This Week in Tesla: Bannon, Buffett, and a Flying Model S

*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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