Tesla Investor Gerber: Automaker's Self-Driving Push 'Doesn't Work'

Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, joins Bloomberg Businessweek Daily to discuss Tesla's latest quarterly earnings results. Gerber, who has grown increasingly skeptical of the automaker's plans and has trimmed Tesla stock from his holdings, says he thinks its full self-driving feature "doesn't work" and that CEO Elon Musk doesn't "get how humans work." Gerber also discusses Tesla's push into services, scaling against self-driving services like Waymo, and more. Bloomberg Tech Co-Host Ed Ludlow also weighs in on the earnings results. Ludlow and Gerber speak with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, spent the end of Tesla Inc.’s earnings call pleading with investors to approve his $1 trillion pay package and blasting the shareholder advisory firms that have come out against the proposal.

“There needs to be enough voting control to give a strong influence, but not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane,” Musk said, interrupting his chief financial officer as the more than hour-long call wrapped up.

It was classic Musk: a fiery end to what had otherwise been a ho-hum call largely devoted to Tesla’s artificial intelligence, humanoid robot and self-driving initiatives. Shareholders will vote on the pay package at Tesla’s Nov. 6 annual meeting in Austin.

Tesla’s earnings report was largely disappointing, with profit missing estimates despite record vehicle deliveries. Operating income plunged 40% in the third quarter, reflecting ongoing strains on an electric-vehicle business that’s being buffeted by changing US policies.

Costs are rising sharply for Tesla, with tariffs taking a more than $400 million toll on last quarter’s results. Operating expenses soared 50% to $3.4 billion in the period.

Tesla shares dropped as much as 5.7% shortly after the start of regular trading Thursday. The stock is up almost 9% for the year, trailing the 14% advance by the S&P 500 Index.

‘Unmitigated Concerns’

Proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis have recommended that investors reject the unprecedented payout to Musk, the value of which is dependent on Tesla reaching market value thresholds and operational milestones. ISS cited “unmitigated concerns” with the magnitude and design of the award, while Glass Lewis took issue with its potential to dilute other shareholders’ ownership.

Musk emphasized, as he has in the past, that sufficient voting control matters more to him than monetary compensation from Tesla.

“I just don’t feel comfortable building a robot army here, and then being ousted because of some asinine recommendation from ISS and Glass Lewis, who have no freaking clue,” he said.

After Musk was finished, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja resumed his closing remarks, praising the “amazing job” the special board committee did in constructing the award.

“There’s nothing which gets passed on until the time shareholders make substantial returns,” Taneja said, urging shareholders two more times to vote in favor of the plan.

Musk, 54, ranks No. 1 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of about $455 billion.

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