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Tesla billionaire investor Ron Baron supports ratification of Musk’s 2018 pay package

Credit: Tesla Asia/X

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Legendary investor Ron Baron has noted that he would be voting in favor of the ratification of Elon Musk’s 2018 CEO Performance Award. Baron’s rationale behind his vote was highlighted in an open letter and discussed in a segment on CNBC’s Squawk Box

In his open letter, Baron noted that Musk’s 2018 compensation package included aggressive performance metrics that — at the time when the CEO Performance Award was approved — few believed were possible. Baron highlighted that had Musk not met his very aggressive performance goals, he would have received nothing from the electric vehicle maker. 

However, since he achieved his performance goals as Tesla’s CEO, shareholders should honor Musk’s pay package. He also noted that he believes Tesla has the potential to grow even more in the years to come. “When the contract was signed, the company’s market value was $53 billion. It got as high as a trillion, and it’s now $550 billion. I think in the next ten years, we’ll make 4-5 times our money again in Tesla,” Baron noted. 

Following is Baron’s open letter in support of Musk’s 2018 compensation plan. 

Baron Capital supports Elon Musk’s 2018 compensation contract for the following reasons:

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In 2018, 73% of Tesla’s disinterested shareholders voted in support of Elon’s compensation contract. The will of those owners of the company should be honored. The contractual agreement between the company and Elon should be honored. The voice of shareholders and legally binding contracts should not be permitted to be undone by a shareholder for hire and his strike suit lawyers. The plaintiff shareholder in question owned nine (9) Tesla shares, and the lawyers who represented him have requested they be awarded $5.6 billion in fees! Further, the plaintiff’s lawyers requested their fees be paid in Tesla shares…after its stock price has been depressed by this controversy! Does anyone honestly believe the motivation of the plaintiff and his lawyers was to serve the best interests of Tesla and its shareholders?

Elon’s compensation contract contained aggressive performance metrics that few in 2018 believed could be achieved. If these aggressive performance metrics had not been achieved, Elon would have received nothing. When Tesla achieved targeted earnings, revenues, and market cap metrics, Tesla’s shareholders benefitted greatly. Tesla’s market cap when Elon’s pay package was approved on March 21, 2018 was $53.5 billion. It is approximately $550.75 billion today, after having reached a high watermark of $1.24 trillion in November of 2021. He performed under his compensation contract. He earned his pay.

Elon is the ultimate “key man” of key man risk. Without his relentless drive and uncompromising standards, there would be no Tesla. Especially considering how he slept on the floor of Tesla’s Fremont factory when the company was going through what he called “production hell!”

If shareholders want to protect and grow their investment, they must AGAIN approve his compensation contract.

Shareholders should ask themselves this question: is Tesla better off with or without Elon…whom we believe is the reason 6 million people applied for 12,000 jobs last year to work with this extraordinary individual. Because that is what is at stake. At Baron Capital, our answer is clear, loud, and unequivocal: Tesla is better with Elon.

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Tesla is Elon.

Ron

June 4, 2024

Ron Baron’s full open letter in support of Elon Musk’s 2018 CEO Performance Award can be fully viewed below. 

Baron Capital Tesla Elon Musk Compensation 6.5.2024 by Simon Alvarez on Scribd

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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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Investor's Corner

BYD to overtake Tesla in BEV sales this 2025: Counterpoint Research

Counterpoint’s insights were shared by the market researcher on its official website.

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BYD-5-minute-ev-charging
(Credit: BYD)

Counterpoint Research has estimated that Chinese automaker BYD will be able to overtake American electric car maker Tesla in Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) sales this 2025.

Counterpoint’s insights were shared by the market researcher on its official website.

The (Counter)Point

Counterpoint Research’s latest Global Passenger EV Forecast suggests that BYD will be capturing a 15.7% global market share this year. This is expected to be driven by scale, innovation, and strong backing from the Chinese government.

The market researcher highlighted a number of factors that could help BYD become the world’s premier BEV maker this year. These include the company’s 1,000-kW ultra-fast charging technology and 10C charging rate batteries, which exceed Tesla’s current Supercharger offerings.

“The system can deliver 400 km of range in just 5 minutes, setting a new industry benchmark, far outpacing Tesla’s Supercharger, which adds about 275 km in 10 minutes. This technological leap is expected to significantly ease consumer concerns around charging time and boost EV adoption by reducing charging anxiety,” Abhik Mukherjee, Research Analyst at Counterpoint, stated

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The Tesla Factor

Counterpoint argued that Tesla, in comparison, is confronting several challenges, from damaged public perception due to CEO Elon Musk’s politics to geopolitical tensions between the United States and key markets like China. The market researcher highlighted Tesla’s soft sales in Europe and other markets, though it did not seem to consider the company’s changeover to the new Model Y across its global factories in Q1 2025.

“CEO Elon Musk has scored somewhat of an own goal against Tesla, and we are about to catch a glimpse of how much the company’s sales were hurt in Q1 2025. This is a big opportunity for BYD and if they deliver on the fast-charging promise, this could be the turning point for BYD and the China BEV story globally,” Counterpoint Associate Director Liz Lee stated.

Not the First Forecast

As noted in a CNEV Post report, this is not the first time that Counterpoint has predicted that BYD will overtake Tesla’s BEV sales. Last July, the market researcher expected BYD to overtake Tesla in 2024 to become the world’s top BEV maker. Tesla still beat BYD’s BEV sales at the end of 2024, however, with the American EV maker delivering a total of 1,789,226 vehicles globally versus the Chinese automaker’s 1,764,992 units.

In Q1 2025, however, BYD does seem to have momentum. BYD sold 416,388 passenger BEVs in the first quarter. As per Tesla’s Q1 vehicle delivery and production report, the company was able to deliver a total of 336,681 vehicles in the first quarter of 2025.

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Tesla bull Wedbush responds to Q1 deliveries: ‘A disaster on every metric’

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Credit: diagnosticdennis/Instagram and @smile__no via Tesla Owners of Santa Clarita Valley/X

Tesla bull Wedbush has responded to the company’s lackluster Q1 delivery figures, which were released on Wednesday morning in a new note from analyst Dan Ives.

Tesla reported deliveries of 336,681 vehicles in the first quarter of the year, a far cry from the Wall Street estimate of 352,000 and whisper numbers of roughly 350,000. At first glance, it seems to be a disaster, but Tesla said it lost “several weeks of production” in Q1 due to the ramp of the new Model Y at all four of its vehicle production factories.

Tesla (TSLA) reports 336,681 vehicle deliveries for Q1 2025

This could be part of the reason that the company experienced a quarter of this performance, but there are also factors stemming from CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the U.S. government, which has created some pushback in various markets.

It’s tough to say how much of each issue caused this type of quarter, but Ives wrote in a note to investors that Wedbush could not look at this “with rose-colored glasses,” as the performance “was a disaster on every metric.”

Ives believes it is time for Musk to make a move:

“The Street and us knew a bad 1Q was coming but this was even worse than expected. The time has come for Musk….it’s a fork in the road moment. The more political he gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate. This quarter was an example of the damage Musk is causing Tesla. This continues to be a moment of truth for Musk to navigate this brand tornado crisis moment and get onto the other side of this dark chapter for Tesla with much better days ahead.”

Interestingly, the stock dropped over 5 percent after the delivery report. It quickly rebounded 8 percent and is currently up over 5 percent on the day after a report from Politico stated that Musk and President Donald Trump have discussed the CEO stepping back from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Based on that, it seems that investors were looking for Musk to step back from his government duties and show more public attention to Tesla. Realistically, we do not know how much of his time is being devoted to Tesla and its EV initiative. However, it seems investors were ready to hear something along the lines of Musk being more involved and speaking openly about Tesla and its projects.

It’s not all bad. Ives still recognizes Tesla’s prowess with the rollout of robotaxi and Full Self-Driving and how much impact it could have moving forward:

“Autonomous remains the biggest transformation to the auto industry in modern-day history and in our view, Tesla will own the autonomous market in the US and globally with the launch of unsupervised FSD in Austin kicking off the autonomous era at Tesla that we value at $1 trillion alone on a sum-of-the-parts valuation…”

With that being said, he also wants Musk to balance responsibilities with DOGE and Tesla:

“BUT…Musk needs to stop this political firestorm and balance being CEO of Tesla with DOGE. The future is so bright but this is a full blown crisis Tesla is navigating now and its primarily self-inflected. We remain firmly bullish on the long-term Tesla story but Musk needs to get his act together or else unfortunately darker times are ahead for Tesla.”

Tesla shares are trading at $283.01, up 5.42% at 1:57 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Tesla (TSLA) shares date for “Company Update” and Q1 2025 earnings call

Tesla seems to be planning something slightly different for the upcoming event.

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Credit: Tesla China

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has announced the date for its upcoming first quarter 2025 earnings call. 

Interestingly enough, the company seems to be planning something slightly different for the upcoming event.

Tesla Q1 2025 Earnings Call Date

As shared by Tesla in its Q1 2025 vehicle production and delivery report, the company would be holding its first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Central Time / 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Similar to past earnings calls, the event will be livestreamed. An archived version of the session would also be shared on the company’s website.

Prior to the earnings call, Tesla will be releasing its Q1 2025 Update Letter. The Q1 2025 Update Letter will be released after markets close on April 22.

A Company Update

Tesla enthusiasts and TSLA bulls have observed that the electric vehicle maker adjusted its wording a bit in its Q1 2025 vehicle delivery and production report. As could be seen in the release, Tesla noted that it would also be holding a “Company Update” on April 22. This is the first time that such an event has been referenced by the electric vehicle maker with its quarterly earnings call.

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“In addition to posting first quarter results, Tesla management will hold a live company update and question and answer webcast that day,” Tesla wrote in its Q1 2025 vehicle delivery and production report. Tesla also referenced a “Company Update” in a post on its official X account.

Expectations are high that Tesla will discuss some of its highly anticipated projects during its Company Update. These may include, among other things, new affordable vehicles that were mentioned in the Q4 and Full Year 2024 Update Letter.

“Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025. These vehicles will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up,” Tesla wrote.

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