*By Conor White* Tesla investors are evidently relieved to have resolution on Elon Musk. On news of the CEO's deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission, shares were up more than 15 percent in early trading Monday. News of a settlement may give shareholders hope that the company can now refocus on more important issues ー namely its production problems. "Number one, is Model 3 production hell, which they're still not totally out of," Verge reporter Sean O'Kane said Monday in an interview on Cheddar. The electric car maker might be getting close, though. [According to a report](https://electrek.co/2018/10/01/tesla-production-record-q3-deliveries-crazier/) from Electrek, Tesla ($TSLA) produced around 80,000 vehicles in Q3, including 53,000 Model 3s. That would be a 187 percent increase over Q2. The company could report official numbers as soon as Monday afternoon. Of course, there are other issues hanging over the company, starting with who will succeed Musk as chairman. According to Saturday's settlement with the SEC, the billionaire founder will be able to remain on as CEO and as a company director, but will cede the chairman role for three years. "Whoever comes in as chairman, it's going to be really interesting to see how much pressure they apply," O'Kane said. The latest drama stems from the now-infamous Aug. 7 tweet that Musk had "funding secured" to take his company private. The SEC launched an investigation shortly after and charged the CEO last week with fraud, alleging he misled investors. Musk and Tesla will also both have to pay $20 million in fines, and Musk will be required to have his tweets reviewed by lawyers whenever he mentions the company. John Reed Stark, president of John Reed Stark Consulting and a long-time SEC attorney, told Cheddar Monday that the agency is sending a clear message about Twitter to every public company. "With this action, they've essentially told every executive out there, don't do it." Stark, who spent 11 years as the chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement, said the agency isn't trying to muzzle any executives, but rather wants to ensure the information they're conveying is wholly accurate. "They just want when anybody at a company speaks to speak truthfully, and fully, and fulsomely, and in a robust manner," he said. "And they want them to update and correct when they say something that's wrong." For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/settlement-secured).

Share:
More In Business
Michigan Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Parking Lot Cars
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
State Department Halts Plan to buy $400M of Armored Tesla Vehicles
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
Goodyear Blimp at 100: ‘Floating Piece of Americana’ Still Thriving
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
Is U.S. Restaurants’ Breakfast Boom Contributing to High Egg Prices?
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
Load More