Tesla is laying off 285 employees in Buffalo, New York as part of a broader restructuring, with most of the affected employees working at the company's Buffalo factory. The layoffs are part of CEO Elon Musk's plan to reduce more than 10% of the global workforce to prepare for the company's next phase of growth. The Buffalo factory, originally intended for solar panel manufacturing, now assembles Supercharger equipment and houses part of Tesla's Autopilot data labeling team. The company's solar business has faltered, with solar deployments declining in recent years. Tesla's energy division still generates most of its revenue through sales of backup batteries. Musk has indicated a focus on autonomy technology, and the company's future plans will likely be discussed during the first-quarter results call with shareholders on April 23.
Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk provides insights into various aspects of Musk's life and career. The book addresses topics such as Musk's father's involvement in an emerald mine, the acquisition of SolarCity by Tesla, the alleged construction of a glass house in Texas, Musk's children and relationships, his impulsive decision to buy Twitter, the botched Ron DeSantis presidential announcement on Twitter, and the reasons behind Bari Weiss's departure from Musk's team. The biography also reveals that Musk attended the World Cup in Qatar as part of a deal with a Qatari investment fund to support his purchase of Twitter.
The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld a trial court's decision that Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not push the company to overpay for SolarCity in 2016, ending years of litigation over the $2.6 billion deal. Tesla shareholders alleged that Musk pushed the carmaker's board into the deal to bail out his investment in the struggling rooftop solar company. The court said that while a judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery erred in some portions of his analysis, his overall premise still supported his determination that Tesla paid a fair price for SolarCity.
