Elon is clueless. His customers are for the most part liberal Biden supporters. He regularly insults them on X.
When you go anti-woke, you go broke.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/would-be-tesla-buyers-snub-company-musks-reputation-dips-2024-04-01/
He's the most arrogant rich SOB since some big old orange fat guy, I forget his name.
Regardless of what you think of his politics (I dont like his politics) - his contributions are undeniable on several fronts. He is a brilliant inventor who can also bring his inventions to market and turn them into a viable business. Very rare combination.
But you are correct about his customer base and the impact his statements have on them. Clearly he turns off some subset of his potential customers. The really dangerous thing is shareholders could conceivably file a class action lawsuit for their losses in the stock. You just have to convince a jury people are boycotting the product for the reasons you say.
Personally, I generally dont boycott companies for political reasons...
- I eat at Chic-Fil-A
- I frame pictures at Hobby Lobby
- and I even have Ted Nuggent songs on my playlist.
I do boycott companies that make me pay for parking on the strip. Thats a whole other ballgame.
Funny you mentioned it, I absolutely love Chick-Fil-A's chicken sandwiches, but will never eat another one.
The thing is, Musk's (and other CEOs', on occasion) rants and political pronouncements have had nothing but negative effects on the fortunes as well as the public image of Tesla. That's the exact opposite of the role of a CEO. He may not give a flying fart if his net worth drops from $28 to $25 billion (or whatever it is) as a result. But his shareholders sure do.
So that's an interesting question re whether a CEO can be sued for misconduct that affects the value/fortunes of a publicly held company. Of course, we might find that out sooner than later when Turd Social stock drops to $0.04 a share
