Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (abbreviated to FUD) filled statements against Tesla are as old as the company itself. As a Twitter participant, actively following the company or its chief engineer Elon Musk, you will find yourself reading that term. It's not a question of if but of when.
Every new starting company will have some doubters of its mission, feasibility, technology, finances, etc. but not to the extent comparable to one exhibited against Tesla. Of course, new companies should be able to sustain scrutiny if they're indeed solid but where does it end?
Well, that depends on where the goal is. And if one asks the TSLAQ community, the answer is once Tesla is bankrupt and Elon Musk is in jail.
So far, all valid criticism has been taken into consideration by the chief engineer, who has been inviting it willingly. What others consider as negative feedback, the Tesla team considers it a tool to improve the products rapidly. Model 3 teardown by Munro & Associates showed a lot of room for improvement and the Tesla team took it to heart, reflecting that in Model Y teardown, earning praise by the automotive veteran. So, why such hatred towards a company with such clean and promising goals that promises to benefit all?
Well, as the line from A Perfect Murder says money, honey.
Some individuals have taken it a step further than just FUD dispersion, by taking some members of Twitter and Tesla to court. Which begs the question, have they skipped classics like Moby Dick during their formative years?
Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital 2Q letter is out, and in explaining his 2Q underperformance (1.0% vs 20.5% for S&P 500), he takes his usual potshots against $TSLA - incidences of sudden unintended acceleration, “sheer abuse of the accounting rules” to get into the S&P 500.... pic.twitter.com/xbTqYz55Zm
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) August 5, 2020
While Ahab lost his leg to the whale as some of the TSLAQ members have lost fortunes, it seems some have lost their perspective. Carried by the economic downwind, they find themselves in pursuit of revenge to the point of being lost in a legal sea. Such negative focus might very well spell the same fate, financially, as Captain Ahab. Maybe they should consider picking up not only the book but the cautionary tale that might foretell their future.
If either happens, feel free to call me Ishmael.
