The last 12 hours of the hit TV show How To Wreck A Car Company have taken yet another bizarre twist. On Thursday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared for a two-hour interview on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast, which was broadcast live on YouTube. Among other things, Musk revealed that he has visions of a electrically-powered supersonic airplane that can takeoff and land vertically, and he smoked a spliff with Rogan. Marijuana is legal for recreational use in the state of California, although it’s still illegal federally.
In a remarkable coincidence, Musk’s appearance was followed almost immediately by news that two of Tesla’s top execs are stepping down. Chief Accounting Officer Dave Morton gave his notice on Tuesday, a regulatory filing released today announced. Morton had only been on the job for a month, and joined Tesla from harddrive company Seagate. In a statement provided in the filing, Morton said “since I joined Tesla on August 6th, the level of public attention placed on the company, as well as the pace within the company, have exceeded my expectations. As a result, this caused me to reconsider my future. I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission, and its future prospects, and I have no disagreements with Tesla’s leadership or its financial reporting.”
Tesla’s HR executive, Gabrielle Toledano, also told Bloomberg Friday morning that she’s not planning on rejoining the company after her current leave of absence. Toledano’s official title was Chief People Officer, and she had been with Tesla since May 2017 in that role. Toledano has been on leave since August; a Tesla spokesperson told Bloomberg that Toledano requested the leave.
The pair of mysterious executive departures, coupled with yet another unusual Musk interview, have had a bad effect on Tesla’s already-downtrodden share price this morning. The stock opened at $260, down just over 7% from its close yesterday. The stock has fallen precipitously since Musk tweeted last month that he was planning to take the company private at $420 a share, a move he reversed shortly afterwards.
