Was the presentation of the quarterly results a foretaste?

Elon Musk is to Tesla what Steve Ballmer was to Microsoft back then – at least as far as the public perception of their respective appearances is concerned. Similar to Ballmer at the time, Musk rumbles to himself in public and does not let anyone escape the crosshairs of his tirades.

He doesn’t care who is the target of his attacks. That could be your own investors, Wall Street analysts, bankers, media, authorities or the government. Elon Musk is completely alien to diplomatic procedures. If someone wonders about it, Musk wonders.

On the occasion of his sensational host appearance on the popular US comedy format Saturday Night Live, he came out as having Asperger’s autism and asked himself: “I have reinvented the electric car and want to send people to Mars in rockets. How can you believe that I would be a completely normal person otherwise? ”.

In this respect, Elon Musk’s appearances – even if it is only the presentations of the business figures – always have a high entertainment value; at least that applies to the media and the general public. Addressees hit by Musk’s tirades may react differently – which, in case of doubt, can lead to unforeseeable damage for Tesla, for example if it bluntly takes on the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

So far, Elon Musk has particularly enjoyed and regularly used the quarterly presentation of the business figures for his outbreaks. In the end, that should be easier and easier for him. After all, Tesla has made a profit for nine consecutive quarters and in eleven of the last 13 quarters. The success proves him right – so to speak.

Musk has often indicated that he is not so attached to the role of Tesla boss. On the occasion of a lawsuit filed by investors against the takeover of the solar panel company Solarcity in 2016, Musk had said in a court in the US state of Delaware as recently as July of this year: “I tried very hard not to be the CEO of Tesla, but I did had to do it, otherwise the company would have died. ”He added:“ I hate being a boss. I’m much more of a developer. “

In fact, Tesla is said to have been just weeks from collapse in 2018. The US automaker struggled with the introduction of the Model 3. That has long been forgotten and the company’s Model 3 and Model Y are selling splendidly. At the moment there are challenges primarily in the development of further gigafactories worldwide and in the ongoing investigation by the US Motor Vehicle Authority NHTSA, which is dealing with the Teslas software with a view to its self-driving functions.

Once these challenges have been mastered, Musk could concentrate on another role in the company. How the management acts without Musk, she was able to show for the first time on Wednesday. The fact that Musk had announced well in advance that he would not be present at the presentation may have had a positive effect. In this way, the other leaders could script an event according to their taste.

And it was professional. Tesla CFO (aka Master of Coin) Zachary Kirkhorn and Vice Presidents Lars Moravy and Drew Baglino presented the company’s quarterly figures calmly and seriously. They answered questions submitted in advance as well as questions asked live by investors and did not lack diplomatic skills. For example, when asked about the NHTSA investigations, they claimed that they would “be testing [Teslas] Welcome products ”and not only to cooperate with the motor vehicle authorities, but also to actively shape the“ transition to a software-oriented vehicle ”with them.

The trio was not able to break away from the formative role model Musk in all points. For example, they pretended to be “extremely transparent” with the ongoing test of their beta software for self-driving cars. The fact is, however, that until recently testers had to sign non-disclosure agreements.

They don’t want to shake the Tesla boss’s goals either. For example, Chief Financial Officer Kirkhorn affirmed the goal of increasing the number of vehicles built annually by 50 percent, while Moravy seconded that the Model Y was “well on the way to becoming the best-selling vehicle in the world”.

For the time being, it remains unclear how Musk’s withdrawal would affect the electricity manufacturer’s share price. So far, Musk is known to be able to move markets via Twitter. It remains to be seen whether this would still be possible with a less exposed role. As if to prove that investors can also imagine calmer waters around Tesla, the share closed on Thursday at a new high.