Elon Musk Takes Aim At Media Again As Tesla's Stock Moves Lower

Tesla Inc TSLA slipped 13 percent off Monday’s highs after the automaker released second-quarter production figures and weathered unflattering press tied to the departure of its chief engineer and the pains taken to achieve its quarterly rollout rate.

CEO Elon Musk responded to the catalytic reports early Thursday by questioning the integrity of the journalists behind them and the outlets printing damaging analysis. 

Musk began by condemning Reuters as “relentlessly negative” about Tesla and accused the wire service of running a “bogus” piece claiming low Model S production.

The article in question ran July 3 and said Tesla’s Model S line was about 800 vehicles behind schedule. It also portrayed a chaotic factory scene and an anxious CEO leading up to the second-quarter deadline.

.@Reuters, why did you mislead the people public about this number?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018

Musk then directed shots toward Business Insider, which first reported that Tesla cancelled a “critical” braking test in order to meet Model 3 targets. The company said the test was redundant to double-check results of a similar exam.

The CEO accused BI’s Linette Lopez of publishing “several false articles” and posited that she may have bribed Tesla insiders for information and conspired with a famed short seller.

@lopezlinette has published several false articles about Tesla, including a doozy where she claimed Tesla scrapped more batteries than our total S,X &3 production number, which is physically impossible.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018

Sounds very sketchy if true. @lopezlinette, is it possible you’re serving as an inside trading source for one of Tesla’s biggest short-sellers? An ex-Tesla employee just went on record formally claiming you bribed him & he sent you valuable Tesla IP in exchange. Is this true?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018

Indeed, very simple question. To be specific: @lopezlinette, did you compensate or promise to compensate Martin Tripp for inside information about Tesla? Did he, under that inducement, provide you with exaggerated negative info, which you printed, but turned out to be untrue?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018

Soon after, Musk targeted CNBC, which he suggested publicizes the ideas of unreliable experts.

Strange. @cnbc, is it true that you are putting on analysts with such low ratings & extremely bad prediction records? Are your viewers informed about an analyst’s track record before hearing their opinion.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018

In its own article recapping the tweet series, CNBC declined to comment. Musk’s distaste for traditional media is not new. In May, he offered to establish a crowdsourced media rating agency to help readers evaluate the credibility of sources. 

Related Links:

7 Things Occupying Elon Musk's Time Other Than Model 3s

Tesla Fell Sharply After Musk Cut Off Analysts On Q1 Earnings Conference Call

Photo courtesy of Tesla.