TSL Q2 revenue plummets! Musk: If I go crazy, the board can fire me at any time.

TSL (Tesla) announced on July 23, Eastern Time, that its Q2 revenue fell by 12% to 22.5 billion USD, marking the largest fall in ten years. In response, CEO Elon Musk ( acknowledged during the earnings call that the company's situation is a bit tough, and he unusually mentioned that if he "loses control," the board can replace him at any time.

TSL Q2 revenue fell 12%, marking the biggest crisis in a decade.

TSL's Q2 financial report indicates that its revenue has declined by 12%, marking the largest fall in over a decade. Meanwhile, revenue from its electric vehicle division dropped from approximately $19.9 billion in the same period last year to about $16.7 billion, a decrease of about 16%.

It is widely believed that due to Musk's controversial remarks and frequent public relations crises, the brand image has been severely damaged, leading to a continuous decline in sales figures.

Musk: If I go crazy, the board has the right to fire me.

Musk stated in a conference call that he currently holds only 13% of the company's shares, admitting that this makes him vulnerable to aggressive shareholders, and he could even be ousted. He said bluntly:

"This is important, I do not want my control to be easily overthrown by radical shareholders. This has been a major concern of mine in the past, and I hope to address it at the upcoming shareholder meeting. My control over TSL should be sufficient to ensure that it develops in a positive direction, but it should not be so much that even if I go crazy, I cannot be replaced."

Musk's director voting rights spark controversy, shareholders: he is effectively extorting.

Fast forward to 2024, Musk publicly stated: "I am concerned about TSL becoming an AI leader without 25% voting control. This 25% is enough for me to have influence while not being too large to be overthrown. Otherwise, I would rather develop products outside of TSL."

In this regard, Ross Gerber, an early investor in TSL and the CEO of the investment advisory firm Gerber Kawasaki Wealth, believes that Musk is engaging in "coercive extortion."

Musk's PR crises frequently occur, yet TSL shareholders continue to support.

In addition to the company's operational issues, Musk has also frequently made headlines during this period due to personal controversies:

Caught in the political storm of the U.S. presidential election, had a big argument with Trump's aides, and ended up falling out with Trump over "Make America Great Again".

Vigorously promoting anti-Semitic and other discriminatory rhetoric.

He announced the establishment of a third political party in the United States, and outsiders questioned whether this makes him less focused on managing TSL.

Despite the ongoing turmoil, the TSL board and shareholders have tolerated his actions, and TSL's market value once exceeded one trillion dollars.

On December 17, 2024, TSL's stock price reached a historic high of 479.86, with a market capitalization exceeding 1.3 trillion dollars. The threshold for getting rid of Musk is quite high, and the issue of shareholding may become a focal point again.

According to a report by Fortune, Tesla's corporate charter makes it very difficult to "fire Musk." If Musk were to be removed, at least two-thirds of the shareholders would need to support the decision, rather than the simple majority common in most corporations.

In fact, the company's investors have stood by him multiple times in the past. In 2018, the company's shareholders even voted twice to restore his originally exorbitant compensation package of up to $56 billion. However, the approval process was questioned for insufficient information disclosure and lack of board independence, and was ultimately rejected by judges in Delaware.

As for whether Musk should increase his shareholding ratio, he also revealed during the conference call that this topic will be discussed again at the annual shareholder meeting in November.

)TSL Q2 Bitcoin revenue was 284 million, Musk failed to restore investor confidence, TSLA fell 4% after hours(

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