Elon Musk Taunted Henrik Fisker Over Something That Happened To Tesla 15 Years Ago: 'Karma Is A ...'

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk has thrown more fuel on his fiery rivalry with Fisker Inc FSR CEO Henrik Fisker.

What Happened: According to a Teslarati report, DeLorean executives were being sued by Karma last year for pursuing a separate venture. In response to the article, which was shared on X, then Twitter, Musk called out the Fisker CEO for doing the same thing to Tesla about 15 years ago.

"How ironic, that’s what Henrik Fisker did to Tesla in 2007! Karma is a …," Musk said via tweet at the time.

Karma filed a lawsuit against DeLorean executives in August, 2022. The company claimed a group of former employees were told to find investors for electric vehicle development, but instead pursued outside ventures. The executives maintained they were allowed to establish a new company as needed.

Why It Matters: In 2007, Fisker was contracted by Tesla to help design the Model S, but he left the EV company to design the Fisker Karma hybrid sports vehicle shortly after collaborating with Tesla, per InsideEVs.

Tesla got rid of Fisker's work and started over when it learned that Fisker was launching a competing company. Tesla then hit Fisker with a lawsuit, claiming he stole confidential information, but Fisker won the case in arbitration.

He went on to launch Fisker Automotive before filing for bankruptcy in 2013. The company's assets were purchased by Wanxiang Group in 2014 before being renamed Karma Automotive. Fisker's design remains on the market today as the Karma GS-6.

Fifteen years after the lawsuit, tensions were still high. When Musk announced that he planned to buy Twitter in a $44 billion deal, Fisker deleted his account, saying he didn't want his free speech to be controlled by a competitor. 

Fisker Inc, which launched in 2016 and went public via SPAC in 2020, commenced production of its flagship Ocean SUV last November. The company recently said it plans to ramp up production to 300 vehicles per day in the fourth quarter.

Tesla reported its third-quarter financial results last week. The EV maker produced more than 430,000 vehicles and delivered more than 435,000.

FSR, TSLA Price Action: Fisker shares are down about 25% year-to-date, while Tesla shares are up about 72%.

Photo: Henrik Fisker, Fisker Inc; Elon Musk, Daniel Oberhaus, Flickr Creative Commons

Some elements of this story were previously reported by Benzinga and it has been updated.