Tesla Investors Ask Musk: Stop Acting As Master Of Universe

Elon Musk now wants to buy Twitter, after all. While that's good news for Twitter's long-suffering shareholders, Tesla investors hope he still has some time for them. They need a little help, too, Paul R. La Monica reported for CNN Business.

Photo Insert: There are big challenges for Tesla in China as well, with the Musk-founded company going up against homegrown EV rivals like Nio, Xpeng, and Li Auto.

Sure, Musk still has many fans on Wall Street and behind the wheel. But some are growing tired of how the world's richest person can't focus more on the company that has provided him with the bulk of his wealth.

They also want him to stop acting like a media hog with his wishy-washy geopolitical pablum.

Tesla reports earnings after the close on Wednesday. Shares are down more than 35% this year amid concerns about the fact that Tesla recently reported weaker production and delivery numbers than expected for the third quarter.

Wall Street still expects extremely strong sales and earnings growth, with consensus forecasts calling for a more than a 60% jump in revenue and profit. But analysts have been trimming those estimates in the past few weeks.

That's partly due to the fact that Tesla faces growing competition in the US from the likes of GM, Ford, Volkswagen and other electric vehicle upstarts such as Rivian and Lucid.

There are big challenges in China as well, with Tesla going up against homegrown EV rivals like Nio, Xpeng, and Li Auto. There's also BYD, a Chinese auto firm backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

Gary Black, managing partner at the Future Fund and a Tesla shareholder, has been tweeting for the past few weeks that concerns about Twitter are a headache for Tesla investors. In one tweet, Black said there are several problems for Tesla due to Twitter. Two of the biggest?

The overhang from an eventual Tesla stock sale by Musk to finance the deal and the distraction for Musk, especially since "Elon's core competency is engineering/tech" and Twitter is more of an ad-driven media business. Tesla also has no chief operating officer.

That means Musk has to take a hands-on approach at Tesla while also being distracted by his numerous other pursuits, such as SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and potentially Twitter.

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