Investor's Corner
It’s clear, Tesla needs a COO and it can’t come soon enough
Tesla’s stock price has fallen nearly 24% in the last month, with the majority of the decline occurring this week. The drastic change isn’t really attributable to a single factor. The company is under pressure across the board, from Model 3 production, Solar Roof delays, concerns of a cash crunch, and delays in Autopilot’s Full Self-Driving capability. While there isn’t one solution to solve all of Tesla’s growing pains, hiring a Chief Operating Officer could help bring some operational stability to the company while curbing any overpromises made to customers and investors.
Elon Musk has been the CEO of Tesla for the past 9.5 years, and with a newly approved multi-billion dollar compensation plan, signs point to Musk taking the reins for at least another 10 years. However, Musk isn’t committing solely to Tesla as he’s also the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO of Neuralink, CEO of The Boring Company, and one can argue that he’s also a full-time Twitter persona.
In his other companies outside of Tesla, Musk has a key executive running the business operations. President and COO Gwynne Shotwell joined SpaceX as the 11th employee in 2002 and has turned Musk’s passion for Space into a business with over $12 billion in order contracts.
Although Tesla has nearly six times more employees than SpaceX, the young space company operates efficiently and akin to a well-oiled machine, according to employees working at SpaceX. Yet, at the same time, Tesla has seen high executive turnover, as Musk holds tight control of the company’s day-to-day management.
Tesla’s need for a “Shotwell Equivalent” is more apparent than ever and for these key reasons:
- Model 3 Production: Bloomberg’s Model 3 production tracker shows that they are below 50% of their end of March production rate target. Musk should have never increased production targets on the vehicle and needed to be far more conservative with his estimates.
- Continuous delays with Autopilot technology: After ditching Mobileye’s technology in autopilot systems 21 months ago, Tesla’s development of the technology has slowed significantly. Musk first said that a Tesla would be able to drive coast-to-coast autonomously by the end of 2017, that has now been moved to mid-2018.
- Need to capitalize on Model S and Model X. Tesla has built a high-margin business out of their Model S and Model X vehicles. At current production rates, the company can generate $2.5 billion in free cash flow from those two vehicles alone. Tesla should use strategic marketing to boost demand for the vehicles, allowing the company to bring in more high-margin revenue.
- Acquisition of SolarCity: Tesla’s acquisition of solar installation company, SolarCity, has failed to provide meaningful value to shareholders. From the outside, it appears as though Tesla’s management team doesn’t have the bandwidth or cash to grow the Solar division. Both of Musk’s cousins Peter and Lyndon Rive have left Tesla after the acquisition to “focus on other projects”.
It would be foolish to think that a COO would solve all of the company’s issues, but having a dedicated executive to manage day-to-day operations could certainly help in preventing executive turnover while keeping employees focused on Tesla’s core mission: to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Who could be Tesla’s new Chief Operating Officer?
I’ve prepared a shortlist of executives that could potentially land themselves as Tesla’s first COO.
1. Mike Sievert (COO of T-Mobile US)
While Sievert doesn’t have automotive experience, he does bring strong experience managing a large employee base and has worked in the technology sector for the past 25 years. Sievert joined T-Mobile in late 2012 as CMO and became COO in 2015. Since joining T-Mobile, Sievert has been crucial to the company’s successful turnaround. And to boot, Sievert has experience working with outspoken CEOs who also moonlight as a Twitter personality.
2. Julia Steyn (VP Urban Mobility at General Motors and CEO of Maven)
Steyn joined General Motors in 2012 as VP of Merger and Acquisitions and became the VP of Urban Mobility and CEO of GM’s Maven division in late 2015. She has led the company’s initiative into car-sharing with the Maven division and has played a key role in GM’s moves into autonomous vehicles. Prior to joining GM, Steyn was VP at Alcoa, one of the world’s largest aluminum suppliers. She also spent 7.5 years at Goldman Sachs as VP of the Global Natural Resources Group in the Investment Banking division.
3. Alicia Boler Davis (EVP, Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations, General Motors)
Boler Davis has spent the last 24 years at General Motors in a variety of capacities and became EVP of Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations in 2016. She oversees over 150,000 employees in the manufacturing division of GM across 150 different facilities. Prior to her current role, she was SVP of Global Connected Customer Experience where she played a role, like Julia Steyn, in GM’s expansion into car-sharing and autonomous vehicles. Her extensive engineering and managerial experience at GM could bring more order and stability as the company plans to expand production across the globe.
Obviously, this list isn’t comprehensive but should provide a starting point for potential hires. Who do you think should be hired as the first Chief Operating Officer at Tesla?
Elon Musk
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
Tesla and SpaceX may be closer to merging than Wall Street or either company is admitting.
Elon Musk has reportedly discussed merging Tesla and SpaceX with people close to him, according to CNBC, which cited sources familiar with the conversation. Tesla employees have long expected such a transaction and the topic is openly discussed internally, according to internal sources. With SpaceX is days away from kicking off its Wall Street roadshow for what could be the largest IPO in market history, this would be the first time the company will have public market currency to execute a stock-for-stock deal with Tesla.
The financial logic for a merger would make sense. A combined SpaceX and Tesla would create a conglomerate spanning rockets, satellites, electric vehicles, AI infrastructure, and energy storage valued at roughly $3.35 trillion to $3.6 trillion based on SpaceX’s IPO target range and Tesla’s current market capitalization. The two companies are already more intertwined than most people realize. SpaceX bought $697 million worth of Tesla Megapack systems for xAI data centers and $131 million worth of Cybertrucks. Tesla invested $2 billion in xAI, which subsequently merged with SpaceX. Past transactions also include Tesla selling solar equipment and parts to SpaceX, and SpaceX helping with Cybertruck materials.
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Musk himself signaled where this was heading in November 2025 when he posted on X, “My companies are, surprisingly in some ways, trending towards convergence.” Tesla and SpaceX announced a joint semiconductor fabrication facility in Austin called Terafab on the Gigafactory Texas campus, covering two advanced chip factories, with one serving Tesla’s AI needs for vehicles and Optimus robots, the other targeting space-based data centers under SpaceX’s infrastructure vision.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives places the probability of a merger at 80% to 90% with a target completion in the first half of 2027. The mechanics of a deal became possible the moment SpaceX filed its S-1. Legal experts said a merger likely would not spark antitrust issues but would raise concerns among shareholders in each company, with questions around which company would be the parent, how a stock swap would take place, and who determines the appropriate price. Musk holds about 20% of Tesla’s equity but controls 85.1% of SpaceX’s voting power through a super-voting share class, meaning he would largely be negotiating the terms with himself.
Not everyone is convinced the timing is imminent. Traders on Kalshi place only 33% odds that a merger will happen before May 2027. The more immediate concern for Tesla shareholders is whether the SpaceX IPO pulls capital and Musk’s attention away from Tesla before any merger consolidates the upside for both.
What is clear is that the structural groundwork is already being laid. The Terafab announcement, the xAI merger, the shared supply chain, the cross-company balance sheet transactions, and now the IPO all point in the same direction. Whether the merger follows in 2027 or later, the two companies are already operating more like divisions of a single entity than independent competitors.
Elon Musk
SpaceX just filed for the IPO everyone was waiting for
SpaceX filed its public S-1, revealing $18.7 billion in revenue and billions in losses.
SpaceX publicly filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2026, making its financial details available to the public for the first time ahead of what could be the largest IPO in history.
An S-1 is the formal document a company must submit to the SEC before going public. It includes audited financials, risk factors, business descriptions, and how the company plans to use the money it raises. Companies are required to file one before selling shares to the public, and it must be published at least 15 days before the investor roadshow begins. SpaceX had already submitted a confidential draft to the SEC in April, which allowed regulators to review the filing privately before it went public.
The S-1 reveals that SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in consolidated revenue in 2025, driven largely by its Starlink satellite internet division, which posted $11.4 billion in revenue, growing nearly 50% year over year. Despite that growth, the company lost about $4.9 billion in 2025 and has burned through more than $37 billion since its founding.
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A significant portion of those losses trace back to xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, which was recently merged into SpaceX. SpaceX directed roughly 60% of its capital spending in 2025 to its AI division, totaling around $20 billion, yet that division lost billions and grew revenue by only about 22%.
SpaceX plans to list its Class A common stock on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America leading the offering. The dual-class share structure means going public will not meaningfully reduce Musk’s control, as Class B shares he holds carry 10 votes per share compared to one vote for public Class A shares.
The company is targeting a raise of around $75 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. The investor roadshow is reportedly planned for June 5.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
Tesla to open first India experience center in Mumbai on July 15
India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
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