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Hey everybody, welcome back to 
the Elon Musk Podcast. 

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This is a show where we discuss 
the critical crossroads, the 

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shape. 
SpaceX. 

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Tesla X. 
The Boring Company and 

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Neuralink. 
I'm your host, Will. 

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Walden Elon Musk has issued a 
warning to Bill Gates and has 

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threatened the Microsoft Co 
founder with severe financial 

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consequences if he continues 
betting against Tesla. 

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Now, Musk foresees a dramatic 
transformation for Tesla, 

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envisioning the carmaker 
becoming a colossal entity 

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valued at $30 trillion. 
This forecast hinges on Tesla's 

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successful shift from primarily 
selling electric vehicles to 

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managing a profitable fleet of 
robo taxis and humanoid robots. 

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Musk's ominous message to Gates 
was shared on social media, 

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where he stated once Tesla fully
solves autonomy and has Optimus 

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in volume production, anyone 
still holding a short position 

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will be obliterated, even Gates.
The animosity between the two 

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billionaires became public in 
2022 when text messages revealed

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Musk's refusal to support 
Gates's charitable efforts. 

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Due to Gates's significant short
position against Tesla now, Musk

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expressed his disapproval in a 
message saying. 

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Sorry, but I cannot take your 
philanthropy on climate change 

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seriously when you have a 
massive short position against 

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Tesla, the company doing the 
most to solve climate change. 

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By then, Gates had already begun
regretting his pessimistic 

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stance on Tesla, though it's 
uncertain if he still maintains 

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that position despite Musk's 
strong warning. 

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It's a bold claim considering 
Tesla's recent struggles. 

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The company's vehicle sales have
declined by 6.6% in the first 

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half of the year, and the highly
anticipated Cybertruck has not 

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met expectations. 
Now, Tesla has abandoned its 

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ambitious target of increasing 
volumes from 1.8 million EVs 

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last year to 20 million by 2030.
Nonetheless, Musk remains 

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undeterred by adversity. 
He has previously outlasted 

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other notable Tesla shorts like 
David Einhorn and Jim Chanos, 

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known for profiting from the 
collapses of Lehman Brothers and

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Enron, respectively. 
Since April, Musk has been 

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working to stabilize Tesla's 
stock, beginning with hints of a

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new Cyber Cab robotaxi model, 
suggesting he might finally 

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achieve full autonomy. 
Additionally, Musk announced 

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that 2025 could see a resurgence
in EV sales with the 

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introduction of new low cost 
models, potentially marking a 

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turn around for the stock. 
Concerns that Musk might resign 

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from Tesla over the loss of his 
2018 compensation deal, valued 

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at $70 billion at the current 
stock price, were largely 

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dispelled when Vanguard and 
other significant investors 

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expressed their support for him 
last month. 

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On Tuesday, Tesla reported it 
had avoided a steeper decline in

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Q2 vehicle sales by selling off 
excess inventory. 

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By reducing EV production to its
lowest level since Q 3/20/22, 

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Tesla redirected surplus battery
cells to its stationary energy 

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storage business, more than 
doubling its Q1 volume to an 

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unprecedented 9.4 GW hours 
deployed. 

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This move has added $100 billion
to Tesla's market capitalization

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over the past two days, 
currently trading at 70 times 

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next year's earnings. 
Tesla's valuation is high even 

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for a growth stock, especially 
one expected to see declines in 

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revenue and earnings in 2024. 
However, investors confident in 

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Musk's vision for robot butlers 
might view the current market 

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cap of $740 billion as a minor 
issue. 

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Musk envisions widespread 
adoption of robots, aiming for 

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one in every business and home, 
ultimately reaching a production

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rate of 1 billion droids per 
year. 

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Musk plans to sell these Optimus
robots at $20,000 each, despite 

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production costs being only 
$10,000, ensuring a 50% profit 

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margin per unit. 
This would result in annual 

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profits of $1 trillion, 
translating to a market cap of 

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$25 trillion. 
With a standard earnings 

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multiple of 25, adding $5 
trillion for the future Robo 

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taxi fleet, Musk believes this 
presents a substantial value for

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current investors. 
Critics argue that Musk's 

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projections are overly 
optimistic. 

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For instance, the market demand 
for such robots might not 

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parallel the demand for 
smartphones, which are 

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significantly cheaper cars. 
A more comparable product C 

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annual sales of about 100 
million units. 

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Due to their higher price 
points, Chanos and others 

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contend that Musk's estimates 
imply a market cap approaching 

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1/3 of the world's total annual 
economic output, a highly 

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improbable scenario. 
Musk's previous prediction of 

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reaching 20 million EV sales by 
20-30, which would surpass the 

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combined output of the two 
largest carmakers globally, was 

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based on replacing 1% of the two
billion cars currently on the 

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road each year. 
This ambitious target was 

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quietly dropped well before the 
20-30 deadline, highlighting the

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need for Musk to produce more 
realistic projections moving 

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forward. 
In the meantime, Tesla's shares 

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surged by 10% on Tuesday, 
following better than expected 

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Q2 delivery numbers. 
The company delivered 404 three 

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sound 956 vehicles and produced 
410,831 in Q2 2024, surpassing 

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analysts expectations of 439,000
deliveries. 

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Despite a 4.8% year over year 
decline in deliveries, This 

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represented a 14.8% increase 
from Q1. 

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Tesla groups its deliveries into
two categories, Model 3 and 

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Model Y vehicles and all other 
vehicles, but does not report 

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numbers for specific models or 
regions. 

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Earlier this year, Tesla 
reported an 8.5% drop in Q1 

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deliveries, marking the 1st 
annual decline since 2020. 

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This was followed by a 13% year 
over year revenue decrease for 

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the quarter, mainly due to lower
average selling prices. 

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Now, the decline was partly due 
to temporary factory shutdowns 

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in response to an alleged arson 
attack at Tesla's German factory

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and shipping delays from Red Sea
conflicts. 

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Additionally, Tesla's aging 
vehicle line up and increasing 

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competition, particularly from 
Chinese EV makers, have impacted

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sales. 
A recent survey attributed part 

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of Tesla's brand erosion to CEO 
Musk's public behavior and 

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political statements. 
To boost sales, Tesla has 

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offered various incentives and 
discounts throughout the year. 

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In China, Tesla is offering zero
interest loans to encourage 

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purchases of the Model 3 and 
Model Y by the end of July. 

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Tesla generated approximately 
$21.00 and $75 billion from 

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China in 2023, accounting for 
22.5% of its total sales. 

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However, Wells Fargo analyst 
Colin Langan advised selling 

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Tesla shares, citing declining 
delivery growth driven by lower 

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demand and diminished return on 
price cuts. 

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Now, Wells Fargo anticipates a 
decrease in Tesla's automotive 

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gross margins, excluding 
environmental credits, due to 

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more price cuts and lower 
volumes. 

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Investors are now focusing on 
Tesla's Q2 earnings report later

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this month and a marketing event
in August, where the company 

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plans to unveil its design for a
dedicated robotaxi or cyber cab.

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While Tesla continues to explore
new technologies and markets, it

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faces stiff competition, 
especially in battery 

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production. 
LG Energy Solution aims to 

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commercialize a new dry coating 
technology by 2028, which could 

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significantly reduce production 
costs. 

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This innovation could position 
LG as a strong competitor to 

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Chinese battery manufacturers 
and potentially challenge 

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Tesla's market position. 
Hey, thank you so much for 

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listening today. 
I really do appreciate your 

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support. 
If you could take a second and 

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hit the subscribe or the follow 
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appreciate it. 
It helps out the show 

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tremendously and you'll never 
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And each episode is about 10 
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caught up quickly. 
And please, if you want to 

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support the show even more, go 
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please take care of yourselves 
and each other and I'll see you 

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tomorrow.