Thread by @profgalloway

@elonmusk Numbskull … better than pedo.

So, we own a Tesla (Falcon Model X) and love it. Great car, great company & hard to overestimate the impact you, and your team, have had on the world. I've called you a genius before.

1/x

@elonmusk However, I don’t believe (and I don't think you do either) that Tesla is worth more than:

Toyota
Daimler
Volkswagen
BMW
GM
Ford
Fiat-Chrysler
Tata
Honda
Ferrari
Hyundai
Boeing
Airbus
American Air
Delta
Southwest
JetBlue

Combined...

@elonmusk My understanding is you will need to exercise a substantial amount of options soon, which will trigger a taxable event. At #codecon you said your tax rate is 53%. I don’t see how that’s possible as a (recent) resident of Texas.

@elonmusk So, you could do what most uber-wealthy people do, and borrow against your (immense) stock holdings. I do this. I get a rate of 1.8% from Goldman and 1% from Northern Trust. I’d bet you could get rates much lower.

@elonmusk Essentially, you could borrow money for free to pay your taxes, and not need to sell any stock. Which means, your decision to sell stock reflects you believe the stock is more likely to go down, than up.

@elonmusk You won’t do this (borrow against the stock) as you realize $TSLA could lose a great deal of its value & you could (if you borrowed the entire amount to pay taxes) find yourself in an uncomfortable position, be a forced seller, trigger downward spiral in stock, etc.

@elonmusk You could just say, It’s time to diversify, I need to pay taxes, etc. Instead, you abdicate responsibility to Twitter for this decision.

Sidebar: bad time to ask if you’d come speak to my Brand Strategy class at @NYUStern?

@elonmusk @NYUStern I believe within 36mo @SpaceX will be worth more than Tesla. It’s more differentiated; space-hauling will prove more important, and Tesla will retreat from the highs about the time the founder began selling. Also think @boringcompany is underhyped, but a different thread.

@elonmusk Question: If I could prove to you that $6B would provide access to family planning for every woman of color in the South for a decade,,,would you sell stock and fund it? Asking for a friend, and every woman of color in the South.

@elonmusk Breaking News: NYU Prof announces tender offer for shares of Tesla at $420/share, funding secured.

Dear SEC, the above is a joke. I’ve noticed the SEC does enforce market manipulation laws,,,if you're NOT a billionaire.

@elonmusk Did you really just say this? I thought I was high.

Boss, Sen. @RonWyden's father fled from the Nazis. Sen. Wyden was a scholar athlete & has been (re-)elected 4x to the greatest deliberative body on this, or any, planet.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1457497438474981384

@elonmusk @RonWyden You’re an outstanding role model for entrepreneurs,,,America even. Young men, less so … as they conflate your ad-hominem attacks and lack of grace with masculinity. They aren’t.

@elonmusk @RonWyden So — you have immense talent, resources and influence. And I have your attention.

How do we make lemonade (progress) from lemons (numbskull, ad-hominem attacks)?

I think there’s more that unites us, Elon, than divides us.

@elonmusk @RonWyden We are both enormous beneficiaries of the University of California. The generosity & vision of CA taxpayers and the Regents of UC changed my life.

As a CA firm for the last 2 decades, I imagine UC & Cal State grads have played an important role in $TSLA’s $1.2T market cap.

@elonmusk @RonWyden And I imagine peace-ing out from CA to TX just before a big taxable event (coincidence) leaves you wanting to reinvest some of your gains in CA infrastructure so others can benefit from the same people/universities/roads/bridges that helped you become the richest man in the world

@elonmusk @RonWyden I’m passionate about restoring higher education’s role as a vehicle for upward mobility, and about expanding freshman seats, so the children of single (immigrant) mothers, like you & I are, can continue to enjoy the opportunities we did.

@elonmusk @RonWyden This is a serious offer:

I will gift $10M to UCLA and Cal ($5M each), if you match… or more. Let’s be honest, $10M is real cabbage for a professor, and less for you. By my calculations, on 10/25 your wealth increased by $10M every 9.75 seconds the market was open.

@elonmusk @RonWyden I look forward to your response.