2y ago

Tesla is reportedly under investigation by the DOJ and SEC over it's mysterious 'Project 42'

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Tesla is reportedly under investigation by the DOJ and SEC over its mysterious 'Project 42'

Tesla is reportedly under investigation by the DOJ and SEC over it's mysterious 'Project 42'::The project was internally believed to involve building a glass house for Elon Musk, the Journal previously reported.

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When I read the headline I assumed that glass house was a technical term for some financial bullshit but no. He is just building a house with a lot of glass in it. Using company funds to build a private house is almost vanilla when it comes to musk.
- I thought it was a satirical article about how the companies kept him away from business operations by putting him in a glass house, where he could throw stones from.
So the doj cast the first stone?
- Netflix's glass onion may end up a prediction on the level of Idiocracy
- You know what they say, people in glass houses sink sh-sh-ships.
  
  Why don't you make like a tree, and get the fuck out of my bar
The glass onion?
- I thought Edward Norton was just meant to be a Musk-like Billionaire narcissist, but I didn't realize Musk was actually trying to get to that level.
- DONG!
  The house, probably
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Tesla is facing scrutiny over its mysterious "Project 42" that was believed internally to involve building a glass house for Elon Musk, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal.
The publication said, citing people familiar with the issue, that federal prosecutors are investigating whether Tesla used its own funds for Musk's personal use, and is looking into how much the company has spent on the initiative, as well as its purpose.
The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York issued subpoenas to multiple current and ex-Tesla employees, some of which have been asked to appear in court in September, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The project appeared to be for a "dramatic glass-walled building" and concept plans showed differing designs and features, but included residential elements like bedrooms, according to the report.
At the time, the internal inquiry into the order had targeted Omead Afshar, an executive leading Tesla's Texas factory, Bloomberg reported last year.
On Wednesday, the publication reported that federal prosecutors were seeking information related to internal communications with Afshar, who was said to be involved in purchasing the construction materials.
The original article contains 457 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 59%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Probably a reference to the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything".
- I would believe it but this is Elon and its absolutely a 420 reference. Somewhere there is a blueprint that says 42.0 because it's the first draft.
  
  420 is just the answer to everything times ten
- I hope not, don’t need that fuckwit associated with the Guide in any way in my head. He is a most unhoopy frood.
  
  I have bad news for you. He names stuff after cult shit.
- So he's gonna infect every X users phone with malware to create a massive cloud computing brain?
  
  That’s why Apple is dropping support for iPhone X in two weeks
I wonder what project 42 really is? A submarine made out of model 3 parts /s
- Doubt they would even be able to make a proper boat what with all the panel gaps they're known for.
- I think it is drummed up crap to make a publicity, but what do I know (or care, I shouldn't have engaged even).
- This made me think of that crazy movie, Movie 43. Some of the skits are pretty funny, but I have no idea how they got so many A listers to be in this movie. https://youtu.be/eUgEpKnkC7w?si=G2PeSGxa3OXXuOgc
  
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- It’s probably a live/work space experiment born from all the times Elon slept under his desk. He wants offices with dorms so people don’t need to go home and have lives.
  
  isn't this kinda like China, I thought conservatives were opposed to that /s
Maybe he wants one of those glass cells that Magneto sits in... With no metal.
- I don't know, but my best guess would be either it's a publicly traded company and needs to disclose how it spends its money, or that taxes weren't paid for the personal use funds
  
  Got it in two. Both, per the article:
  It can be illegal to use company funds for personal expenses — especially when dealing with a publicly traded company. If a public company were found to have used company funds for an executive's personal use it could lead to an IRS investigation and lawsuits from shareholders.
  Elon doesn't own all of Tesla. It's a publicly traded company whose shares are held by millions(?) of people. The board and CEO are generally required to act in those owners' best interests, not their own. They have leeway, but building the CEO a house is a lot closer to embezzlement (taking company funds for personal gain) than say a PR stunt. Board/CEO remuneration is fairly carefully controlled to avoid this kind of thing.
  As for tax, it looks like the US is a bit more lax with fringe benefit tax than other jurisdictions, but it could nonetheless apply.
- Well the shareholders have a right to question company being spent on side projects that do not work to increase the value for shareholders.
  Sadly you can get away with a lot as a business just don’t piss off your share holders.
- So you didn’t read it

32 comments