All tension at Tesla disappeared when Elon Musk received enough money and pledged to turn Tesla into the “AirBnb of the EV industry.”
During a recent shareholder meeting in Austin, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk was thrilled to appear on stage with sweet words: “I want to start off by saying that I love everybody. People.”
Elon Musk’s joy is well-founded, as Tesla shareholders voted to re-grant him the $46 billion that the Delaware court had previously rejected. This way, Elon Musk will receive the largest bonus ever received by a CEO in history. This result was achieved after a lobbying campaign by Tesla’s board of directors warning that Elon Musk could leave if he was not paid a decent amount.
However, Elon Musk will not receive the money immediately because there are still other legal disputes and the Judge must also consider whether this compensation package is fair or not, which could lead to new lawsuits and caused a long legal battle. In addition, Tesla shareholders also voted to move the company’s headquarters from Delaware to Texas, thus subjecting it to the legal framework of another state and complicating the lawsuits.
New chapter for Tesla
Despite the challenges ahead, the crowd cheered after the announcement of the results of Tesla’s shareholder vote. Elon Musk, Tesla’s boss, ignored the critics during the event in Austin and continued to liven up the atmosphere with bright prospects for electric vehicles, such as autonomous driving technology. “We have not only opened a new chapter for Tesla, but also created a new story for the entire industry,” Elon Musk said proudly.
Referring to the future financial situation, Elon Musk said that Tesla’s total capitalization could increase by 110 times compared to the current one based on “the general situation of the automobile market.” “I firmly believe that this will happen,” Elon Musk said, claiming that Tesla’s value will increase dramatically.
Along the same lines, famed investor Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest fund said it believes Tesla’s total market capitalization could reach $8 trillion and predicts the electric car company’s share price could hit $2,600 by 2029. Billionaire Elon Musk said Tesla will immediately load self-driving software into all vehicles on the market when the technology is perfected, creating a huge revenue stream for the company.
However, this plan is facing management by the authorities due to concerns about safety issues, technological perfection as well as legal frameworks in case of accidents.
For example, who will be liable if a self-driving car causes an accident? The driver or the company that provides the self-driving software? This delay worries Tesla shareholders, who are being outperformed by Chinese EV companies thanks to their cheap products, beautiful designs and equally advanced technology, while Elon Musk’s empire has gone many years without a major new line of cars.
“The Airbnb of the electric vehicle industry”
According to Elon Musk, self-driving car technology will help the company make money like the Uber or AirBnb business model when car owners or car manufacturers pay to rent this technology from Tesla, creating a fleet of self-driving electric taxis without the need for a driver.
To put it more simply, people can turn their electric cars into temporary self-driving taxis, much like AirBnb rents out apartments to turn into temporary hotels. “If you are away for a week, just use the Tesla app. Your car will be added to the self-driving taxi fleet and help make money even when you are away,” said Elon Musk to cheers from the crowd in Austin. The Tesla boss commented that this change is just a matter of time, sooner or later.
Elon Musk had already predicted that autonomous electric vehicles would reach one million units by 2020, but this figure has not been met because they are not yet a popular means of transport. “I have to admit that sometimes I am a bit optimistic… but if I were not optimistic, electric cars would not become a reality, Tesla factories would not exist as they are now,” said Elon Musk.
