Tesla shares tumble on Musk’s call for ‘hardcore’ review and Autopilot crash concerns
LA TimesBloomberg Tesla Inc. shares slid to their lowest close in almost 2½ years Friday after Elon Musk called for a “hardcore” review of all the electric-car maker’s expenses and an analyst warned of potentially severe fallout from a fatal crash involving Autopilot. Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, wrote in an email to staff late Thursday that he and new Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn will review “literally every payment” that leaves the company’s coffers to confirm that expenditures are critical. The email is similar to a message Musk, 47, sent to employees in April 2018, when he announced he had asked Tesla’s finance team to “comb through every expense worldwide, no matter how small, and cut everything that doesn’t have a strong value justification.” As was the case a little over a year ago, Tesla is also dealing with criticism of Autopilot following the death of a customer using the driver-assistance system. After the National Transportation Safety Board linked Autopilot to a fatal crash in March, Consumer Reports called for Tesla to make immediate changes to restrict drivers from using the system in unsafe conditions and said the company needed to more effectively monitor driver engagement.