A costly impulse
It all started about ten days ago, following one of Elon Musk's famous outbursts. In an attempt to show shareholders that he is willing to do anything to optimize costs, Musk fired the entire Supercharger team, including Rebecca Tinucci who was head of the division. Imagine the domino effect: by sidelining more than 500 employees, not only was the work on expanding the new charging stations put on hold, but the entire planning took a brutal hit. For shareholders, this was good news in the short term, with a slight recovery in share value. But for the company, reality quickly hit.
Reactions and flashbacks
Elon Musk therefore had to keep a low profile. To reassure everyone, he announced on X (formerly Twitter) an investment of $500 million in the expansion of the Supercharger network. Yet the message echoed an earlier statement in which he explained that expansion would be slowed — a contradiction that was not lost on informed observers. Quickly, certain executives were rehired to get the machine back up and running. Max de Zegher, for example, was brought back to run operations in North America, proving that the company couldn't afford such an abrupt break.
When history repeats itself
This situation is somewhat reminiscent of the waves of layoffs at Twitter, where Elon Musk also suffered a major blow before having to reverse his decisions. At Tesla, the effect of these layoffs was felt immediately: everything was suspended, from the expansion of stations to the management of suppliers. The Supercharger team's X account posted a message thanking its partners for their patience during this period of uncertainty. Ultimately, it would appear that eliminating a core team was not the best way to gain investor trust or continue the company's growth. A lesson that Tesla, like Elon Musk, will eventually have to learn to avoid these costly slip-ups.
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