adze Inc.
TSLA 1.28%
said CEO Elon Musk changed his company title to “Tesla Technology”, extending an irreversible series to the 49-year-old electric vehicle’s management.
The company also said that CFO Zach Kirkhorn will have the title of “Master of Coin”. Both Mr Musk and Mr Kirkhorn will hold their respective positions as CEO and chief financial officer, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The company did not explain the significance of the titles and did not respond to an investigation. Mr Kirkhorn’s new title could echo Tesla’s ambitions around cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year, Tesla said it had invested $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin and was aiming to start accepting bitcoin as payment from car buyers.
Over the weekend, bitcoin spent $ 60,000 for the first time on Saturday before returning. A steady stream of institutional demand has been credited with driving much of the Bitcoin rally since early 2020, when it traded nearly $ 7,000.
Elon Musk’s optimism and affinity for grandiose statements that may have diminished his credibility have now helped him become the second richest person in the world. The WSJ takes a look at how it managed to succeed in the midst of the pandemic. Photo: Britta Pedersen / Zuma Press (Video from 12/11/20)
Other companies have embraced Bitcoin in recent months. Square Inc., which shares Bitcoin lawyer Jack Dorsey as CEO with Twitter Inc.,
TWTR 2.37%
it purchased about $ 50 million for its corporate treasury in October. Bank of New York Mellon Body.
BK -0.90%
said it will start treating bitcoin like any other financial asset and Mastercard Inc.
ME -0.45%
said it would integrate bitcoin into its payment network this year.
Most job titles for corporate leaders conform to a narrow set of variations, but some Silicon Valley companies have previously used fancy language to describe employee roles. For years, some companies have used terms such as “guru”, “jedi” or “ninja” to color job descriptions that involve expertise or mental agility. Other colorful titles that will appear include the chief officer of happiness, the futuristic chief and the digital chief evangelist.
Tesla has revealed the title changes amid signs of a more bumpy road than in 2020. Rivals show early signs of consuming market share in electric vehicle sales. The company briefly stopped part of its car production at its only US plant last month due to a lack of parts. Tesla also said it expects a lower decline in the Sedan S and Model X sports cars this quarter as it introduces upgraded versions of the vehicles, while increasing production of its compact Model Y sports vehicle in China.
Tesla shares rose more than 700% last year, then fell more than 25% earlier this month and are little changed for that year. Last year, the company made record deliveries of cars, recorded its first profit for the whole year and obtained a place on the S&P 500 index.
Mr Musk’s new title could be designed to reflect Tesla’s view that it is a source of long-term technology disruption, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a research note, pointing to the company’s self-management work and progress. in battery technology.
Mr. Musk’s role as Tesla’s public face did not stop him from taking naughty challenges. Detaching himself from the mold of executives of large companies who make carefully formulated public statements, Mr. Musk often posts messages on Twitter with free thoughts on topics, from the price of Tesla shares to science fiction and online memes.
The tweets have put Mr Musk in trouble with regulators. In 2018, he announced on Twitter that he was considering plans to make the car manufacturer private, a request later considered misleading by the SEC, after it became clear that he had no funding completed for such a move.
He denied committing any wrongdoing, but eventually agreed to an agreement that included him resigning as president of Tesla and agreeing to review any of his Twitter messages about the carmaker’s business before to publish them.
Mr. Musk’s stake in the company helped him surpass Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN -1.26%
founder Jeff Bezos as the richest man in the world this year.
Tesla also named Jerome Guillen, who ran the company’s car business, as president of Heavy Trucking on Monday. He oversaw the truck project in a previous role and, before joining Tesla in 2010, worked on trucks at Daimler. AG
.
The appointment comes as the carmaker intensifies work around its delayed semi-trailer truck.
Over the weekend, Tesla posted a video on Twitter of an electric cab driving on a test track. Mr Musk said the supply of sufficient batteries detained the truck. “If we were to make Semi right now, we could easily put it into production with Semi, but we wouldn’t have enough cells for it right now,” Mr. Musk said of the company’s latest earnings call in January.
Write to Matt Grossman at [email protected]
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