• DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Musk nearly bankrupted Tesla when he insisted that the door handles must be flush after stealing the company from its original founders.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      I mean, “stealing” is a strong word. Elon bought them out, and they’re both enjoying a net worth in the hundreds of million.

      What’s more disturbing about Elon’s tenure as head of the company is how social media manipulation, insider trading, and blatant SEC violations can pump a company’s valuation into the stratosphere.

      Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard both continued to contribute advances in engineering that far exceeded the Tesla project. But they’ll never have the kind of easy credit Elon secured through politics and media manipulation. So don’t expect to see them included among the ranks of “billionaire” any time soon.

      • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        “Bought them out” is a weak word too though. He placed loyal people on the board and had them vote to give him control of the company.

        And now he has been having them vote to give him absurd unseen before “salaries”

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          He placed loyal people on the board and had them vote to give him control of the company.

          He could place loyalists on the board because he bought a controlling interest in the company.

          And now he has been having them vote to give him absurd unseen before “salaries”

          The latest compensation package has virtually unattainable sales targets. And the compensation is almost entirely in equity that assumes a monumental increase in stock valuation.

          If he can manage it, I’d be tempted to say he earned it, except I know he’ll only “hit” the target by lying and market manipulation that will collapse as soon as he hits his mark.

      • Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip
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        6 hours ago

        With any luck Elon with be in jail in a few years when Democrats try to prove we shouldn’t abandon this socioeconomic system entirely.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          4 hours ago

          That would require a backbone not seen in democrats in generations. I’d bet money on him being a free man and never seeing the inside of a cell.

        • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works
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          6 hours ago

          That will never, ever, ever happen. Dems love an oligarch just as much, if not more, than republicans. China is the only country that prosecutes wealthy criminals.

          • Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip
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            6 hours ago

            Well, then I hope you guys are ready for a revolution unless you’re fine with a Blade Runner esc hellscape.

          • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            6 hours ago

            China is the only country that prosecutes wealthy criminals.

            Unfortunately they also lockup anyone they just kind of don’t like for any arbitrary reason.

              • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                5 hours ago

                Oh I agree, the US has taken a giant step toward the exact same fascist approach to government in the last few years

            • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works
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              4 hours ago

              I was pointing out a difference in the way America does things. If I started listing things both have in common, the list would literally never end. Besides, the similarity is surface-level. China’s economy isn’t propped up by for-profit prisons