Elon Musk is trying as best he can to reassure Tesla employees. The electric car maker’s stock is down more than 70% since the start of the year. In an internal email seen by CNBC to company employees, Musk assures us that we should not take into account “stock market madness”.
“Tesla will be the most valuable company on the planet!”
“Don’t be too bothered by the madness of the stock markets. The market will recognize this if we continue to perform well. In the long run, I firmly believe that Tesla will be the most valuable company on the planet!”, wrote the American billionaire in his internal memo to Tesla employees. Musk is also asking employees to redouble their efforts at the end of the year in order to “deliver our cars to customers who ordered them before December 31 at midnight”.
And to insist: “Please don’t hesitate to mobilize over the next few days and volunteer to help with the delivery, where possible. It will make a real difference!” As CNBC reminds us, the American company is aiming for a 50% growth in deliveries from one year to the next, in order to produce ever more vehicles. Employees are therefore asked to go out of their way to meet or even exceed the objectives.
Musk accuses the US central bank
This little push, accompanied by a salient criticism of the financial markets, comes after the crash in Tesla shares since the beginning of the year. With a stock at $112.71 this Thursday, December 29 before the stock market opened, the stock is priced similar to August 2020. Since January 1, Tesla (TSLA) stock is down 71 %, including 37% in December alone.
A depreciation justified on the side of Elon Musk by the rise in interest rates from the Fed (Federal Reserve of the United States). Many financial experts attribute, for their part, the fall in the action to the recent activities of the American billionaire. Since the takeover of the social network Twitter in October, it has been accused of forgetting its favorite ex-company, Tesla. In response to recent shareholder concerns, the businessman promised that he would personally ensure that “Tesla shareholders benefit from Twitter in the long term”.
The drop in Tesla shares is impacting the majority of the automaker’s employees. As Reuters reminds us, the company offers part of the salary in action to its employees. A practice which aims to stimulate the productivity of employees, but which can demoralize the troops during a significant drop in the price, as has been the case in recent months.