Joe Biden gave Elon Musk a scathing presidential rebuttal, wishing him “lots of luck” on his trip to Moon.
The announcement came after Tesla’s boss, who had expressed a “superbad” feeling about global economic conditions, made plans to eliminate one out of ten jobs at Tesla.
Biden stated that Ford is increasing its investment, even though Elon Musk is talking about it. Ford seems to be increasing their investment in new electric vehicles. Six thousand employees, union employees, I might say.
In Delaware, the US president spoke out about investments made by Chrysler in electric cars and Intel in computer chips.
Mr Biden said: “So, you understand…lots luck on his trip to the Moon …”.”
Musk replied to the Twitter jibe by saying “Thanks Mr. President!”
A press release by Nasa from April announcing the award of a $2.89bn contract (£2.3bn to SpaceX) to his company SpaceX to construct the lunar lander in time for America’s planned return to Moon later this decade was also published by the billionaire.
Musk’s ultimate goal, rather than the Moon is to colonize Mars and make humanity a multi-planet species.
This was the latest in a long-running feud. Musk previously claimed that Mr Biden’s administration had printed “a zillion dollars more than it has” and stated that it “doesn’t seem to get much done.”
Musk stated last month that he had voted Democrat because “they (mostly) were the kindness party” but that it has now become “the party to division and hate”.
He declared his intention to vote Republican.
On Friday, Mr Musk directed Tesla to reduce 10% of all jobs in the world.
In an email sent to employees on Thursday, the chief executive of Tesla also requested an immediate freeze in Tesla’s hiring. This was seen by Reuters.
The US inflation rate is now at around 8%, up from 5% a year ago. According to the White House, inflation is still too high despite recent slowdowns.
The US reported a better than expected job growth of 5.5% in May on Thursday. This suggests that companies are still optimistic about the economy.
Musk previously stated that the US was “probably” in recession. He said this at a May conference: “It’ll likely be some tough going over the next year, perhaps 12 to 18 months.”
US employers added 390,000. This was less than the 436,000 jobs added in April but more than economists predicted. While the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%, labour force participation rose.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were also “notable” gains in the leisure and hospitality industries, which have had difficulty recruiting new workers.
According to Tesla’s annual regulatory filings around the world, around 100,000 employees are employed by the company. This means that the company could lose approximately 10,000 jobs if it follows the 10% headcount reduction directive. The Tesla share price plunged 8.5% in the wake of Mr Musk’s directive. It fell to $708 in afternoon trading, down from $775 at its previous closing.
After telling Tesla employees that their home-based work arrangements were effectively ended, Mr Musk directed them to cut 10% of staff. He tweeted earlier in the week that remote workers should “pretend to work elsewhere”.
Tesla allows remote work, provided that staff spend at least 40 hours per week in the office. This could be interpreted as an apparent nod to hybrid work, in which staff split their time between the office and homework.
After Musk’s April announcement of his intention to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, Tesla’s fortunes are now more closely tied to Twitter’s.
Twitter announced yesterday that the deadline for US antitrust authorities informally intervening in the buyout has passed. This means it is now one step closer.
The billionaire said the deal was being held despite speculation that he wanted to lower its price. Tesla CEO Elon Musk must still pay $1bn if the deal falls apart.
According to Reuters, the US automotive industry is showing little signs of a decline. Dealer inventories have shown little sign of growing due to consumers tightening their budgets and delaying buying new cars.
There are approximately 5,000 vacancies on LinkedIn for Tesla at the moment, including new posts about its recently opened battery factory in Berlin.
Musk previously compared Mr Biden with Ron Burgundy in the film, a witless newsreader from the cult movie “Anchorman”. Musk mocks the president’s dependence on his teleprompter for public speeches.
Musk stated in May that Democrats are “overly controlled” by the unions.
