I don't get how it is allowed that C-Suits just are allowed to blatantly lie to their investors/board/users they have the data and they know it won't happen. Exactly how Musks knows FSD won't happen this year...
Lying to users about performance is covered under free speech. It's securities fraud if Musk is knowingly lying to those with an interest in X, even if a private company. Necessary components are standing ("I own a piece of X"), appetite to litigate, and evidence the statement was knowingly untrue.
The key there is "knowingly." For those who want to litigate, proving that he's lying is incredibly difficult. You would need some kind of internal message from Musk directly saying that "X will not be profitable in 2024" right before he posted. I doubt anyone will actually sue him over this.
Nikola's fraud was blatant [1]. They rolled a truck down a hill, and the internal emails were damning. Trying in good faith (solar shingles) and failing isn't fraud, that's just a failed business venture. Solyndra failed too. Fraud? No, just bad business.
I can understand that Musk attempts to bend reality to juice the chances of success. I don't condone it personally, but I understand it [2].
The investors are Musk, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Binance, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia and some others. Imaginary profits shouldn't be an issue for this group, the value of their holdings lies elsewhere.
> I don't get how it is allowed that C-Suits just are allowed to blatantly lie to their investors/board/users they have the data and they know it won't happen
This is _why_ many jurisdictions, including the US, have some concept of 'qualified/accredited' investor, and investment in private companies is somewhat restricted to people who are presumed to know what they're doing. CEOs of _public_ companies absolutely cannot lie about financials, but it's murkier for private companies.
My office is 7.1 miles away and I go FSD there and back. Perhaps it's where I live is conducive to functional operation, but it works. Perhaps the difference is that unlike a lot of people who try FSD, I keep my eyes on the road and not watching something like Harry Potter
There are still plenty of investors, such as the Saudi royal family. Musk isn't the sole owner of Twitter, some of the old investors agreed to remain co-owners with him in the buyout.
