THE SHOW MUSK GO ON
On Tesla’s second quarter earnings call, self-proclaimed Technoking, Elon Musk announced that he ‘will no longer default to doing earnings call’ unless he has ‘something really important to say’ citing that if he is doing interviews, he can’t do other work.
If Musk stays true to his word, this puts Tesla and its shareholders in an interesting position.
On one hand, we are sure Tesla’s investor relations and communications teams are relieved that they don’t have to deal with the outbursts that Musk is prone to that negatively impact the share price. For example, when asked a series of questions about Tesla’s finances in Q1 2018, Musk chastised analysts for asking ‘boring boneheaded questions’ and proceeded to take questions from a Youtuber or, last year when he called the coronavirus lockdowns unconstitutional, outrageous and fascist.
Tesla is so intertwined with Musk and his personality that it could also prove a fantastic opportunity for CFO (or ‘Master of Coin’), Zach Kirkhorn, to step into the limelight and present himself as a cool, calm number 2 to Musk.
On the other hand, Tesla’s share price is so closely related to Musk and his vision, that it seems almost incomprehensible that he will not be there to answer questions (even if they are “boring and boneheaded”).
Musk spends a great deal of time on Twitter engaging with his 58.5 million followers and answering questions about Tesla. It would appear that he shares what he can and answers what he feels are the most relevant/interesting questions to him regarding the future of Tesla. For example, when he announced that they would be opening their network of superchargers to other electric vehicle companies. This success of this constant engagement and clarity around his vision for Tesla is clearly working as Tesla’s share price has soared.
Realistically, how much more can Musk add to an earnings call that he doesn’t already do on Twitter?
CEOs are mainstays of the quarterly earnings call and it’s unlikely many will be following Musk’s lead into completely ditching the call. However, it further highlights the imperative role social media plays in engaging with shareholders in a less professional setting.
Choose your mediums wisely.
