Tesla Death Watch 32: Cash Conflagration Kills Cars?

Jonny Lieberman
by Jonny Lieberman

Oh noes! According to an unnamed source referred to by Valleywag as “the Tesla insider,” the Silicon Valley electric car maker only has $9m in the bank. And that’s it. Well OK– there’s a bit more. This “insider” (Gawker just loves insiders) is a friend of blogger Owen Thomas and a “longtime employee” (define “longtime” for Tesla.) Problem? They’ve taken “multiple tens of millions” from depositors. And (apparently) spent it. And the “insider” is saying Tesla may just keep the remaining cash and not deliver any more Roadsters. I’ve been standing on the sidelines of this particular Death Watch series (strangely and flatteringly, Valleywag tagged their story “Deathwatch”) because a dear friend of mine works at Tesla. Did I say “works?” I meant worked, as in he got “broomed” the other week when Tesla made with the massive layoffs. Bad move on my part, as it looks like Tesla and friendship just don’t mix. Don’t trust me? Trust the insider, “I actually talked a close friend of mine into putting down $60k for a Tesla Roadster. I cannot conscientiously be a bystander anymore and allow my company to deceive the public and defraud our dear customers. Our customers and the general public are the reason Tesla is so loved. The fact that they are being lied to is just wrong.” Oops! And agreed. Lying is wrong.

Jonny Lieberman
Jonny Lieberman

Cleanup driver for Team Black Metal V8olvo.

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  • HarveyBirdman HarveyBirdman on Oct 31, 2008
    volvo, Best comment of the day. Of course, Elon Musk is our Professor Harold Hill in this case. Then again, if Tesla Motors was headquartered in Iowa instead of Silicon Valley, perhaps Musk would have been run out of town before the company even got off the ground... And cos999, I think you're absolutely right about the parallels to Eclipse. I just moved to Albuquerque and it ain't a pretty situation for Eclipse, not to mention the area's stake in the company's success.
  • Guyincognito Guyincognito on Oct 31, 2008

    "I've gone on record as saying that I am personally standing behind delivering the cars and the deposits for the company," Musk told Reuters late on Thursday. "I have the means and wherewithal to do so. So people should have absolutely zero concern about their deposit." I look forward to Musk setting this benchmark for wealthy business owners.

  • Sajeev Mehta Sajeev Mehta on Nov 01, 2008

    Richard Chen: Except Tucker was a serious threat to Detroit, and they (as the story goes) made every effort to sabotage them. From Wikipedia: "During the trouble Tucker faced while trying to promote his car and get it into production, he claimed that the "Big Three" automakers were deliberately attempting to sabotage his efforts, through the influence of Detroit Senator Homer Ferguson, who is commonly held responsible for initiating the SEC's pursuing of Tucker's business."

  • Waguy Waguy on Jan 27, 2012

    Now it's 2012. I live 50 miles outside Perth, Western Australia, being the most remote city on Earth. I can buy a Tesla sedan with a 480 km / 300 mile range from the Australian dealership at the same price as a European (petrol) sedan. So .. what's this "thetruthaboutcars" you speak of ?

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