back to article Tesla's chief accounting officer drives off after just a month on the job

Tesla's chief accounting officer (CAO), Dave Morton, has run for the hills after a matter of weeks at Elon Musk's electric car company. In a filing (PDF) to the US Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC), Tesla announced that Morton was to leave the building. For his part, Morton said: "Since I joined Tesla on August 6th, the …

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      1. Lomax
        Devil

        Re: The product is strong, and the vision is excellent

        > His car company has no future.

        That aged well. Since you posted this Tesla has doubled its takings to ~$7bn, and has turned a profit four out of the six last quarters. Their Q3 2019 balance sheet showed cash reserves of $5.7bn, with sales at ~6,000 cars per week. Share price recently peaked above $800. I think your crystal ball might be in need of new batteries.

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The battery is flat, the CEO is stoned and Tesla came bottom of the What Car reliability ratings.

    Thankfully I don't own any Tesla shares.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      RE: What Car survey

      The sample size was totally unrepresentative when compared to the number of cars sold.

      Statistically, it was wrong.

      I'm not the biggest fan of Tesla but this is just jumping on the 'Tesla is doomed bandwagon'

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: RE: What Car survey

        The sample size was totally unrepresentative when compared to the number of cars sold.

        Maybe, but its backed up by Which, JD Power, Consumer Reports.

        Tesla have server logistics and manufacture problems because they chose to reinvent the wheel, and then they ladled a further helping of crapness on top by deciding to manufacture in the US.

        Don't get me wrong, the design brief of the product is superb, but the build quality is shocking compared to similarly priced cars from companies with a lot more experience.

        1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

          Re: RE: What Car survey

          It's also interesting watching Tesla's being torn down on YouTube. Theory went that the EV would be simpler and cheaper to manufacture and service.. But looking at how they're assembled, they're anything but. Motor and transmission are probably larger & heavier than a modest ICE, and then there's the batteries. Even things like the door handles seem needlessly complicated, and I'm not entirely convinced there's much of an aerodynamic benefit. But then the car industry's always managed to sell big wings to drivers who may feel inadequate in other areas.

        2. LucreLout

          Re: RE: What Car survey

          Don't get me wrong, the design brief of the product is superb, but the build quality is shocking compared to similarly priced cars from companies with a lot more experience.

          I've not read the surveys, but I expect you're right. When you rush tings, quality is the first casualty.

          That being said, scalaing upa new product offering isn't the most difficult challenge in business (everyone from Apple to Cisco has done this before), so Tesla should be able to sort this out as things progress.

          Assuming of course, they don't run out of money first.

          (I have a small bet on Tesla but I'm pretty sure that it's not influencing my thinking here)

  2. DrRobert

    There's no need to wonder where the musky smell is coming from at Tesla.

    Sell Tesla buy, anything.

  3. disgruntled yank

    Pace

    The pace of the work, or the pace at which the company goes through money?

    It has never occurred to me to hang up boots. If the ex-HR person was exposed to company publicity, I hope she cleaned them well before hanging them up.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Pace

      It sounded to me like a over-paid exec discovered that he was expected to do some real work for a change.

      1. DropBear

        Re: Pace

        I rather suspect he discovered his job would have required him to be a bit more, uh, creative with money than he would have felt comfortable being.

  4. msage
    Mushroom

    Wonder if Tesla will do an 80's Apple style meltdown... On the plus side arguably it saved the company and made it what it is now.

    I wonder if they can tempt John Sculley out of retirement :)

    1. a_yank_lurker

      @msage - Apple was a profitable company back then unlike Tesla. I do not remember Tesla ever making a quarterly or annual profit nor coming close to meeting production goals. Apple was doing both in the throughout most of its history. Apple did have a near death experience and survived. Tesla reminds me of many of the late 90s DotCom bubble companies with an interesting product but no clue as to how to make a profit to survive. They eventually burned through the VC cash and burned spectacularly.

      Another key difference is Apple was one the early companies in the PC market when PCs were emerging as useful devices around the home and office. Thus they had a chance to evolve with the market. Tesla is a late entry into a very mature market of cars and trucks. There are numerous well established companies who have been making cars for decades if not over a century. They know how to make a car. Other than the power plant there is nothing 'novel' about a Tesla. Even its 'novelty' is not new; electric cars have been manufactured since the 1890s with varying degrees of success and profitability. So there is nothing stopping say Ford or Toyota from making an all electric car and trying to sell it. Plus they can afford to have a few years of lack luster sales with minimal profits for an electric vehicle as the infrastructure supporting them improves. They also have the facilities to ramp up production rather quickly if consumer demand shifts.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Get off the man's arse...

    So he smokes weed. Doesn't surprise me, and it makes no more difference then if it was just Tobacco.

    Get over your Taboos and ditch the brainwashing from the Reagan era. Weed isn't your enemy.

    Methamphetamine, Crack/Cocaine,Synthetics, and Opiates are the real drugs you need to be concerned about.

    1. onefang
      Holmes

      Re: Get off the man's arse...

      "So he smokes weed. Doesn't surprise me, and it makes no more difference then if it was just Tobacco."

      The thing that disappointed me was the tobacco content of the joint. Mixing a perfectly good drug with the horror that is 'baccy, the man should be ashamed. I did see this coming when he was talking about going private for $420 a share.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    All this, with real competition finally on the horizon

    Mercedes Benz just announced their intention to spend $12 billion over the next several years to create a whole line of electric cars. No doubt the other big automakers are not far behind on such plans. They have simply been biding their time until electric cars were ready for the mass market - and they want them as a base for future autonomous vehicles (I doubt we will ever see a non-electric level 5 autonomous car)

    Now Tesla is going to have to really compete, and with all the chaos happening there they are not in a position to stand against Mercedes, let alone the rest of the big players once they get involved. At the rate they're going, they may not still exist five years from now.

    1. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: All this, with real competition finally on the horizon

      > Mercedes Benz just announced their intention to spend $12 billion

      Which makes Musk ecstatically happy, as that's one of his prime goals. To get EVERYONE making EVs, not just Tesla, and hopefully cut down on ICE production. As far as he's concerned, the more, the merrier.

    2. Mark 85

      Re: All this, with real competition finally on the horizon

      We're starting to see the groundwork being laid for this. Some manufacturers are starting to build cars with "fly by wire" tech in them. The prediction is that as the market gets used to these and new enhancements are made in the near future, autonomous cars, electric powered, will be brought out.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: All this, with real competition finally on the horizon

      A major issue with Tesla is that they're fundamentally an American car.

      As opposed to being, for example, a German car.

  7. Pete 2 Silver badge

    Musk did get one thing right

    Asked about the wisdom of smoking marijuana while he is under investigation by the SEC for the “take private” tweet, Musk told the Guardian by email: “Guardian is the most insufferable newspaper on planet Earth”.

    ref: The Guardian

    (Personally, considering its tiny circulation, I'm surprised he had heard of it)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Musk did get one thing right

      I used to read The Guardian till I realised you needed an income over £150k a year for it to be worth the effort. Musk has probably heard of it because its readership is the most likely in the UK to buy one of his expensive cars.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Musk did get one thing right

      It's something like the 4th or 5th most read English language newspaper website. The circulation of the paper version is essentially irrelevant compared to the huge international readership online

    3. DrXym

      Re: Musk did get one thing right

      The Guardian certainly has an insufferable side to it, particularly some of the columnists, but it is still one of the most trustworthy newspapers out there. Not least because it isn't controlled by tax dodging newspaper proprietors so it has a tendency to be more independent and free about what it reports.

      1. ChrisPv

        Re: Musk did get one thing right

        This is what I thought, until I had opportunity to observe their “see no jihadist, hear no jihadist” attitude to Syrian civil war reporting.

        Since then I have them marked as “CIA front” or “Saudi money” or maybe both.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Musk did get one thing right

        This is what I thought, until I had opportunity to observe their “see no jihadist, hear no jihadist” attitude to Syrian civil war reporting.

        Since then I have them marked as “CIA front” or “Saudi money” or maybe both.

        1. onefang

          Re: Musk did get one thing right

          I'm guessing you just outed yourself AC. Quick, delete the original, before anyone else notices.

      3. LucreLout

        Re: Musk did get one thing right

        The Guardian certainly has an insufferable side to it, particularly some of the columnists, but it is still one of the most trustworthy newspapers out there.

        Ya think?

        https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/27/guardian_use_me_as_a_mouthpiece/

        Not least because it isn't controlled by tax dodging newspaper proprietors

        Ya think?

        https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/04/will-the-guardian-now-investigate-its-own-tax-arrangements/

        https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/06/28/the-insufferable-hypocrisy-of-the-guardian-on-corporation-tax/#39accd4a5969

        https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/guardian-media-firm-makes-186m-but-pays-only-200000-tax-8675818.html

        LucreLouts law: Facts may be used to form opinions, however the inverse is not true.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tough times

    It's got to be tough for Tesla's board and everyone else at Tesla to deal with the eccentric behavior of Musk. Now that the SEC has subpoenaed both the board and Musk for the untrue twitter post that Musk had secured financing to take the company public, the melt down continues with Musk smoking weed on live TV. Tesla stock is dropping like a rock. A class action stock holders lawsuit was also announced today against Tesla and Musk for the apparent intent to burn short sellers with the twitter post that has proven untrue.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Tough times

      Musk is also about to be sued by Vernon Unsworth in three countries. Calling a 40 year old Thai woman a "12 year old child bride" could just possibly come back to bite him. Especially in a country where aggravated libel can result in a prison sentence (Thailand). Not that he's likely to be going there.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Tough times

        While Tesla was already on shaky ground, and the Boring company / Hyperloop will never get off the ground, SpaceX is doing great things. I hope the board of SpaceX has a plan in place for how to continue operations should he continue further on his descent into Trump-ness.

        1. IceC0ld

          Re: Tough times

          While Tesla was already on shaky ground, and the Boring company / Hyperloop will never get off the ground

          ======

          not to be TOO pedantic, but those company parts aren't supposed to get off the ground :o)

      2. katgod

        Re: Tough times

        Don't put it past the man to get stoned and book a flight to Thailand so he can punch Vernon in the face. This is a man that never took Clint E. advice, "a man has got to know his limitations".

      3. FlamingDeath Silver badge

        Re: Tough times

        To be fair, Thailand is a magnet for paedos, and just because he has a wife, it doesn't mean he isn't a paedo

        Hopefully a PI is looking into this

        Sometimes people just give you the creeps, and I suspect this guy gave Elon the creeps.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No way to behave

    I once had respect for Elon Musk, but due to his recent behavior that respect is now for the engineers and staff that put in the work to produce the Tesla and SpaceX products.

    He seems to have lost it and his judgement is now poor. He doesnt seem to know when to keep his mouth shut.

    My first electric car wont be a Tesla due to Elon Musk being a jerk.

    1. DropBear

      Re: No way to behave

      ...or you could just grow up, learn to separate someone's achievements from their personality and realise that most people with a strong enough personality to see extraordinary things get done repeatedly tend to also not be particularly pleasant people for the exact same reason. Not that any of that would require you to like the man, and what car you buy and why is absolutely up to you, but a bit of perspective is badly needed.

      1. gregthecanuck

        Re: No way to behave

        Exactly. Steve Jobs was a dick.

  10. StuntMisanthrope

    Exhibit 3. Rockets.

    The guy burns virtually anyone else, no doubt on productivity and output regardless. Yes, it's boring on some levels, the share-holder block on it's own, is a bit silly. But smoking a joint, it's the end of days.

    Not sure what parties you're going to, but you wouldn't get a reply, even if you offered to post the cheque. #whatstheshopfellacalledmightneedabitofteamwork #x.com

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Buy back just got cheaper

    If he really is interested in buying back the company, knocking a few billion off its market cap can’t harm. Much more sensible than his initial plan of completely unnecessarily broadcasting a wildly inflated offer, driving the share price even further from what he could feasibly afford.

  12. Gordon861

    So he smoked a joint ... so what.

    It's legal, would there have been all this shit if he'd been sitting there with a beer or spirits?

    1. Spazturtle Silver badge

      It's not legal though, it is a federal crime, it is just that California has no state level laws against it. It is also a violation of his security clearance.

  13. JJKing
    Flame

    Shorting stock rewards the slime of the world.

    Congratulations to all those brave Anonymous Cowards sticking their oar in the water deriding Musk and projecting their personal, honest anonymous opinions. If he hadn't started this electric care craze then we would still be stuck with the yuppie Toyota Hybrids and the oil companies would still be destroying the environment in an attempt to further their obscene profits and keep polluting the atmosphere for generations to come. Like the tobacco companies hiding the results of effects of their poisoness product, oil companies have done the same plus they have acquired any possible alternative to the ICE (and I am not talking about those water engines of yester year).

    Yes I believe Musk is losing the plot and the stress of Tesla cars is likely the cause. If the manufacturing had gone as envisioned then things would likely be totally different. They only have to get out of their "manufacturing hell" and things will turn around and quickly.

    Also, until the company actually goes bankrupt, NOBODY has lost money on their shares. They still own the same number it is just they have a lesser or perhaps in a few weeks, greater value. It is only when you sell them at the lesser price do you then lose money, assuming you bought high and sold low. 1929 was caused by the panic of greedy people selling at a lower price. I like the Warren Buffett quote. When people are greedy be fearful. When people are fearful be greedy. Here is seems the greedy want Tesla to fail so they can make a quick buck. It is disgusting to bet against a company failing to make money where thousands can lose jobs, communities die rather than try and help to build something better where everyone prospers and not just the 1% or the arseholes in wall street.

    1. LucreLout

      Re: Shorting stock rewards the slime of the world.

      Also, until the company actually goes bankrupt, NOBODY has lost money on their shares.

      Sorry, but you're wrong. The mid-price for my shares is less than the value at which I acquired them, thus I have lost money on my Tesla shares. I may yet regain it, or I may lose further money still, but economically, for real, I have lost money. Why is everyone so afraid of admitting that?

      They still own the same number it is just they have a lesser or perhaps in a few weeks, greater value.

      Ok, so you seem to understand very basic market mechanics but apparently miss the significance of this in relation to your earlier point. Losing money on shares is multiplied by the quantity held, no mitigated by it.

      I like the Warren Buffett quote. When people are greedy be fearful. When people are fearful be greedy.

      You're seriously going to quote the Sage of Omaha, after just positing that nobody has lost money on a share that has lost market price? Really?

      It is disgusting to bet against a company failing to make money where thousands can lose jobs, communities die

      I'm not suggesting that Tesla is a zombie company (yet), but shorting is one of the things that helps zombie companies die out, which free's up the capital and staff for more productive use elsewhere. It's a core tennet of capitalism.

      Why do I feel like I'm talking to a socialist who thinks they're a capitalist?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Shorting stock rewards the slime of the world.

      You seem to not understand short selling...

      Short sellers actually purchase shares of a company so in reality they are providing funds for operation of said company. What they are betting on is the reality that a poorly managed company will in the end see a price drop in their share price. The short sellers have no influence on the day-to-day operations of the business.

      Musk has bet the farm on the model 3 making Tesla profitable for the first time in history. Unfortunately his poor execution of model 3 production has failed to deliver the 5,000 weekly model 3 units required by Dec. 2017. With Tesla burning thru billions in cash per quarter their meager cash reserves are ready to run out. Tesla continues to state they will be profitable in Q3 that's now or in Q4 that's next month. Poor management is not a result of short sellers. Tesla has in fact cut labor in an effort to shore up cash. They even begged certain suppliers to refund them money paid for previous parts supplied. No properly run Biz acts like this. Betting on Tesla is risky business and it could all turn to tears for everyone except Musk. That will be all on Musk's shoulders and no one else's.

  14. FlamingDeath Silver badge

    I found the 2hr+ podcast far more interesting than the brief toke on the spliff

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It could only mean one thing..

    .. this happened to my (vastly smaller) dot com biz in the mid-2000's... my CFO left the company just when things looked desperate: a) he can see the numbers and b) financial types are risk averse.. so looks like TESLA is not out of the woods yet.. things will probably get worse for TESLA before it gets better.

  16. Noonoot

    Seriously?

    Why hasn't anyone written that he's a twat yet because that's what he is? Sorry, but you can have all the money in the world and think you have a good business, but when you are a twat, that's what you are.

  17. DrXym

    Musk's worst enemy

    Is himself. There is no doubting he is a visionary and he has pushed his businesses further than anyone else would dare.

    At the same time even a visionary needs a filter to stop the stupid from bubbling up to the top. On top of that he is clearly overworking himself and the pressure / ambien means the stupid has joined forces with impetuous and nasty. It's just one bad news story after another and the stock has taken a massive hit.

    It's probably why Tesla announced a bunch of promotions on Friday. Hopefully it's the company stepping up (or intervening) to relieve Musk of some of his duties and hopefully impose some normality on their business. Musk is fine as a figure head and a visonary but he needs to step back and allow some of his subordinates to do what they're there to do.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Elon Musk trying too hard to be John McAfee

    1. LucreLout

      Elon Musk trying too hard to be John McAfee

      I fucking love John McAfee. There, I said it. He's just the gift that keeps on giving - and endless parade of low-brow fun and shennaigans, from someone too smart to believe his own words.

  19. Potemkine! Silver badge

    What the fuss about Musk smoking a joint ? Are business people shocked because he doesn't sniff cocaine as they do?

  20. CentralCoasty
    FAIL

    Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.....

    My faith in the Reg readership is gone....

    ..... not one comment about the CEO of SpaceX being spaced!

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