

Investor's Corner
Tesla’s military veteran hires are a perfect fit for Fremont’s high-tempo culture
In California, US military veterans are finding a place where they could thrive. Through its “Veterans at Tesla” program, Tesla is putting a special focus on placing more former military personnel in leadership positions. In the Fremont factory alone, veterans are utilizing their skills to help the company in its mission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
Navy and Marine Corps veteran Kristen Kavanaugh is one of these leaders. The veteran, who served in Iraq and joined the electric car maker in 2016, currently serves as the head of Leadership Development for Tesla. She also heads the electric car maker’s Veterans Task Force, which helps former military personnel grow and advance to leadership positions within the company. Speaking with the CBS San Francisco, Kavanaugh notes that Tesla’s intense work culture is familiar territory to former military personnel.
“Our veterans have deployed. They’ve worked under stressful conditions, they are used to high operational tempo, and that’s what we have here at Tesla, and it just seems like a natural fit for what veterans are bringing to the table, and then what Tesla is offering them from a career advancement standpoint,” she said.
The “Veterans at Tesla” program has been growing steadily over the years. The Fremont factory, for one, employs about 10,000 workers. Across the company, around 800 former military service members have been hired this year so far. The number continues to grow, and members of the program are continually looking to move up the chain of command.
Speaking to CBS, Ryan (last name not given), who worked as a logistics specialist in the Marine Corps, noted that his work at the electric car maker is quite similar to his tasks in the military. He further stated that his civilian career had been all but re-energized by his work at Tesla.
“Instead of beans, bullets, and band-aids, we make sure that this plastic or aluminum part gets delivered on time so it can be put into the cars. Not since I left the Marines have I felt a sense of purpose like I have at Tesla. We’re not just making cars. We’re changing the world and history has its eyes on you,” he said.
When Elon Musk was trying to get SpaceX off the ground, he and his growing team of employees wanted the best that the talent pool had to offer. Operating under Silicon Valley principles, the company expects its employees to push incredibly hard to meet targets. Thus, for the private space firm, its recruiting pitch was simple — SpaceX was “special forces” — and it was this pitch that ultimately attracted talent that helped the company achieve the milestones it has attained over the years.
The same could be said of Tesla. The company has grown significantly over the 15 years it has existed, and it has reached a point where it is disrupting the auto market and challenging legacy carmakers like Ford and GM head-on. As noted by Elon Musk in a recent interview with tech journalist Kara Swisher at the Recode Decode podcast, though, Tesla’s growth over the years was only possible through exhausting work from himself and the company’s employees. When asked what Musk gives credit to with regards to Tesla’s survival so far, the CEO noted that it was due to “excruciating effort,” and “hundred-hour weeks by everyone.”
As proven by the company’s profitability in the third quarter, such exhausting efforts are starting to pay off. With these accomplishments in mind, much credit is due to the company’s own “special forces,” who have gone from the frontlines of the battlefield to the demanding pressures of Tesla’s production lines.
Investor's Corner
Shareholder group urges Nasdaq probe into Elon Musk’s Tesla 2025 CEO Interim Award
The SOC Investment Group represents pension funds tied to more than two million union members, many of whom hold shares in TSLA.

An investment group is urging Nasdaq to investigate Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) over its recent $29 billion equity award for CEO Elon Musk.
The SOC Investment Group, which represents pension funds tied to more than two million union members—many of whom hold shares in TSLA—sent a letter to the exchange citing “serious concerns” that the package sidestepped shareholder approval and violated compensation rules.
Concerns over Tesla’s 2025 CEO Interim Award
In its August 19 letter to Nasdaq enforcement chief Erik Wittman, SOC alleged that Tesla’s board improperly granted Musk a “2025 CEO Interim Award” under the company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan. That plan, the group noted, explicitly excluded Musk when it was approved by shareholders. SOC argued that the new equity grant effectively expanded the plan to cover Musk, a material change that should have required a shareholder vote under Nasdaq rules.
The $29 billion package was designed to replace Musk’s overturned $56 billion award from 2018, which the Delaware Chancery Court struck down, prompting Tesla to file an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court. The interim award contains restrictions: Musk must remain in a leadership role until August 2027, and vested shares cannot be sold until 2030, as per a Yahoo Finance report.
Even so, critics such as SOC have argued that the plan does not have of performance targets, calling it a “fog-the-mirror” award. This means that “If you’re around and have enough breath left in you to fog the mirror, you get them,” stated Brian Dunn, the director of the Institute for Comprehension Studies at Cornell University.
SOC’s Tesla concerns beyond Elon Musk
SOC’s concerns extend beyond the mechanics of Musk’s pay. The group has long questioned the independence of Tesla’s board, opposing the reelection of directors such as Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch. It has also urged regulators to review Tesla’s governance practices, including past proposals to shrink the board.
SOC has also joined initiatives calling for Tesla to adopt comprehensive labor rights policies, including noninterference with worker organizing and compliance with global labor standards. The investment group has also been involved in webinars and resolutions highlighting the risks related to Tesla’s approach to unions, as well as labor issues across several countries.
Tesla has not yet publicly responded to SOC’s latest letter, nor to requests for comment.
The SOC’s letter can be viewed below.
Investor's Corner
Tesla investors may be in for a big surprise
All signs point toward a strong quarter for Tesla in terms of deliveries. Investors could be in for a surprise.

Tesla investors have plenty of things to be ecstatic about, considering the company’s confidence in autonomy, AI, robotics, cars, and energy. However, many of them may be in for a big surprise as the end of the $7,500 EV tax credit nears. On September 30, it will be gone for good.
This has put some skepticism in the minds of some investors: the lack of a $7,500 discount for buying a clean energy vehicle may deter many people from affording Tesla’s industry-leading EVs.
Tesla warns consumers of huge, time-sensitive change coming soon
The focus on quarterly deliveries, while potentially waning in terms of importance to the future, is still a big indicator of demand, at least as of now. Of course, there are other factors, most of them economic.
The big push to make the most of the final quarter of the EV tax credit is evident, as Tesla is reminding consumers on social media platforms and through email communications that the $7,500 discount will not be here forever. It will be gone sooner rather than later.
It appears the push to maximize sales this quarter before having to assess how much they will be impacted by the tax credit’s removal is working.
Delivery Wait Time Increases
Wait times for Tesla vehicles are increasing due to what appears to be increased demand for the company’s vehicles. Recently, Model Y delivery wait times were increased from 1-3 weeks to 4-6 weeks.
This puts extra pressure on consumers to pull the trigger on an order, as delivery must be completed by the cutoff date of September 30.
Delivery wait times may have gone up due to an increase in demand as consumers push to make a purchase before losing that $7,500 discount.
More People are Ordering
A post on X by notable Tesla influencer Sawyer Merritt anecdotally shows he has been receiving more DMs than normal from people stating that they’re ordering vehicles before the end of the tax credit:
Anecdotally, I’ve been getting more DMs from people ordering Teslas in the past few days than I have in the last couple of years. As expected, the end of the U.S. EV credit next month is driving a big surge in orders.
Lease prices are rising for the 3/Y, delivery wait times are… pic.twitter.com/Y6JN3w2Gmr
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 13, 2025
It’s not necessarily a confirmation of more orders, but it could be an indication that things are certainly looking that way.
Why Investors Could Be Surprised
Tesla investors could see some positive movement in stock price following the release of the Q3 delivery report, especially if all signs point to increased demand this quarter.
We reported previously that this could end up being a very strong rebounding quarter for Tesla, with so many people taking advantage of the tax credit.
Whether the delivery figures will be higher than normal remains to be seen. But all indications seem to point to Q3 being a very strong quarter for Tesla.
Elon Musk
Tesla bear Guggenheim sees nearly 50% drop off in stock price in new note
Tesla bear Guggenheim does not see any upside in Robotaxi.

Tesla bear Guggenheim is still among the biggest non-believers in the company’s overall mission and its devotion to solving self-driving.
In a new note to investors on Thursday, analyst Ronald Jewsikow reiterated his price target of $175, a nearly 50 percent drop off, with a ‘Sell’ rating, all based on skepticism regarding Tesla’s execution of the Robotaxi platform.
A few days ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Robotaxi platform would open to the public in September, offering driverless rides to anyone in the Austin area within its geofence, which is roughly 90 square miles large.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when
However, Jewsikow’s skepticism regarding this timeline has to do with what’s going on inside of the vehicles. The analyst was willing to give props to Robotaxi, saying that Musk’s estimation of a September public launch would be a “key step” in offering the service to a broader population.
Where Jewsikow’s real issue lies is with Tesla’s lack of transparency on the Safety Monitors, and how bulls are willing to overlook their importance.
Much of this bullish mentality comes from the fact that the Monitors are not sitting in the driver’s seat, and they don’t have anything to do with the overall operation of the vehicle.
Musk also said last month that reducing Safety Monitors could come “in a month or two.”
Instead, they’re just there to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Jewsikow said:
“While safety drivers will remain, and no timeline has been provided for their removal, bulls have been willing to overlook the optics of safety drivers in TSLA vehicles, and we see no reason why that would change now.”
He also commented on Musk’s recent indication that Tesla was working on a 10x parameter count that could help make Full Self-Driving even more accurate. It could be one of the pieces to Tesla solving autonomy.
Jewsikow added:
“Perhaps most importantly for investors bullish on TSLA for the fleet of potential FSD-enabled vehicles today, the 10x higher parameter count will be able to run on the current generation of FSD hardware and inference compute.”
Elon Musk teases crazy new Tesla FSD model: here’s when it’s coming
Tesla shares are down just about 2 percent today, trading at $332.47.
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