Elon Musk Hosts Emergency All-Hands Tesla Meeting: Will His Words Inspire Turnaround?
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Elon Musk took to the stage at Tesla's Austin, Texas, Gigafactory on the evening of March 20 to address recent concerns held by investors, customers, and onlookers as controversy — and a plummeting stock price — surround the company and its CEO. The meeting was also broadcast live on X.
According to FOX Business, Musk spoke about a variety of issues, among them the recent news of arson, vandalism, and public altercations related to Tesla dealerships, vehicles, and drivers. The Tesla CEO kicked off comments by reviewing sales numbers related to the Model Y and Cybertruck lineups, stating that "overall, it's good" for the company, before pivoting to add, "If you read the news, it feels like Armageddon."
"I can’t walk past the TV without seeing a Tesla on fire. You’re like — what is going on? Some people it’s like, listen, I understand if you don’t want to buy our product, but you don’t have to burn it down — that’s a bit unreasonable, you know. This is psycho," Musk said, resulting in laughter from the audience in attendance.
"Stop being psycho, OK?" he added.
Musk's position leading President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has become a flashpoint for sociopolitical criticism of the CEO, and of the brand more broadly. Despite a significant reduction in Tesla's stock price from its position in December — $480 in mid-December, versus $236 in pre-market trading on March 21 — Musk urged staff to "hang onto your stock," gesturing toward two primary tailwinds on the horizon: autonomous vehicles and the company's planned Optimus robot rollout.
Musk Talks Autonomous Teslas: They 'Will Be Everywhere'
Elon Musk was quick to point out that Tesla appeared well-positioned for the advent of widespread autonomous vehicles.
"Autonomous Teslas will be everywhere. In five years, probably, we will have regulatory approval, I think globally, so you will have autonomous Teslas on every continent taking people on trips and almost the entire fleet — which will pass 10 million vehicles next year — is capable of full autonomy," Musk claimed.
Musk then took aim at the company's current struggles in terms of the stock market, obliquely indicating that traders were currently undervaluing the stock due to a lack of foresight, or fixation with recent events in the past.
"It's very difficult for people in the stock market — especially those that look in the rearview mirror, which is most people — to imagine a future where suddenly a 10 million-vehicle fleet has five to 10 times the usefulness. But it will compute in the future… so what I’m saying is, hang onto your stock," he added.
FOX Business pointed out that the all-hands meeting took place only hours after the Justice Department announced charges being laid on three individuals allegedly involved in attacks on Tesla properties in the U.S.
Musk Paints a Picture of an 'Incredibly Bright and Exciting' Future, Including Optimus Robots: Tesla 'Superbull' Gives Nod of Approval
As Fortune writer Christiaan Hetzner detailed, at least one Tesla "superbull" took Musk's meeting as a net positive.
Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities was cited as saying that Musk had clearly been paying attention to the "dark brand crisis tornado" currently facing Tesla and had decided to produce some "important hand holding" of spooked investors backing the brand.
“Elon Musk took a major and much needed step forward by hosting a rare all-hands meeting for employees, which was quickly put together and broadcast live on X,” Ives wrote in the aftermath of the all-hands meeting.
Musk was somewhat poetic during his remarks, stating: "What I’m here to tell you is that the future is incredibly bright and exciting, and we’re going to do things that no one I think has even dreamed of.”
The Tesla CEO went on to highlight the promise of the company's incoming Optimus robots, with Musk saying the company was set to expand production of the Optimus robot to 10 full legions — each legion comprised of 5,000 units — in 2026.
As part of a "sustainable abundance" ecosystem involving Tesla vehicles, storage batteries, solar panels, and the planned Optimus robots, Musk suggested that a societal paradigm shift was in the cards.
"It sounds impossible, it sounds like surely such a thing cannot be the case. What I’m here to tell you is that will indeed be the case,” Musk explained. “The future we’re headed for is one where you can literally just have anything you want.”