There's been a decent amount of ink spilled (quite justly) on the Musk/China issue but the thing that sticks out about it to me is that it shows Musk *is* capable of disciplining his utterances given sufficient incentive. He retains a certain level of self-control.
— Alex Godofsky (@AlexGodofsky) December 29, 2022
Exclusive: Tesla makes China boss highest-profile executive after Musk https://t.co/QmgRSeRJoH pic.twitter.com/5k0w1CpoCE
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 3, 2023
Certainly, Tesla’s biggest financial backers retain a certain level of control:
Tesla Inc’s China chief Tom Zhu has been promoted to take direct oversight of the electric carmaker’s U.S. assembly plants as well as sales operations in North America and Europe, according to an internal posting of reporting lines reviewed by Reuters.
The Tesla posting showed that Zhu’s title of vice president for Greater China had not changed and that he also retained his responsibilities as Tesla’s most senior executive for sales in the rest of Asia as of Tuesday.
The move makes Zhu the highest-profile executive at Tesla after Chief Executive Elon Musk, with direct oversight for deliveries in all of its major markets and operations of its key production hubs.
The reporting lines for Zhu would keep Tesla’s vehicle design and development – both areas where Musk has been heavily involved – separate while creating an apparent deputy to Musk on the more near-term challenges of managing global sales and output…
[Musk retains the corner office and all the Legos & crayons development prototype tools; Zhu has the keys to the cashbox and the HR files]
Zhu and a team of his reports were brought in by Tesla late last year to troubleshoot production issues in the United States, driving an expectation among his colleagues then that he was being groomed for a bigger role.
Zhu’s appointment to a global role comes at a time when Musk has been distracted by his acquisition of Twitter and Tesla analysts and investors have urged action that would deepen the senior executive bench and allow him to focus on Tesla…
Zhu, who was born in China but now holds a New Zealand passport, joined Tesla in 2014. Before that he was a project manager at a company established by his MBA classmates at Duke University, advising Chinese contractors working on infrastructure projects in Africa.
During Shanghai’s two-month COVID lockdown, Zhu was among the first batch of employees sleeping in the factory as they sought to keep it running, people who work with him have said.
Zhu, a no-fuss manager who sports a buzz cut, favors Tesla-branded fleece jackets and has lived in a government-subsidized apartment that is a 10-minute drive from the Shanghai Gigafactory. It was not immediately clear whether he would move after his promotion.
He takes charge of Tesla’s main production hubs at a time when the company is readying the launch of Cybertruck and a revamped version of its Model 3 sedan. Tesla has also said it is developing a cheaper electric vehicle but has not provided details on that plan…
Tesla board member James Murdoch said in November the company had recently identified a potential successor to Musk without naming the person. Murdoch did not respond to a request for comment…
Tesla lost around $47 billion in market cap today. Or, put another way, it lost more than one full Twitter.
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) January 3, 2023
Elon Musk becomes first person ever to lose $268b https://t.co/XF4djx24OU r
— Mike Walker (@New_Narrative) December 31, 2022
(Arguably, this leaves aside a largish group of kleptocratic rulers and oligarchs, but Musk can console himself that he isn’t being winkled out of a ‘spider hole’ by an angry mob of his former palace guardsmen. Yet.)
War for Ukraine Day 314: Just a Quick Update Tonight
Chetan Murthy
+1 for “winkled”
BellyCat
Priceless.
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
One Twitter here, one Twitter there, and pretty soon you’re talkn real money
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
Every thing Dump touches (Kevin McCarthy’s career, the value of Musk’s stock) dies
Yutsano
Mon Dieu. Is there a term for watching someone devolve in real time?
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
McCarthy was perhaps the first to say Dump was taking bribes from Putin and then he proceeded to debase himself sending boxes of candy to the beast, groveling on bended knee for his support after the coup and for what – Three Strikes and he’s out – his career is over.
To boot, he’s too stoopid, unliked, and unconnected to cash in as a lobbyist or to sit on corporate boards. Fired from the leadership, without any committee portfolio, he’s just another back bencher only with a one way ticket to Palookaville.
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
@Yutsano:
He’s a half step away from blaming the Elders of Zion for his humiliating own goal.
opiejeanne
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch: Someone on Twitter said that when he disappears from the House, he’ll end up as a mediocre newsreader in the Sacramento/Central Valley area.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: SacTown is too big a market for our Kevin, Bakersfield or Bust!
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
At this very moment, Cheryl L. Johnson, current presiding officer of the House, is 2nd in line to the presidency. Senator Patty Murray from Washington, as President pro tempore of the Senate, 3rd in line to the presidency.
patrick II
My mother passed away tonight. She was 100 years old. She went peacefully in her bed with my brother and sister holding her hands. She was kind and loved by many. I will miss her.
James E Powell
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch:
Hope that’s what happens to the Republican party.
James E Powell
@patrick II:
Very sorry for your loss.
Darkrose
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Until he was elected to the state Assembly in 2002, McCarthy had spent his entire life in Bakersfield: born there, went to high school there, went to CSU Bakersfield for his BA and MBA.
Anne Laurie
Tuesday, Musk tweeted ’12 months ago I was Person of the Year’. SAD!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
If guess the question is now will McCarthy be able to last as long as Speaker a bucket of milk from one of families cow’s.
Sally
@patrick II: I am so sorry. What overwhelming sadness and loss you must be feeling. You have come to the right place in coming here.
eclare
@patrick II: I am so sorry.
ColoradoGuy
Hmm. With Zhu’s ascension, I wonder if TikTok data surveillance concerns will apply to Teslas going forward (the internal GPS in the car passing its location-data stream to overseas nations, etc.)
If US government officials are prohibited from having TikTok on phones used for official business, what of Teslas going forward? Cars didn’t use to “phone home” all the time, but they do now, the same as cell phones.
Shalimar
@Anne Laurie: 12 months ago, Musk was worth roughly 20 Twitters. Now, what with him artificially inflating the value of Twitter while also losing almost everything else, he’s worth maybe 3 Twitters.
Shalimar
@patrick II: Condolences for such a huge loss. As someone who takes care of my mother 24/7, I know it will happen in my future but can’t even imagine what it will feel like.
Shalimar
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch: McCarthy has been the biggest fundraiser among Republican House members since Boehner retired. As hard as it is to imagine anyone buying his bullshit, he is exactly the kind of empty suit who will have a successful career as a lobbyist.
patrick II
Thank you for your condolences. It is an odd thing that you go through life meeting all kinds of people, some of whom you admire greatly, some not. But you come back home a realize the best person you have ever met you have known all of your life.
NotMax
If they can reliably deliver the goods, a Fisker at about $23k after EV credit could prove mighty tempting to the masses.
Brachiator
@patrick II:
My condolences to you and to your family.
Take care.
Anne Laurie
@patrick II: Condolences on your loss.
May the thought of her soon bring a smile to your lips, before it brings a tear to your eye.
Shalimar
@NotMax: There is an article at Fortune interviewing a longtime Tesla bear who says the stock will be down to $24.33 by the end of the year. He specifically says the high valuation in the past was in the expectation of rapid sales growth, but actual new orders last quarter were only 250,000, which means the only reason Tesla had positive growth in 2022 was their backlog of orders.
I have been a Tesla sceptic for years so it doesn’t take much to convince me, but he makes a great argument
On the other hand, I would have an EV now if they were under $30k. The Fisker sounds promising.
Amir Khalid
@patrick II:
It sounds like your mother had a peaceful passing. My condolences on your loss.
NotMax
@Shalimar
Too, a lot of Teslas are leased rather than sold*, which if so bodes for being hip deep in previous generation inventory a few years hence.
*Anecdata as everyone I know who drives one is leasing it.
YY_Sima Qian
@patrick II: I am so sorry to hear your loss! My condolence.
prostratedragon
@patrick II: My condolences.
Matt McIrvin
@Yutsano: I love it when people ask Elon Musk why his company’s stock is tanking harder than everyone else’s, and he gives reasons why everyone else’s stock should be tanking. I hope this doesn’t actually work on anyone.
Geo Wilcox
@patrick II: I am sorry for your loss.
Tom Levenson
@Shalimar: dead thread, but the Chevy Bolt is well under $30K and its stablemate, the Bolt EUV is right around that mark.
Jonathan Gitlin. The car editor over at Ars Technica, thinks very well of them.
Tom Levenson
@patrick II: I am very sorry to hear of your loss. May her memory be a blessing.
Yutsano
@patrick II: Oh no good sir. May she live on in your memories, and may her next existence be gentle.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@patrick II: I am sorry for the loss of your mother. I am glad for her that it was peaceful and with her family by her side.
SFAW
@patrick II: Condolences on your mother’s passing. That she was kind, and loved by many, tells me she was a good person — but I knew that already, because you’re her son. (i.e., apple, tree)
J R in WV
@patrick II:
So sorry for your loss — 100 is such a large number, she really managed to run her score up there.
I am also glad her passing was peaceful and with your siblings there for her, we all know you were there in spirit. Take care of yourself right now. And Know that all the jackals are feeling for you.
Ella in New Mexico
In other words, its very likely a Chinese agent/spy/operative (or potential one) who’s been lurking in the wings, waitng for the right moment will now run Tesla.
The Chinese relationships he’s embracing are not goint to go well with the type of Americans who could consider buying one of his dumpster fires of a vehicle. He’s doomed. Which means he’s liely going to move closer to China for his funding and business deals.
I think it’s time for the US Government to get VERY concerned about the national security implications of doing business with any company Elon Musk owns.
Tenar Arha
@patrick II: I’m sorry to hear that. May her memory be a blessing for you.
YY_Sima Qian
@Ella in New Mexico: What is your evidence that Zhu is a Chinese agent, other than the fact that he was born in China?
Are we really that ready to embrace McCarthyism now?
Elon Musk has never been known as an “operations” guy, & his reputation as an “ideas” guy has been greatly inflated. Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory is known to be much more efficient than the US facilities, & the speed at which it went from a green field to mass production, & realizing further capacity expansion, has been impressive. Tesla has also been selling quite well in China. I don’t think it is surprising that Musk might tap the person who has overseen the successful China operation to lead improving operational efficiency in the US plants, as well as starting up the new Gigafactory in Germany. Of course, Musk may be overly optimistic, as what worked in China may not work in the US or Germany. For a potential parallel, TSMC is certainly struggling w/ cultural clash as it tries to start up its new chip plant in Arizona, & TSMC leadership expects the AZ plant to be uncompetitive (cost wise) against its operations in Taiwan for the foreseeable future.
While I think Tesla vehicles are overhyped & overpriced for the quality of design & build (not to mention potential if rare fire hazards associated w/ nickel-cobalt-aluminum & nickel-cobalt-maganese batteries), it is still the most popular EV brand in the world. It’s greatest emerging competition (outside of the N. America) are in fact the burgeoning Chinese EV makers (both state & privately owned).
azlib
Patty Murray is 3rd in line in the Presidential succession. The Speaker’s post is currently vacant.
kindness
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Bakersfield it is. Sac is too cosmopolitain for Kevin. Bakersfield is California’s Oklahoma after all.
Paul in KY
@patrick II: Patrick, I’m so glad she got 100 years and that it was peaceful. A long life, well lived!
My mother will turn 98 in a few days.
Kayla Rudbek
@patrick II: I’m very sorry for your loss.