Gene Munster: Open Letter to Elon Musk Was 'at the Request Of Investors'
*By Conor White*
Tesla CEO Elon Musk issued a rare apology on Wednesday following serious backlash to his latest Twitter activity.
Gene Munster, Managing Partner at venture capital firm, Loup Venture, told Cheddar that Musk's contrition may signal a change in the CEO.
"Elon Musk doesn't apologize, so I think this is significant," he explained. "I think it is reassuring that he's going to take a more measured approach to Twitter. We think a sabbatical is a good thing in the near term, but longer term he does use Twitter to really advance the cause of Tesla."
The uproar stemmed from Musk's defamatory attack over the weekend against Vern Unsworth, one of the divers who rescued a soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand. Musk's tweets, in response to the diver's criticism of his "mini-sub" built to rescue the trapped children, prompted some to say he'd [crossed a line](https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-lashes-out-at-critic-in-latest-twitter-outburst-1531752197).
[In tweets](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1019471467304513537) [Wednesday night](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1019472152796381185), Musk admitted Unsworth's criticisms didn't excuse his conduct, saying "his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone."
Musk's apology follows what may have been an alarming stretch for some Tesla investors. Among his transgressions: lashing out at analysts on an earnings call, suggesting a system to rate journalists, and trading barbs with those commenting on his political donations.
Munster, who doesn't own Tesla stock personally or through his firm, penned an open letter to the CEO Wednesday on behalf of shareholders.
"Your behavior is fueling an unhelpful perception of your leadership – thin-skinned and short-tempered," the letter stated.
"This was also at the request of investors who are believers in the Tesla mission," Munster explained. "They feel that there's been a growing trend that's been a little bit disturbing over the last six months."
Despite Musk's recent actions, Munster believes the entrepreneur is still essential to Tesla's success.
"His vision really impacts everyone from factory line workers up to the C-level," he told Cheddar. "He is an inspiration, and it is something I haven't seen in the 20 years I've been covering tech."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/gene-munster-writes-open-letter-to-elon-musk)
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
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.
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.
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.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
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.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
