TechCrunch Mobility: Elon Musk’s threats worked

Welcome back to navigation techcrunch, Your hub for everything related to the “future of transportation”. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free – just click TechCrunch Mobility!

Did you hear? Elon Musk He received his trillion-dollar salary package. Of course I did, because coverage of this upcoming vote is everywhere, including here at TechCrunch. But what does this actually mean?

Yes, it’s about money, but it’s more about power and control. You may remember that Musk has repeatedly talked about the need to control Tesla and offered a variety of scenarios, including one involving an army of robots, to defend it.

The risks were high; If he didn’t get that control, he threatened to leave. Shareholders simply cannot, and do not want to, imagine Tesla without Elon.

All that money, power and control increases for Musk if Tesla reaches milestones based on operations, adjusted earnings and market cap. Each tranche, if the target is reached, would deliver 35.3 million shares to Musk. For example, the first stage of the tranche is a market cap of $2 trillion. Today, Tesla’s market cap is about $1.5 trillion.

Tesla is a strange company whose stock price often has little to do with actual fundamentals. It’s not unusual for Tesla’s stock price to rise due to comments Musk made during the earnings call even if its quarterly numbers weren’t particularly good. I’m sure this is very frustrating for other automakers.

That’s why I’m more interested in some of the products and revised profit targets associated with this package. Goals include 20 million Tesla vehicles delivered, 10 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions, 1 million robots delivered, and 1 million robotaxis in commercial operation within 10 years. Scroll down to take a poll regarding these goals.

Musk used the shareholder meeting for more than just a victory celebration, although that atmosphere was certainly present. He made a number of predictions and promises, including that production of its Cybercab would begin in April and that the company may need to build a “mega” semiconductor manufacturing plant. He’s also driven the Roadster 2 again, which was first revealed as a concept vehicle in 2017. A production version will now go on sale on April 1, 2026 – yes, April Fool’s Day.

A reminder: That Master Plan 4, which was the centerpiece of Tesla’s pitch to shareholders for approval of its $1 trillion pay package, is still woefully short on details.

birdie

We’re working on some spicy stuff, but nothing’s quite ready yet. In the meantime, remember that our emails are always open for advice.

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosek at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com Or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Offers!

Beta Technologiesan electric aviation startup, has moved forward with its initial public offering despite the government shutdown thanks to some relaxed rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange with a whopping $1 billion raised.

Although the stock price didn’t rise significantly on its first day of trading, it didn’t fall either — which is what has happened to a few recent IPOs.

The Vermont-based company priced its shares in its IPO at $34, above the expected range of $27 to $33. Beta Technologies sold 29.9 million shares to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $7.4 billion. It closed at $36 and maintained this level the next day. Shares have since fallen to around $31.

Of course, this is a long game and Beta Technologies is still working to commercialize its aviation products. Let’s see where the company – and its stock price – is a year from now.

Other deals that caught my attention this week…

Archer Aviation It raised $650 million Through an offering of 81.25 million shares, funds that will support its $126 million acquisition of Hawthorne Airport, a strategically important airport in Los Angeles. Shareholders did not respond favorably and shares fell more than 12.6% on Friday.

Fun fact: This airport, along with its amazing restaurant, is located in Elon Musk’s backyard. Tesla Design Studio and SpaceX are located right next door, and the airport has been used to launch several products, including the Tesla Semi.

Evotrexa startup developing a hybrid RV travel trailer with a built-in gas engine, came out of nowhere with $16 million in seed money from Anker, as well as early Chinese venture firms Unity Ventures, Kylinhall Partners, and Vision Plus Capital.

The Indian two-wheeled giant TVS Engine It sold its entire stake in the passenger transport company fast For INR 2.88 billion (about US$32 million) to Accel and Prosus’ investment unit, MIH Investments.

Lucid Motors The majority owner – a Saudi sovereign wealth fund – raised the maximum loan agreement from $750 million to about $2 billion, providing the company with liquidity until 2027.

Rivian It announced third-quarter earnings this week, and the financial results were surprising. The company has spun off with another company – this time an industrial artificial intelligence and robotics project called Mind robots. Remember, earlier this year, Rivian created a micromobility company called also. Mind Robotics has already raised a $115 million seed funding round, which was led by VC firm Eclipse. Jitin Behlan Eclipse partner who used to work at Rivian, is also a major backer of Rivian.

Notable Readings and Other Stories

Bryant Walker Smithan associate professor in the School of Law and (courtesy) the School of Engineering at the University of South Carolina, has been an expert and consultant to governments and safety organizations about automated driving for years — particularly on how to communicate with the public. He released a paper last month which I would be remiss if I didn’t share it here. It’s called “Autonomous driving” means self-driving.

Ford Executives are considering whether to kill the F-150 Lightning truck.

clear In the midst of an executive shake-up as she continues her search for a permanent CEO. Chief engineer of an electric vehicle manufacturer Eric Bach He leaves the company after more than a decade and Jerry Fordwho was deputy quality officer, is retiring. TechCrunch also learned James Hawkinswho was vice president of engineering, is also no longer with the company. Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of Powertrain, Pampering mothersis promoted to oversee all “Engineering and Digital”.

It shines He continues to struggle. The company recently had an accident Eviction notice One of its offices is in Orlando, Florida.

Lyft He had The third quarter is positive Which included a profit of $46.1 million. This is good news considering it posted a loss of $12.4 million in the same quarter last year. Lyft also saw ridership growth (15% year over year to 248.8 million) and revenue up 11% to $1.69 billion compared to the same period last year.

Rivian I posted her Third quarter earnings While the company is still operating at a loss, the revenue results have appeased Wall Street. The company’s revenue rose 78% year-over-year to $1.56 billion – and that’s nothing. But it also had a huge third-quarter loss of $1.17 billion, up 6% from the $1.1 billion loss it reported a year earlier.

Waymo It plans to launch a robotaxi service in Detroit, Las Vegas and San Diego. If it seems like Waymo is ramping up quickly, you’d be right. Don’t forget, last month at TechCrunch Disrupt, Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said that by the end of 2026, “you should expect us to be offering 1 million rides per week.” Waymo hasn’t shared that weekly number since April, when it had more than 250,000 rides per week.

Another thing…

It’s poll time! Sign up for our newsletter to participate. Do you have a question you would like us to ask? Email me at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.