Tesla Inc.
TSLA 1.06%
CEO Elon Musk changed his title at the company to “Technoking of Tesla”, which extended a disrespectful streak in the 49-year leadership of the electric vehicle manufacturer.
The company also said Zach Kirkhorn, chief financial officer, would have the title “Master of Coin”. Both mr. Musk and Mr. Kirkhorn will retain their respective positions as CEO and CFO, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The company did not explain the meaning of the titles and did not respond to a query. Kirkhorn’s new title may resonate with Tesla’s ambitions around cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, Tesla said it had invested $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin and that it was aiming to start accepting bitcoin as payment from car buyers.
Over the weekend, bitcoin crossed $ 60,000 for the first time on Saturday before falling back. A steady stream of institutional demand is acknowledged to have managed much of bitcoin’s rally since the beginning of 2020, when it traded close to $ 7,000.
Elon Musk’s optimism and affection for grandiose allegations that once undermined his credibility may have now contributed to him becoming the second richest person in the world. WSJ looks at how he managed to succeed amid the pandemic. Photo: Britta Pedersen / Zuma Press (video from 12/11/20)
Other companies have also adopted bitcoin in recent months. Square Inc., which shares bitcoin proponent Jack Dorsey as CEO with Twitter Inc.,
TWTR 1.84%
raised about $ 50 million for its corporate treasury in October. Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
BK -0.81%
said it would start treating bitcoin like any other financial asset, and Mastercard Inc.
MA -0.29%
said it would integrate bitcoin into its payment network this year.
Most business titles for corporate leaders cater to a limited number of variations, but some companies in Silicon Valley have used flashy language in the past to describe the roles of employees. For years, some businesses have used terms like ‘guru’, ‘jedi’ or ‘ninja’ to color job descriptions that involve expertise or mental dexterity. Other colorful titles to emerge include Happiness Officer, Futurist and Chief Digital Evangelist.
Tesla has announced the title changes amid signs of a more bumpy road than in 2020. Competitors are showing early signs that they are taking its lead in the market share in sales of electric vehicles. The company shut down some of its car production in the lone U.S. plant last month due to parts shortages. Tesla also said it expects lower Model S sedan and Model X sports vehicle production this quarter as it launches updated versions of the vehicles, although it is increasing production of its Model Y compact sports utility vehicles in China.
Shares in Tesla rose more than 700% last year and fell more than 25% earlier this month, changing little for the year. The company achieved record car deliveries last year, its first profit year and a place on the S&P 500 index.
Musk’s new title could be meant to reflect Tesla’s view that it’s the source of technological disruption in the long run, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a research note, pointing to the company’s work for autonomous management and its advances in battery technology.
Mr. Musk’s role as Tesla’s public face did not stop him from drawing provocative provocations. Musk regularly posts free-thinking Twitter posts on topics ranging from Tesla’s share price to science fiction topics and online memes.
Tweetery has Mr. Musk got in trouble with regulators. In 2018, he announced on Twitter that he was considering plans to make the carmaker private, a claim that was later considered misleading by the SEC after it became clear that he did not have funding for such a move.
He denied wrongdoing, but eventually agreed to a deal that included giving up his job as chairman of Tesla and agreeing to review any of his Twitter posts regarding the carmaker’s business before publishing them.
Mr. Musk’s ownership of the company helped him surpass Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN -1.41%
founder Jeff Bezos as the richest man in the world this year.
Tesla also named Jerome Guillen, who runs the automotive industry, as president of Heavy Trucking on Monday. In a previous role, he oversaw the truck project and before joining Tesla in 2010, he worked on trucks at Daimler AG
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The appointment comes as the carmaker is accelerating its delayed lay-up wagon.
Tesla tweeted a video of the electric cabin on a test track over the weekend. Mr. Musk said the supply of adequate batteries is holding back the truck. “If we made the Semi look right now, we could easily go into production with the Semi, but we would not have enough cells for that,” he said. Musk said on the company’s latest call in January.
Write to Matt Grossman by [email protected]
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