Investor's Corner
Tesla gets restraining order against TSLA critic who tried to disrupt Model 3 test car
The man behind one of the most prominent anti-Tesla accounts on Twitter, @skabooshka, has been issued a temporary restraining order after allegedly trying to cause an accident during a Model 3 test vehicle’s Navigate on Autopilot demonstration. The noted TSLAQ member reportedly drove so recklessly that his vehicle ended up triggering the Model 3’s crash emergency avoidance maneuver.
The temporary restraining order was granted by the Alameda County Superior Court in CA on Friday, though it is still unknown if the restraining order has been served. In its filing, Tesla claimed that California resident Randeep Hothi, the man allegedly behind the TSLAQ @skabooshka account on Twitter, had “stalked, harassed, and endangered” three employees who were driving a Model 3 in the Bay Area. The electric car maker noted that this was not the first time that the noted short committed acts against the company, as he also reportedly injured a member of Tesla’s security personnel when he was caught trespassing on company property.
Tesla explains its request for a restraining order as follows (credit to Twitter user Nafnlaus for providing screenshots of the documents). The following are excerpts from Tesla’s restraining order.
Respondent has a history of trespassing at Tesla’s facilities, unlawfully taking photographs and video to post on his Twitter account, and other misconduct, as explained in the Leslie Declaration. However, in recent months, Respondent’s conduct has escalated and has resulted in violent and intimidating confrontations with Tesla employees.
In an incident in February 2019, Respondent hit Tesla’s security employee Tyler James with his car as Mr. James approached Respondent to ask him to leave Tesla’s private property. Mr. Tyler suffered minor injuries. The Respondent did not stop and fled the scene. The Fremont Police Department were called and arrived on the scene. The Department later attempted to issue Respondent a warning notice of trespass, but was unsuccessful because Respondent has avoided and been uncooperative in meeting with Fremont police officers.
More recently, on April 16, 2019, Respondent stalked, harassed, and endangered (three Tesla employees) who were driving on the highway in a Tesla-owned Model 3 vehicle bearing manufacturer plates and mounted with camera equipment. In particular, Responded pursued these employees on the public highway for about 35 minutes, variously driving ahead of, beside, and behind them, and swerving dangerously close to the vehicle. Respondent swerved so close to the side of the Tesla that the vehicle’s side-collision (crash) avoidance safety feature was triggered to engage an emergency maneuver to avoid the collision.
These employees had no prior knowledge of Respondent’s interactions with Tesla, but it appeared that Respondent was trying to interfere with their drive, and each feared that Respondent’s road conduct would cause a collision and injure them. Fearing for his safety and for the safety of the other passengers in the Model 3 (a Tesla employee) called the San Francisco Police Department at that time. However, because no officers were in the area, (the Tesla employee) ultimately did not request that an officer be sent to their location.
On April 22, 2019, Tesla will host an event at its headquarters at 3500 Deer Creek Road, Palo Alto, during which Tesla employees will be demonstrating vehicle functionality in manufacturer-plated vehicles on nearby roads. Respondent has expressed interest in this event on Twitter, and his Twitter followers have encouraged him to try to follow and interfere with these drives. Respondent is a vocal Tesla detractor, claims to be a Tesla short-seller, and tweets extensively about his desire to see Tesla (and its Autopilot technology) fail. To ensure the safety of Tesla employees and the public, temporary protection is needed, on April 22,2019, for any Tesla employee driving a Tesla vehicle with manufacturer plates within 5 miles of Tesla’s headquarters at 3500 Deer Creek Road, Palo Alto, California.
It should be noted that @skabooshka’s actions mentioned by Tesla in its restraining order disturbingly mirror some of the suggestions proposed by the TSLAQ community when the noted bear posted images of the company’s Model 3 test car on Twitter. Among these suggestions include braking in front of Tesla’s test vehicles, as well as intentionally swerving into the electric cars’ lane to ensure that the company’s demonstrations are authentic. Other Tesla bears also joked that it would be amusing if the Model 3 crashed.
Due to his actions, the noted Tesla bear will now be required to stay at least 100 yards away from the Fremont factory or the employees named in Tesla’s restraining order. He is also required to stay 10 yards away from any Tesla vehicle with manufacturer plates within five miles of the factory. The restraining order is effective until May 7, when a hearing is set.
The Tesla critic’s reckless actions seemed to have stemmed from a particular focus on Tesla’s upcoming Autonomy Investor Day on April 22, where the electric car maker is expected to give investors a deep dive into its full self-driving initiatives, including its custom Hardware 3 computer. Test rides on vehicles equipped with unreleased features of Autopilot and the Full Self-Driving suite are also expected to be held in the event.
Neither Tesla nor Hothi have responded to requests for comment to media publications such as The Verge, though the @skabooshka Twitter account boldly declared on Saturday post that “I will not rest. This is my promise. Tesla is a zero. @elonmusk will go to prison.” Elon Musk, for his part, noted on Twitter that the actions of the noted Tesla bear was something that he has never seen before.
Elon Musk
Tesla stock gets latest synopsis from Jim Cramer: ‘It’s actually a robotics company’
“Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session,” Cramer said.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) got its latest synopsis from Wall Street analyst Jim Cramer, who finally realized something that many fans of the company have known all along: it’s not a car company. Instead, it’s a robotics company.
In a recent note that was released after Tesla reported Earnings in late January, Cramer seemed to recognize that the underwhelming financials and overall performance of the automotive division were not representative of the current state of affairs.
Instead, we’re seeing a company transition itself away from its early identity, essentially evolving like a caterpillar into a butterfly.
The narrative of the Earnings Call was simple: We’re not a car company, at least not from a birds-eye view. We’re an AI and Robotics company, and we are transitioning to this quicker than most people realize.
Tesla stock gets another analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like it
Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Call featured plenty of analysis from CEO Elon Musk and others, and some of the more minor details of the call were even indicative of a company that is moving toward AI instead of its cars. For example, the Model S and Model X will be no more after Q2, as Musk said that they serve relatively no purpose for the future.
Instead, Tesla is shifting its focus to the vehicles catered for autonomy and its Robotaxi and self-driving efforts.
Cramer recognizes this:
“…we got results from Tesla, which actually beat numbers, but nobody cares about the numbers here, as electric vehicles are the past. And according to CEO Elon Musk, the future of this company comes down to Cybercabs and humanoid robots. Stock fell more than 3% the next day. That may be because their capital expenditures budget was higher than expected, or maybe people wanted more details from the new businesses. At this point, I think Musk acolytes might be more excited about SpaceX, which is planning to come public later this year.”
He continued, highlighting the company’s true transition away from vehicles to its Cybercab, Optimus, and AI ambitions:
“I know it’s hard to believe how quickly this market can change its attitude. Last night, I heard a disastrous car company speak. Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session. I didn’t like it as a car company. Boy, I love it as a Cybercab and humanoid robot juggernaut. Call me a buyer and give me five robots while I’m at it.”
Cramer’s narrative seems to fit that of the most bullish Tesla investors. Anyone who is labeled a “permabull” has been echoing a similar sentiment over the past several years: Tesla is not a car company any longer.
Instead, the true focus is on the future and the potential that AI and Robotics bring to the company. It is truly difficult to put Tesla shares in the same group as companies like Ford, General Motors, and others.
Tesla shares are down less than half a percent at the time of publishing, trading at $423.69.
Elon Musk
Tesla to a $100T market cap? Elon Musk’s response may shock you
There are a lot of Tesla bulls out there who have astronomical expectations for the company, especially as its arm of reach has gone well past automotive and energy and entered artificial intelligence and robotics.
However, some of the most bullish Tesla investors believe the company could become worth $100 trillion, and CEO Elon Musk does not believe that number is completely out of the question, even if it sounds almost ridiculous.
To put that number into perspective, the top ten most valuable companies in the world — NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, TSMC, Meta, Saudi Aramco, Broadcom, and Tesla — are worth roughly $26 trillion.
Will Tesla join the fold? Predicting a triple merger with SpaceX and xAI
Cathie Wood of ARK Invest believes the number is reasonable considering Tesla’s long-reaching industry ambitions:
“…in the world of AI, what do you have to have to win? You have to have proprietary data, and think about all the proprietary data he has, different kinds of proprietary data. Tesla, the language of the road; Neuralink, multiomics data; nobody else has that data. X, nobody else has that data either. I could see $100 trillion. I think it’s going to happen because of convergence. I think Tesla is the leading candidate [for $100 trillion] for the reason I just said.”
Musk said late last year that all of his companies seem to be “heading toward convergence,” and it’s started to come to fruition. Tesla invested in xAI, as revealed in its Q4 Earnings Shareholder Deck, and SpaceX recently acquired xAI, marking the first step in the potential for a massive umbrella of companies under Musk’s watch.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
Now that it is happening, it seems Musk is even more enthusiastic about a massive valuation that would swell to nearly four-times the value of the top ten most valuable companies in the world currently, as he said on X, the idea of a $100 trillion valuation is “not impossible.”
It’s not impossible
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2026
Tesla is not just a car company. With its many projects, including the launch of Robotaxi, the progress of the Optimus robot, and its AI ambitions, it has the potential to continue gaining value at an accelerating rate.
Musk’s comments show his confidence in Tesla’s numerous projects, especially as some begin to mature and some head toward their initial stages.
Elon Musk
Tesla director pay lawsuit sees lawyer fees slashed by $100 million
The ruling leaves the case’s underlying settlement intact while significantly reducing what the plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive.
The Delaware Supreme Court has cut more than $100 million from a legal fee award tied to a shareholder lawsuit challenging compensation paid to Tesla directors between 2017 and 2020.
The ruling leaves the case’s underlying settlement intact while significantly reducing what the plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive.
Delaware Supreme Court trims legal fees
As noted in a Bloomberg Law report, the case targeted pay granted to Tesla directors, including CEO Elon Musk, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Kimbal Musk, and Rupert Murdoch. The Delaware Chancery Court had awarded $176 million to the plaintiffs. Tesla’s board must also return stock options and forego years worth of pay.
As per Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. in an opinion for the Delaware Supreme Court’s full five-member panel, however, the decision of the Delaware Chancery Court to award $176 million to a pension fund’s law firm “erred by including in its financial benefit analysis the intrinsic value” of options being returned by Tesla’s board.
The justices then reduced the fee award from $176 million to $70.9 million. “As we measure it, $71 million reflects a reasonable fee for counsel’s efforts and does not result in a windfall,” Chief Justice Seitz wrote.
Other settlement terms still intact
The Supreme Court upheld the settlement itself, which requires Tesla’s board to return stock and options valued at up to $735 million and to forgo three years of additional compensation worth about $184 million.
Tesla argued during oral arguments that a fee award closer to $70 million would be appropriate. Interestingly enough, back in October, Justice Karen L. Valihura noted that the $176 award was $60 million more than the Delaware judiciary’s budget from the previous year. This was quite interesting as the case was “settled midstream.”
The lawsuit was brought by a pension fund on behalf of Tesla shareholders and focused exclusively on director pay during the 2017–2020 period. The case is separate from other high-profile compensation disputes involving Elon Musk.