It might be time for Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s own fork in the road.
The electric carmaker is set to report quarterly earnings Tuesday afternoon that may say a lot about which direction Musk and the company he has ridden to immense wealth will go next.
The company will update investors on revenue, profit and other key figures after months of turmoil as Musk continues to dedicate a large portion of his time to the Trump administration’s attempt to radically remake the federal government, far away from his corporate responsibilities at Tesla, SpaceX and his other companies.
With Tesla’s stock and brand reputation getting pummeled — and with Trump’s tariff policy threatening to upend the automotive market, Tesla included — many Tesla investors have called on Musk to scale back or end his government work entirely and return his focus to business.
Tesla would be smart to split up their product line into into different corporations and block Musk from involvement.
Their supercharger network is big enough that it could be its own company, especially now that other non-Tesla vehicles can charge at them. It’s basically the EV version of an international gas station chain at this point.
Their Powerwall & Megapack solutions are also a separate product line that could be spun off (along with whatever solar products they have).
When most people think of Tesla these days they mostly think of the cars, and Musks association with it has clearly caused significant harm to that product line. By rebranding the supercharger network and storage business and removing any association with Musk they at least have a chance to see those products succeed without the negative stigma he brings.
I do think it’s too late for the Tesla EV’s though, unless the Tesla board of directors makes major leadership changes. And I don’t see that happening any time soon.