I mean, with their non-competes getting voided by the FTC, you’re not wrong. All of the building blocks are there for a new startup. They’d just need a few investors (who will keep their mitts off of the inner workings, unlike Elon,) willing to foot the bill.
That was my third thought as well.
That's a lot of people to band together and make Tesla's number one asset a viable stand alone company. Even if Musk doesn't want that.