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Elon Musk said he’s committed to still leading Tesla Inc. in five years and expects to pare back his political spending, assuaging some investors’ concerns about the future of his most valuable company.
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During a remote appearance Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Musk told Bloomberg News that he should be compensated for doing “something incredible” at Tesla. He criticized the Delaware judge who’s twice ruled against the massive pay package the company awarded him in 2018 and reiterated that he wants to own more shares of Tesla for reasons of authority, rather than wealth.
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“It’s not a money thing,” Musk said. “It’s a reasonable control thing, over the future of the company.”
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Musk, whose US$375.5 billion fortune leads the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has been chief executive of Tesla since 2008, one of the longest active stints atop the world’s major automakers. His level of engagement with Tesla has come under greater scrutiny as the company has followed up its first annual drop in vehicle sales in over a decade with steeper declines early this year.
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The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.
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Musk, 53, downplayed the extent of Tesla’s challenges, saying “it’s already turned around.” When challenged on this — the carmaker’s vehicle sales continued to plunge across Europe’s biggest electric vehicle markets in April — the CEO said that the region is the company’s weakest, but that it’s strong everywhere else.
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“Our sales are doing well at this point,” he said. “We don’t anticipate any meaningful sales shortfall.”
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Tesla shares jumped after Musk’s comments about his commitment to staying CEO, trading up as much as 3.6 per cent in intraday trading before paring gains. The stock has declined 14 per cent this year.
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Musk disputed that he’s damaged Tesla’s brand, saying that while the company has lost some sales among consumers on the political left, it’s gained others on the right. He criticized protesters he said have committed “massive violence” against his companies.
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“They’re on the wrong side of history, and that’s an evil thing to do,” he said. “Something needs to be done about them, and a number of them are going to prison, and they deserve it.”
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Musk later said that he’s going to spend “a lot less” in the future on politics, saying he thinks he’s done enough.
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“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,” he said. “I do not currently see a reason.”
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