Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Elon Musk Issues Dire Warning to Bill Gates
Transcript
- 0:01Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
- 0:05This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads, the
- 0:08shape. SpaceX.
- 0:09Tesla X. The Boring Company and
- 0:12Neuralink. I'm your host, Will.
- 0:15Walden Elon Musk has issued a warning to Bill Gates and has
- 0:18threatened the Microsoft Co founder with severe financial
- 0:21consequences if he continues betting against Tesla.
- 0:25Now, Musk foresees a dramatic transformation for Tesla,
- 0:29envisioning the carmaker becoming a colossal entity
- 0:33valued at $30 trillion. This forecast hinges on Tesla's
- 0:39successful shift from primarily selling electric vehicles to
- 0:43managing a profitable fleet of robo taxis and humanoid robots.
- 0:49Musk's ominous message to Gates was shared on social media,
- 0:52where he stated once Tesla fully solves autonomy and has Optimus
- 0:56in volume production, anyone still holding a short position
- 0:59will be obliterated, even Gates. The animosity between the two
- 1:05billionaires became public in 2022 when text messages revealed
- 1:10Musk's refusal to support Gates's charitable efforts.
- 1:14Due to Gates's significant short position against Tesla now, Musk
- 1:18expressed his disapproval in a message saying.
- 1:21Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change
- 1:24seriously when you have a massive short position against
- 1:28Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change.
- 1:32By then, Gates had already begun regretting his pessimistic
- 1:35stance on Tesla, though it's uncertain if he still maintains
- 1:39that position despite Musk's strong warning.
- 1:43It's a bold claim considering Tesla's recent struggles.
- 1:47The company's vehicle sales have declined by 6.6% in the first
- 1:52half of the year, and the highly anticipated Cybertruck has not
- 1:56met expectations. Now, Tesla has abandoned its
- 2:02ambitious target of increasing volumes from 1.8 million EVs
- 2:07last year to 20 million by 2030. Nonetheless, Musk remains
- 2:13undeterred by adversity. He has previously outlasted
- 2:16other notable Tesla shorts like David Einhorn and Jim Chanos,
- 2:20known for profiting from the collapses of Lehman Brothers and
- 2:23Enron, respectively. Since April, Musk has been
- 2:27working to stabilize Tesla's stock, beginning with hints of a
- 2:31new Cyber Cab robotaxi model, suggesting he might finally
- 2:37achieve full autonomy. Additionally, Musk announced
- 2:41that 2025 could see a resurgence in EV sales with the
- 2:45introduction of new low cost models, potentially marking a
- 2:49turn around for the stock. Concerns that Musk might resign
- 2:52from Tesla over the loss of his 2018 compensation deal, valued
- 2:57at $70 billion at the current stock price, were largely
- 3:02dispelled when Vanguard and other significant investors
- 3:06expressed their support for him last month.
- 3:09On Tuesday, Tesla reported it had avoided a steeper decline in
- 3:13Q2 vehicle sales by selling off excess inventory.
- 3:17By reducing EV production to its lowest level since Q 3/20/22,
- 3:22Tesla redirected surplus battery cells to its stationary energy
- 3:26storage business, more than doubling its Q1 volume to an
- 3:29unprecedented 9.4 GW hours deployed.
- 3:33This move has added $100 billion to Tesla's market capitalization
- 3:38over the past two days, currently trading at 70 times
- 3:42next year's earnings. Tesla's valuation is high even
- 3:46for a growth stock, especially one expected to see declines in
- 3:49revenue and earnings in 2024. However, investors confident in
- 3:55Musk's vision for robot butlers might view the current market
- 3:58cap of $740 billion as a minor issue.
- 4:03Musk envisions widespread adoption of robots, aiming for
- 4:06one in every business and home, ultimately reaching a production
- 4:10rate of 1 billion droids per year.
- 4:14Musk plans to sell these Optimus robots at $20,000 each, despite
- 4:19production costs being only $10,000, ensuring a 50% profit
- 4:23margin per unit. This would result in annual
- 4:26profits of $1 trillion, translating to a market cap of
- 4:30$25 trillion. With a standard earnings
- 4:34multiple of 25, adding $5 trillion for the future Robo
- 4:39taxi fleet, Musk believes this presents a substantial value for
- 4:44current investors. Critics argue that Musk's
- 4:47projections are overly optimistic.
- 4:49For instance, the market demand for such robots might not
- 4:52parallel the demand for smartphones, which are
- 4:55significantly cheaper cars. A more comparable product C
- 5:00annual sales of about 100 million units.
- 5:03Due to their higher price points, Chanos and others
- 5:06contend that Musk's estimates imply a market cap approaching
- 5:101/3 of the world's total annual economic output, a highly
- 5:15improbable scenario. Musk's previous prediction of
- 5:18reaching 20 million EV sales by 20-30, which would surpass the
- 5:23combined output of the two largest carmakers globally, was
- 5:26based on replacing 1% of the two billion cars currently on the
- 5:31road each year. This ambitious target was
- 5:34quietly dropped well before the 20-30 deadline, highlighting the
- 5:38need for Musk to produce more realistic projections moving
- 5:42forward. In the meantime, Tesla's shares
- 5:45surged by 10% on Tuesday, following better than expected
- 5:49Q2 delivery numbers. The company delivered 404 three
- 5:52sound 956 vehicles and produced 410,831 in Q2 2024, surpassing
- 6:00analysts expectations of 439,000 deliveries.
- 6:05Despite a 4.8% year over year decline in deliveries, This
- 6:10represented a 14.8% increase from Q1.
- 6:15Tesla groups its deliveries into two categories, Model 3 and
- 6:19Model Y vehicles and all other vehicles, but does not report
- 6:24numbers for specific models or regions.
- 6:27Earlier this year, Tesla reported an 8.5% drop in Q1
- 6:31deliveries, marking the 1st annual decline since 2020.
- 6:36This was followed by a 13% year over year revenue decrease for
- 6:40the quarter, mainly due to lower average selling prices.
- 6:45Now, the decline was partly due to temporary factory shutdowns
- 6:50in response to an alleged arson attack at Tesla's German factory
- 6:55and shipping delays from Red Sea conflicts.
- 6:58Additionally, Tesla's aging vehicle line up and increasing
- 7:01competition, particularly from Chinese EV makers, have impacted
- 7:06sales. A recent survey attributed part
- 7:09of Tesla's brand erosion to CEO Musk's public behavior and
- 7:13political statements. To boost sales, Tesla has
- 7:15offered various incentives and discounts throughout the year.
- 7:18In China, Tesla is offering zero interest loans to encourage
- 7:22purchases of the Model 3 and Model Y by the end of July.
- 7:27Tesla generated approximately $21.00 and $75 billion from
- 7:32China in 2023, accounting for 22.5% of its total sales.
- 7:38However, Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan advised selling
- 7:42Tesla shares, citing declining delivery growth driven by lower
- 7:47demand and diminished return on price cuts.
- 7:52Now, Wells Fargo anticipates a decrease in Tesla's automotive
- 7:55gross margins, excluding environmental credits, due to
- 7:59more price cuts and lower volumes.
- 8:01Investors are now focusing on Tesla's Q2 earnings report later
- 8:05this month and a marketing event in August, where the company
- 8:09plans to unveil its design for a dedicated robotaxi or cyber cab.
- 8:13While Tesla continues to explore new technologies and markets, it
- 8:17faces stiff competition, especially in battery
- 8:20production. LG Energy Solution aims to
- 8:23commercialize a new dry coating technology by 2028, which could
- 8:27significantly reduce production costs.
- 8:30This innovation could position LG as a strong competitor to
- 8:34Chinese battery manufacturers and potentially challenge
- 8:37Tesla's market position. Hey, thank you so much for
- 8:44listening today. I really do appreciate your
- 8:47support. If you could take a second and
- 8:48hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
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- 8:54appreciate it. It helps out the show
- 8:56tremendously and you'll never miss an episode.
- 8:59And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you
- 9:02caught up quickly. And please, if you want to
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- 9:11please take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you
- 9:13tomorrow.