Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Production Figures

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by lamlam on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:21PM (#18311615)

No one takes a company public for fun. They do it for funds. Especially for something like a car company that requires a lot of initial investment to get going. They can't start making money right away like a SaaS company might.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by paulddraper on Friday October 26, 2018 @03:30PM (#18312114)

Not wanting to take a company public reminds me of the story of one of Schwarzenegger's critics.

"I never want to you look like you."

"Don't worry, you never will."

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by azylman on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:25PM (#18311649)

Lying to investors is illegal regardless of whether your company is public or private

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by happytoexplain on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:26PM (#18311659)

I think you're implying that, #1: There is a trend where public companies face unreasonable or unfair accountability laws, and #2: This case is an example of that. Am I off base? If not, #1 sounds like a reasonable argument could be made, though it would be better made explicitly rather than implicitly. #2, on the other hand, definitely needs elaboration.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by dragontamer on Friday October 26, 2018 @04:34PM (#18312516)

https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&C...

That's why. Filing 424: secondary offerings to the public market.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000119312516...

There's $2,000,000,000 right there raised through the public market.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000119312516...

There's 300-million or so.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000119312514...

There's another $2,000,000,000 raised.

--------

Companies go public to raise money. Elon Musk wanted to spend $5 Billion on a Gigafactory. How else was he going to get the money?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by gpm on Friday October 26, 2018 @04:48PM (#18312596)

s/2,000,000,000,000/2,000,000,000/g

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by dragontamer on Friday October 26, 2018 @04:55PM (#18312641)

Ah shoot, I miscounted. Thanks for the correction. I've edited my post.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by DannyBee on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:37PM (#18311747)

Your private investors could sue you for this just as much!

You may also some day want employees, and it seems unlikely you will be able to compete in compensation on the private side.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by rchaud on Friday October 26, 2018 @03:14PM (#18312003)

If you are a CEO who's partial to headline-grabbing stunts over listening to what your corporate counsel is telling you about what you can legally announce, then yeah, you shouldn't go public.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by RivieraKid on Friday October 26, 2018 @03:27PM (#18312097)

Tesla and Musk are doing a lot of shady, semi-legal stuff. Public companies have a harder time getting away with that. So in this regard, yes, staying private is better.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by sambull on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:25PM (#18311646)

You won't. Your investors will.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by tareqak on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:20PM (#18311606)

Getting access to public investment?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by Mikeb85 on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:20PM (#18311609)

Subject themselves to what? Having to be transparent and tell the truth in exchange for massive amounts of funding?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by itsslo on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:27PM (#18311667)

Naive. How about short sellers spreading fake news (or blowing news out of proportion) to suppress the price of your stock?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by ceejayoz on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:46PM (#18311805)

It seems a bit silly to bash shorts for "spreading fake news" in defense of a CEO that settled with the SEC for demonstrably spreading fake news to combat shorts he perceives as persecuting his company.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by itsslo on Friday October 26, 2018 @05:54PM (#18312972)

I disagree, it was of the same nature and tone.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by hnbroseph on Friday October 26, 2018 @03:20PM (#18312051)

two wrongs don't make a right, or so the saying goes

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by FireBeyond on Friday October 26, 2018 @07:18PM (#18313387)

Where's the -evidence-, as opposed to theories, that short sellers are actively and illegally manipulating the stock price with demonstrably false statements?

False statements like "I've secured funding to take Tesla private", for example...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by ceejayoz on Friday October 26, 2018 @03:30PM (#18312118)

I haven't seen much evidence the shorts have committed a wrong.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by Mikeb85 on Friday November 02, 2018 @12:07AM (#18360629)

Short sellers keep prices in check and offer a healthy degree of scepticism. Also, short squeezes are plenty of fun when you're on the long side.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by happytoexplain on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:32PM (#18311702)

Your proposition might have legs, but I don't think the parent post was malicious enough to deserve prefacing your reply with such a curt criticism.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by _Microft on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:25PM (#18311654)

"It sucks to run a public company" - ...someone

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by dmitrygr on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:21PM (#18311617)

It is hard to pay market rates in cash when you're a startup, and nobody wants to own shares they cannot sell; allowing sales without being public gets messy quickly; and there is also a limit to the number of shareholders before you are required to go public.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by noblethrasher on Friday October 26, 2018 @03:39PM (#18312174)

> and there is also a limit to the number of shareholders before you are required to go public.

You're never forced to go public, but you will be required to disclose financial data to the public if you have more than 1,999 individual shareholders and assets with a value that is greater than or equal to 10 million dollars.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by pkaye on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:27PM (#18311676)

Just don't take any investor money and you will be fine.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by lallysingh on Friday October 26, 2018 @03:17PM (#18312025)

You want to grow your company and need a ton of money.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by rburhum on Friday October 26, 2018 @04:24PM (#18312463)

money?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Over Whether It Misstated Prod... by GenericsMotors on Friday October 26, 2018 @02:20PM (#18311610)

Just don't accuse upstanding citizens of being pedos, or try to manipulate your company's stock price with false promises of buying it back at a premium and you'll be fine.

[ Parent | on HN ]