*By: Hope King* Our look back at Tesla this week actually starts with last week ー last Friday actually, when CEO Elon Musk published a blog post on his company’s website stating he had changed his mind: Tesla is [“Staying Public”](https://www.tesla.com/blog/staying-public%20). Investors weren’t thrilled by the news and punished the company’s stock price. Shares of Tesla have been down all week; the stock has fallen about 7% since Friday's close. During the week, Musk found himself in hot water again after repeating a claim on Twitter that one of the rescue divers who saved a group of young boys trapped in a cave in Thailand [is a pedophile](http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-musk-pedo-suit-20180829-story.html). Musk and his company also became a side topic of conversation with two powerful men this week: former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Bannon has attacked major tech companies for years and [told CNN Wednesday night](https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/30/media/steve-bannon-elon-musk/index.html]) that Musk “flat out lied about securing funding” for his plans to take Tesla private. He also called Musk a man-child in the same interview. Buffett didn’t go nearly as far. In an [interview with CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/08/30/buffett-i-have-better-things-to-do-than-tweet.html), the Oracle of Omaha mused that Musk’s tweets have not “helped him a lot.” Buffett, in a separate interview with [Fox Business](https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5828949631001/?#sp=show-clips), also weighed in on the idea that Apple could or should buy Tesla, saying that would be a very “poor idea.” Outside of the he-said-this-about-that-guy room, there was actual news about Tesla. BlackRock, [in a filing with the SEC](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-musk-blackrock/blackrock-voted-to-replace-teslas-musk-with-independent-chairman-idUSKCN1LG01R?il=0), revealed that the funds it runs voted in favor of a recent shareholder proposal to replace musk with an independent chairman. That proposal was defeated at Tesla’s shareholder meeting in June. Also, Bloomberg [on Wednesday] (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-29/tesla-hr-chief-has-been-on-leave-of-absence-amid-musk-s-tumult) reported that the company’s head of HR has been on leave of absence during this tumultuous time. And the kicker for this week – security cameras in Canada captured a Model S flying through the air…before crashing. Musk responded to video, [tweeting simply](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1035029257557237760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1035029257557237760&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businesslive.co.za%2Fbd%2Fnational%2F2018-08-31-elon-musks-bizarre-tweet-after-watching-footage-of-flying-tesla%2F)]: “!”

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Apple posts stronger-than-expected Q2 results
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
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