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March 21, 2025
Elon Musk Hosts Emergency All-Hands Tesla Meeting: Will His Words Inspire Turnaround?
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.”
Discussion Questions
Will Elon Musk’s recent remarks inspire a Tesla share price rally? Why or why not?
Is there anything, in terms of business decisions or in terms of his political position, Elon Musk can do to assuage his critics? If so, what?
Will Tesla’s planned rollout of its autonomous driving capabilities and robotic assistants deliver positive results for the company? What headwinds are most prominent?
Poll
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Doug Garnett
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Gene Detroyer
Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics and University of Sanya, China.
Kai Clarke
CEO, President- American Retail Consultants
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I suspect Elon’s discussions will fall flat. Perhaps the most critical part of his making this speech is that he did it — as investors have been worried that Tesla’s fortunes are failing and the CEO is absent. Thus, a short-term stock strength wouldn’t be surprising. Anyone who has paid attention over the years knows that Elon continually promises very big things which don’t come about. Further, the news that Tesla sold only 46,000 trucks between November 2023 and February 2024 cannot be avoided. Those are very poor numbers.
…with almost all trucks being recalled.
I know we try to keep politics out of our comments, but it’s hard in this case to divorce Musk’s actions as the head of DOGE from the troubles at Tesla. Every day brings new (and negative depending on your perspective) news about Musk, including today’s Pentagon briefing. (Turning the White House into a Tesla dealership was a bad look, too.) But destroying property to make your point about Musk? Please, don’t.
And this didn’t just start on January 20th — those most loyal to his brand over the years were probably most offended by his deep dive into politics. Add the bad publicity about quality problems, and it’s a toxic mix. Other EV makers are certainly in a position to gain market share at Musk’s expense.
I just looked at a gorgeous electric Kia, that a friend bought. Along with everything else, one could argue Mr Musk has taken his eye off the Tesla ball and really does have his fingers in too many pots. And has managed to alienate half the USA in the process (yes, I’m including some trump voters in that mix).
The market has matured. He doesn’t just own it by default anymore. I’d like to say it’s a pity, but I’m actually quite glad that I bought a Mercedes convertible after my last car got totaled than the Tesla I was considering. I want to support nothing about him.
There is an incandescent rage among taxpaying Americans that an unelected bureaucrat is stealing the benefits they have been forced to pay in. I wouldn’t bet on a sudden resurgence of love for Tesla.
I am not entirely sure how this story is retail-related. However, the problem for Tesla is that it has, through Elon Musk, become mired in politics. That alienates folks with different views. This is not a right or a left thing; any brand that dabbles with politics too much will get a backlash from some group or another. None of this makes Tesla a bad business per se, but it is now in for a very turbulent period regardless of how it operates and performs financially.
“Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind”
Elon Musk provides an invaluable service to American taxpayers. As a result of his involvement with DOGE, Americans will receive more income. In addition, taxpayer funds will be used more efficiently, effectively, and with less fraud, waste, misuse, and abuse.
In light of the response to his political involvement and perception of partisanship, I believe the only way for Musk to regain shareholder confidence is to announce that he is leaving politics to return to his CEO duties at Tesla.
Otherwise, Musk will have to assure shareholders that vandalism and arson will come to a complete stop with very forceful pursuit and punishment, resulting in customers purchasing Teslas again in the future due to their innovation, quality, technology, and superiority over all other brands and types.
Musk should also remind shareholders of his other contributions to American society. After nine months, he rescued stranded astronauts.
Currently, Musk is working on developing technologies to provide vision to blind people, as well as assist crippled individuals in walking. It is his space technology that will lead us to Mars. Elon Musk remains a very smart investment.
Wow, where to begin. Illegally terminating employees without any review of their performance, is not only bad management, but illegal in our government. Cutting thousands of jobs from the IRS (the people who collect our money that the government runs on) doesn’t save us money, but costs us billions in uncollected taxes, missed tax revenues, and missed tax enforcement. Using his DOGE shield to infiltrate and download citizen’s private data at the Social Security administration, as well as close thousands of local offices, shut down telephone assistance systems, and fire thousands of workers who have a record holding performance system (less than 1% customer dissatisfaction)saves us nothing, and only costs us money, let alone risking SS disbursement funds that millions of Americans depend on. The same goes for the Treasury Department, IRS, Agriculture Deparment, USAID, DOE, etc. When judges are constantly ruling against your illegal actions of slashing and burning every possible department, with no guide of how you are evaluating this or will evaluate it in the future screams for abuse. Elon couldn’t run any company like this (his record on twitter shows this when you examine the number of advertisers who have left the platform before he bought it, until now, after he “managed” it). He certainly cannot run the government this way. Plus he was not elected, his DOGE department has no congressional offices, no congressional budget, and no authority to fire anyone. Where are his short, mid and long-term business plans that any company would require before allowing him to come into their company and do the same thing? I cannot be thankful for anything Elon is doing except when it involves his leaving…
David, I agree with this part of your commentary: “ I believe the only way for Musk to regain shareholder confidence is to announce that he is leaving politics to return to his CEO duties at Tesla.”
Elon needs to separate reality from fiction. His sales in Europe are dropping. His sales in China are dropping (his largest market) by a factor of 10x, and people here in the US are running away from him and his absurd concepts by the thousands. Elon is involved in politics (which he knows nothing about), and is rapidly finding that he should focus on his companies instead of politics. This is driving his stock price down (down 50% over the last 3 months). The shareholders whom he is beholden to, and who pay him to manage Tesla, will demand that he get back to work and stop playing around in politics.
His utter dependence on Chinese sales & production – and evidently now institutional stock purchases – makes him intimately vulnerable to pressure from Zhongnanhai – whether that’s political favors, technology transfers, or backdoor access to the X platform. Hey, you wanna do business with the dragon, that’s your (and your shareholders’) risk, but that means you get zero access to our country’s databases and government infrastructure. And then there’s his buddy-buddy relationship with Putin…
“Will Elon Musk’s recent remarks inspire a Tesla share price rally?” Today’s summary of the meeting proved one thing. He has no idea what the problem is or is just denying the obvious.
I invested very early in Tesla because I believed in EVs and their future. The stock performed far, far better than any other investment I made. I still beleive in EVs, but Tesla no longer has the edge in EVs. Even without the political backlash, others, including the traditional manufacturers, are making great progress.
That is no longer the case worldwide, where Tesla was targeted to be the leader, as the Chinese alternatives are better-performing automobiles.
Musk is undoubtedly a genius regarding technology, maybe the greatest of our time, but his marketing chops are non-existent. This episode will make a historic case study.
Pity, this app won’t accept emojis. I responded with 2 green-faced nausea emojis. The side panels fell off!!!! Do you think he’s taken his eye off the ball? I do. Head to the new dealership at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave for great deals.
Shareholders want to know if the leadership team has a handle on the state of the market, their products, and operations. i.e. Will the company continue to perform well, what are its prospects? So Elon coming forward and commenting is a necessary thing. But in this political climate, Teslas market performance could easily swing just like Target and other retailers did when finding themselves at the center of political or social issues.