⚡ Drama @ Tesla As Investors Demand Elon Musk Work A Normal 40-hour Work Week

Letter From The Editor
Sorry for not publishing an issue on Tuesday like usual. Coming off the long Memorial Day weekend, I had travel plans to shoot footage for an upcoming foodie YouTube channel I’m planning to launch this Summer. My apologies. I got back from camp late on Monday, unpacked, cleaned up, took a nap on the couch, and chilled that evening before I got up early to drive 2-hours to Lake Placid, NY where I’ve been interviewing a restaurant owner for the debut episode of my already mentioned foodie channel. Very exciting, and I can’t wait to share with you in the near future.

Now onto today’s issue.

In today’s newsletter I discuss Drama @ Tesla as investors demand Elon Musk work a normal 40-hour work week, E.l.f. Beauty acquires Hailey Bieber’s company Rhode, GameStop buys Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto could be worth $119 billion dollars in Bitcoin today, Mark Cuban is raising $750 million dollars to buy stakes in major sports teams, and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ career is over (duh!)

Scroll on!

WHAT WE’RE READING

⚡ Drama @ Tesla As Investors Demand Elon Musk Work A Normal 40-hour Work Week

A group of Tesla investors, who own approximately 7.9 million shares, are urging Elon Musk to dedicate a minimum of 40 hours per week (you know, a normal work week for you and me) to the electric vehicle manufacturer instead of just the part-time dropping in schedule he’s been doing lately. This demand stems from a growing "crisis" at Tesla, marked by declining sales, reduced profits, and a significant 12% drop in its stock price this year alone. Investors are concerned that Elon Musk's attention is spread too thin across his numerous political activities, including his campaigning for President Donald Trump’s campaign, his involvement in the administration DOGE, and his various other companies including SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. These investors believe Elon Musk’s divided focus is directly impacting Tesla's performance, reputation, and most importantly stock price.

The investors highlight that Tesla's first-quarter sales this year plummeted by 13% compared to the same period in 2024, and profits have seen a drastic 71% decline. Now Europe has pretty much stopped buying Tesla vehicles, and China’s BYD electric vehicle brand has their best year in 2024 out selling Tesla for the first time. The group of investors argue that any CEO of a publicly traded company should be expected to provide full-time attention, and Elon Musk's external commitments and political activities have been diverting him from actively managing Tesla's operations. They’re not wrong.

The investor group has formally written to Tesla's board chair, Robyn Denholm, proposing that any future compensation package for Elon Musk include a clear requirement for full-time commitment to Tesla, alongside stricter rules regarding how much time directors can spend on external businesses.

The investors' frustration is that Tesla's long-term problems are growing with Elon Musk's absence, and the board seems to be unwilling to demand Elon Musk devote his full attention to Tesla. It’s important to note that Tesla’s board is made up completely of both family and friends loyal to Elon Musk, so you can expect absolutely nothing to change.

Tesla's brand value has been falling as increased competition in the EV market has grown, leading shareholders to beg their once fearless leader to step up and lead Tesla to greatness like he did in the past.

The problem with that is when someone becomes the wealthiest man in the world, and uses that wealth to help elect the President of the United States, going back to running just Tesla full-time probably isn’t as appealing these days. This is Elon Musk we’re talking about here - he needs a challenge no one else is capable of in order to focus and thrive. Could turning Tesla’s sales, stock price, and brand perception be just the challenge he’s looking for?

🧴 Business

E.l.f. Beauty is set to acquire the skincare brand Rhode, which was co-founded by Hailey Bieber, in a deal valued at up to $1 billion dollars. This acquisition includes $800 million in chase and stock, with an additional $200 million dollar earnout based on future growth. Hailey Bieber, whose maiden name was Hailey Baldwin is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, and is married to Justin Bieber, who has an estimated net worth of $300 million dollars.

So it sounds like their bank account is set for life.

⚖️ Entertainment

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ career is over. He once had a net worth estimated to be as much as $740 million dollars, and is now worth around $400 million and shrinking faster than you can say GUILTY.

That’s all. I just felt like it needed to be said with no further explanation.

🎮 Tech

The most famous of all meme stocks, GameStop, announced it has purchased 4,710 Bitcoin worth around $500 million dollars, as part of its strategy to diversify its holdings. In their purchase announcement they shared that they intend to use the proceeds from their recent $1.5 billion dollar convertible note offering to purchase more Bitcoin according to their CEO Ryan Cohen, and they’re not the only company building up their Bitcoin reserves. The OG of Bitcoin investing is MicroStrategy Inc., run by CEO Michael Saylor, and they hold over 580,000 Bitcoins. Today there are more than a dozen U.S. states that have passed legislation to begin purchasing Bitcoin to build their own strategic reserves, in addition to dozens of publicly traded companies including Tesla and Block.

With sales of physical video game discs in decline, and a need to justify those mall stores, GameStop has settled on buying Bitcoin to try and reverse their decline. Let me know how that works out when it’s time to renew those leases.

🪙 Crypto

Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious founder of Bitcoin, is estimated to have mined over 1.1 million Bitcoins, worth an estimated $119 billion dollars at today’s Bitcoin price of $108,130. This massive holding represents more than 5% of the entire Bitcoin supply, making the unknown Satoshi Nakamoto one of the wealthiest people in the world.

If Satoshi Nakamoto is a real person, and not a group of people as some have theorized, then it would make him the 11th richest person in the world. Are argument against Satoshi Nakamoto being a group of people includes that theory that there’s no way a group of people could keep this secret for this long, and that together they agreed to never spent even once cent of Bitcoin since they mined it 16 years ago.

Or maybe they’re just saving it for retirement.

🏈 Sports

Mark Cuban, along with Rashaun Williams and Steve Cannon, has launched a new private equity fund called Harbinger Sports Partners that is raising $750 million dollars. The fund will acquire minority stakes around 5% in professional sports franchises in the NBA, MLB, and NFL. Mark Cuban's group intends to capitalize on the soaring valuations and increasing demand for sports assets, leveraging the founders' operational expertise to provide more than just capital to their investments. They plan to build a diversified portfolio of approximately 15 teams, with deal sizes ranging from $50 million to $150 million.

This move by Mark Cuban's group aligns with a broader trend of private equity firms entering the historically exclusive world of professional sports ownership. The NFL, notably, recently amended its rules to permit approved institutional investors to acquire up to 10% minority stakes in its teams, a significant shift from previous prohibitions. Firms like Arctos Partners and Ares Management were among the first sanctioned by the NFL, subsequently investing in teams such as the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. This policy change provides owners with greater liquidity and new capital for team operations and stadium development, reflecting the increasing financial appeal and stability of sports franchises as an asset class, especially when compared to traditional markets.

It’s always nice to watch the rich get even richer and buy a piece of a billion dollar sports empire.

Was this email forwarded to you? Did you not hate it?

Then consider subscribing to our quick hits irl Media NEWSLETTER. The only newsletter that brings you the business behind the news, with a healthy dose of sarcasm - all delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in an easily digestible 5-minute read.

irl Media NEWSLETTER is written, edited, and published by Chris Thompson.