considered financially unviable. Both happened on timelines that surprised skeptics.
Elon Musk
Ford CEO Farley says Tesla is not who to look at for EV expertise
Interestingly, Farley has been one of the most hellbent CEOs in terms of a legacy automaker standpoint to push the EV effort. It did not go according to plan, as Ford took a $19.5 billion charge and retreated from its EV push in late 2025.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a recent podcast interview that Tesla is not who Americans should look at to beat Chinese carmakers.
The comments have sparked quite a bit of outrage from Tesla fans on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.
Farley said that Chinese automakers are better examples of how to beat competitors. He said (via the Rapid Response Podcast):
“If you’re an American and you want us to beat the Chinese in the car business, you’re all going to want to pay attention, not necessarily to Tesla. Nothing against Tesla—they’ve been doing great—but they really don’t have an updated vehicle. The best in the business for us, cost-wise and competition-wise, supply chain, manufacturing expertise, and the I.P. in the vehicle, was really BYD. In this next cycle of EV customers in the U.S., they want pickups and utilities and all these different body styles. But they want them at $30,000, not $50,000. Like the first inning, they want them affordably.”
Despite Farley’s synopsis, it is worth mentioning that Tesla had the best-selling passenger vehicle in the world last year, and in China in March, as the Model Y continued its global dominance over other vehicles.
Musk responded to Farley’s comments by stating:
“This is before Supervised FSD is approved in China. Limiting factor is production output in Shanghai.”
This is before supervised FSD is approved in China. Limiting factor is production output in Shanghai.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2026
Interestingly, Farley has been one of the most hellbent CEOs in terms of a legacy automaker standpoint to push the EV effort. It did not go according to plan, as Ford took a $19.5 billion charge and retreated from its EV push in late 2025.
Ford cancels all-electric F-150 Lightning, announces $19.5 billion in charges
Instead, Ford is “doubling down on its affordable” EVs and said it would pivot from its previous plans.
Reaction from Tesla fans was pretty much how you would expect. Many said they have lost a lot of respect for Farley after his comments; others believe he is the last CEO anyone should be taking advice on EVs from.
Nevertheless, Farley’s plans are bold and brash; many consider Tesla the most ideal company to replicate EV efforts from. It will be interesting to see if Ford can rebound from this big adjustment, and hopefully, Farley’s plans to replicate efforts from BYD work out the way he hopes.
Tesla just unlocked sales to 50,000+ government agencies
How much of SpaceX will Elon Musk own after IPO will surprise you
