1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. 2 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,120 Speaker 2: Well, Elon Musk gives now the richest person on the planet. 3 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,319 Speaker 1: More than half the satellites in space are owned and 4 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: controlled by one man. 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 3: Well, he's a legitimate super genius. 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 4: I mean legitimate. 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 2: He says. 8 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 5: He's always voted for Democrats, but this year it will 9 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 5: be different. 10 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 3: He'll vote Republican. 11 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 2: There is a reason the US government is so reliant 12 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 2: on him. Alon Musk is a scam artist and he's 13 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 2: done nothing. 14 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 3: Anything he does, he's fascinating people. 15 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 5: Welcome to Elon Ink, Bloomberg's weekly podcast about Elon Musk. 16 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 5: It's February twenty seven, twenty twenty four. I'm your host, 17 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 5: David Papadopolis. The boring Company is Elon's mass transit gambit. 18 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 5: According to Musk, it's supposed to take us from New 19 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 5: York City to Washington, d C. In just thirty minutes 20 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:14,199 Speaker 5: with the high speed underground transportation system, so fast Train 21 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 5: more or less. But a new piece from Bloomberg BusinessWeek 22 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 5: tells the story of scarring chemical burns, broken promises, and 23 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 5: little progress beyond a glorified shuttle bus system built for 24 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 5: the Las Vegas Convention Center we'll talk about that today, 25 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 5: but we also have better news for Elon. The cybertruck 26 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 5: is good. Hannah Elliott will join us to talk about 27 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 5: her review of Elon's hotly debated futuristic pickup. We start 28 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 5: with Boring though, and to do that, I am joined 29 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 5: here in the studio by Max Chafkin, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reporter. 30 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 5: Hello Max, Hey, and we're joined by Sarah McBride, who 31 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 5: covers startups for us here at Bloomberg, including Neuralink, Elon, Musk, Neuralink, 32 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 5: and The Boring Company. Welcome, Sarah. 33 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 2: Hi. 34 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 5: Okay, Sarah, So let's dig in. We've never on this 35 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 5: show talked about the Boring Company. We talk about all 36 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,799 Speaker 5: as companies every week all the time, but it's never 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 5: come up yet until now. So tell our readers a 38 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 5: little bit about what the company does and what the 39 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 5: ultimate goal here is. 40 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, the Boring companies under the radar compared to other 41 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: MUSS companies. Its goal was to connect cities using underground 42 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: passages where people would travel at extremely high speeds like 43 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: riding in a train but going at the speed of 44 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:38,119 Speaker 1: an airplane in near vacuum conditions, and over time that 45 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: goal has been scaled down and now the project that 46 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: the Boring Company is working on is in Las Vegas, 47 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: and it's to take people to different points under the 48 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: city of Las Vegas. And what they've done is dug 49 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: a tunnel under the convention Center. A lot of people 50 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: would say it's really no problem to walk from one 51 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: side to the other of the convention Center, but it 52 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: is several buildings, and so there's a tunnel that's about 53 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: a mile long in each direction. And they have recently 54 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,959 Speaker 1: run into a lot of problems that we wouldn't know about, 55 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: except there were a bunch of worker Safety OSHA complaints filed, 56 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: and that shed some light onto the speed at which 57 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: Boring's trying to build out this system. 58 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 5: Max tell us a little bit about what those complaints. 59 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 3: So, yeah, the complaints, they span a bunch of different 60 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 3: issues related to workplace conditions underground. And by the way, 61 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 3: we try to get the Boring company's perspective. They did 62 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 3: not respond to our request for comment, but they have 63 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 3: denied the substance of these allegations to government regulators. They 64 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 3: basically said, you're not you haven't proven any of has happened. 65 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 3: We're going to deny this all. So that's kind of 66 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 3: where things stand. Some of them are sound so bad 67 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 3: it's almost funny. So a few things they is sort 68 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 3: of this like toxic water that's like at the bottom 69 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 3: of some of these tunnels and that workers have to 70 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 3: have to wade through. They're getting these terrible chemical burns, 71 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 3: according to the workers. So the main problem in tunneling, again, 72 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,239 Speaker 3: this is kind of a weird thing, a weird world 73 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 3: for like one of our biggest brainiacts and you know, 74 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 3: most successful doers to do. But the big problem in 75 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,799 Speaker 3: tunneling is is muck. That's the technical term for the 76 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 3: stuff that you're trying to move out of the tunnel 77 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 3: to you know, make room. 78 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 5: For the air. 79 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 3: And they were just drastically overloading these bins of muck 80 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 3: and one of the muck bins exploded it, you know. 81 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 3: The then you have these like two ton concrete bricks, 82 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 3: like fifteen of them flying everywhere, nearly hit an intern. 83 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 3: Now no, we should say like, look, tunneling is a 84 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 3: dangerous Mining is a dangerous business. 85 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 5: And the chemra and this is in many ways is 86 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 5: sort of similar to mine. 87 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 3: This is mining in fact, and that's where a lot 88 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 3: of the workers are coming from. I mean, it is mining. 89 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 3: They're digging in the ground. But what I'll say is 90 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 3: the big promise here from Elon Musk was not that 91 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 3: I'm going to mine. It was that I'm going to 92 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 3: come up with new and innovative ways to do mining 93 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 3: much more efficiently, much faster, much better at a much 94 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 3: lower cost. 95 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 2: Like that was the original pitch. 96 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 3: And instead and that's what and why this story is 97 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 3: important is what you actually see and what workers we 98 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 3: spoke to are saying is that the boring company is 99 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 3: basically in most ways like a normal tunneling venture. It's 100 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 3: just cutting like a lot of corners, as they see it. 101 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 3: And so instead of coming up with obviously innovative ways 102 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 3: to dig tunnels, what they seem to have done, at 103 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 3: least by some accounts, is just sort of put workers 104 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 3: at risk and force them to work much harder, much longer, 105 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 3: and under these, you know, exceedingly difficult conditions that frankly, 106 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 3: I don't think many would have accepted if it weren't 107 00:05:57,279 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 3: for the fact that they were like, oh, we're working 108 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 3: for this, you know, Elon Musk company. 109 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 2: You know, the same reason a lot of people work 110 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 2: for him. 111 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 5: So Sarah, there's nothing special about the Boring Company's drilling 112 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 5: rigs just sort of run of the mill mining rigs. 113 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: In ways, they're worse than regular mining rigs because most 114 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: mining rigs from big established companies have a lot of 115 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 1: safety features built in that we heard that the Boring 116 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: company's rigs lack. Let me paint a picture for you 117 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: of what it was like to be working in one 118 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: of these tunnels. So last summer was regularly one hundred 119 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: and twenty degrees in Vegas. You'd think underground it would 120 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: be cooler, No, it wasn't. They tried to cool it 121 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: down in there. It didn't work very well. You go 122 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: to your job site, you might have to wade through 123 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: toxic mud and muck. Also, you'd have to duck muck 124 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 1: that might be dropping on you from the conveyor belts 125 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: running overhead. Then when you got into the tunnel, you 126 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: ran the risk of heat exhaustion. In some of the 127 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: tunnels you were not allowed out. These were twelve hour shifts, 128 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: they ran twenty four hours. There was always somebody in 129 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: the tunnel. You couldn't leave to go to the bathroom. 130 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: You'd have to get permission when you did leave. Then 131 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: you might have other incidents in the pit outside that's 132 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: where the exploding muckbin was. There was somebody who was 133 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: driving a forklift with faulty brakes that fell over. That 134 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: person was thrown from the forklift. People were getting chemical burns. 135 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: In one thirty day period, ten to fifteen people got 136 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: chemical burns. That's not routine. That is really bad. That's 137 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: very drastic. 138 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 5: It is our sense that the scale of these injuries, 139 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 5: in the nature of the things that were happening there 140 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 5: on this mining job, are worse and more severe and 141 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 5: extreme than you'd see in a typical mining site. 142 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: Yes, because mining is dangerous, most mining companies have a 143 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: lot of protocols in place. It just seems like Boring 144 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: cut a lot of corners. So where on a normal 145 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: mining site a chemical burn would be an anomaly, it 146 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: seemed very routine there. 147 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 5: Okay, Max, I want to pivot for a second and 148 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 5: talk a little bit about some of those lofty promises 149 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 5: we talked about at the beginning. When Elon was dialing 150 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 5: up this company in this idea, and he was hyping 151 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 5: it up and pulling in venture capital to help fund it, 152 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 5: it seemed like for a period of time the Boring 153 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 5: Company was dancing with mayors and governors across the country, 154 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,880 Speaker 5: or actually apparently maybe even striking deals across the country. Yeah, 155 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 5: is any of that true? 156 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 2: I think it was all true ish. 157 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 3: So Boring Company, in a lot of ways is kind 158 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 3: of a prototype for some of Elon Musk's you know, 159 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 3: more recent exploits. So just like the Twitter acquisition, you know, 160 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 3: sort of funny tweet turns into a real thing. Company 161 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 3: is founded by Elon Musk. He's like in traffic, he 162 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,959 Speaker 3: types in it. It was a prelude to the Twitter X. Yeah, yeah, 163 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 3: I mean he he he does this like trollish tweet 164 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 3: storm that's like I'm going to start a tunnel company. 165 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 3: It's gonna it's gonna be called the Boring Company, and 166 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 3: it's a bunch of dad jokes and it's like hard 167 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 3: to tell, like is he serious? Is he not serious? 168 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,719 Speaker 3: And then you have this kind of manic period where 169 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 3: he's actually trying to make it real. And it was 170 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 3: during that period, and I think this is part of 171 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 3: part of why the Boring Company happened. Donald Trump was 172 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 3: elected president, a lot of people around Trump, including Steve 173 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 3: Mannon and to some extent Trump himself, were saying, hey, 174 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 3: we're going to spend a trillion dollars on infrastructure. And 175 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 3: I think what Elon Musk thought, in addition to being 176 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 3: like annoyed that traffic was bad, was that, you know, 177 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,839 Speaker 3: I have this company SpaceX. It is really good at 178 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 3: taking existing technologies and making them more efficient and selling 179 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 3: them to the government. I'm going to do the same 180 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,559 Speaker 3: with tunnels. The government wants infrastructure, I am going to 181 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 3: take some existing technology, make it a little better, you know, frankly, 182 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 3: cut some corners, cut the corners that can be cut, 183 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 3: and make it way way cheaper. And that just hasn't happened. 184 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,680 Speaker 3: Part of the problem, of course, was that Trump talked 185 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 3: a big game in a lot of areas but didn't 186 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 3: There wasn't necessarily follow through. At the same time, Musk 187 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,079 Speaker 3: talked a big game, and so you had a lot 188 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,400 Speaker 3: of a sort of series of projects. The most hilarious 189 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 3: thing that happened during this time is Musk tweeted that 190 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 3: he had verbal approval to build a tunnel a high 191 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 3: speed train from DC to New York that was going 192 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 3: to take twenty nine minutes, and then it came out 193 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 3: like that it was just some verbal agreement from some people. 194 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,439 Speaker 3: The Trump administration disavowed it, and you sort of had 195 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 3: this repeat over a series of places. So it's just 196 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 3: been like a sort of escalating or de escalating series 197 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 3: of like failures to launch, ending essentially in Las Vegas. 198 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 5: Sarah, let me ask you this, what is our understanding 199 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,680 Speaker 5: of the value of Boring Company as it stands now? 200 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 5: I know it's not the biggest of Elon's companies. I 201 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 5: do know that a year or so ago it had 202 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 5: a valuation of roughly six billion dollars, which, by the way, 203 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 5: just so we know what we're talking about. If you 204 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 5: look at six billion dollar companies out there right now 205 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 5: in the market, that would be Sonoco, Lyft. Where does 206 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 5: Boring stack up right now? 207 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: You know, it's really unclear. The only way to know 208 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: is if they raised another funding round. I think they'd 209 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,439 Speaker 1: have trouble right now raising at that valuation. When employees 210 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: joined Boring, they aren't really told what their equity in 211 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,719 Speaker 1: the company is worth. Most private venture backed companies are 212 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: not very transparent about their valuation, and the Boring Company 213 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 1: is leaving even less transparent than most. 214 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,719 Speaker 5: Okay, Max, let me maybe frame it to you this way. Yeah, 215 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 5: when you're a serial entrepreneur like Elon Musk is, and 216 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 5: you're dialing up companies left and and you've turned some 217 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 5: into absolute behemoths and others is doesn't it just stand 218 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 5: the reason that others just you know, are gonna flop 219 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 5: on you. I mean, you can't dial up company after 220 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 5: a company and they're all be home runs. 221 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 3: Especially if you're running, you know, six companies at a 222 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 3: time and doing three hundred tweets a day like it. 223 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 3: You know, they're just not enough hours in the day. 224 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 3: So so in that sense, yeah, that it totally makes sense. 225 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 3: It's also like, look, you know, you can't just like 226 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 3: think your way around everything. You know, Elon Musk has 227 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 3: this idea that you know, by his force of will 228 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 3: and his personality, he's somehow going to be able to vylaws, 229 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 3: to fi laws of physics. But the fact is, like 230 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,319 Speaker 3: this mining digging tunnels requires all of these complicated issues 231 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 3: that Elon Musk can't Elon Musk. 232 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 2: His way around. Now. The problem is, though, that the 233 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 2: mythology around him demands that each one of these companies succeed. 234 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: I think a lot of the employees, despite the risks, 235 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: are very proud of what they've done. I think they 236 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: like the skull of connecting Las Vegas underground with tunnels. 237 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: They're not averse to the goal and there Elon Musk 238 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 1: has said in the past that he'd like the tunnels 239 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: to one day help colonization of Mars. So there is 240 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: a big, grander goal. If you're looking for. 241 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 5: It, we're going to wrap it up there. It was 242 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 5: a great piece that you can find in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 243 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 5: Sarah McBride, thank you for joining us again. And as 244 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 5: soon as you have a neurlink update, you will holler 245 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:28,439 Speaker 5: at us. 246 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: You'll be first to know. 247 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 5: Okay, so we've got Hannah Elliott on. Hannah reviews cars 248 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 5: for us here at Bloomberg and she's also the co 249 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 5: host of a podcast all about cars called Hot Pursuit. 250 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 5: Welcome to the show, Hannah, Thanks so much so, Hannah. 251 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 5: We initially talked about the cyber truck back in December 252 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 5: when it was launched, and I feel like we were 253 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 5: simultaneously fascinated and found it a little silly. This is 254 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 5: what our guy, mister chaff In sort of speaking for 255 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 5: all of us, had to say about it back then. 256 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 3: You know, if you're reading cat Turd and you're watching 257 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 3: those SpaceX launches, you are going to buy a cyber truck. 258 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 3: But the truth is that is a narrow constituency. The 259 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 3: big constituency are these kind of sensible car buyers, and 260 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 3: that is a group he is not speaking to right 261 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 3: now now. 262 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 5: Hannah, I don't know if you read cat turd or 263 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 5: if you stare wrapped at SpaceX launches, but in your 264 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 5: review for US you call the cyber truck a pn 265 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 5: to brutalism that you absolutely loved. 266 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 4: Explain, Yes, I would say, certainly, it's a polarizing looking vehicle, 267 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 4: and I myself have been extremely skeptical of it for 268 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 4: all of the reasons that we already know, and we've 269 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 4: been talking about it since twenty nineteen or before, so 270 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 4: it's kind of just like, oh, get it over with already, 271 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 4: We're already done. But to answer your question, I have 272 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 4: to say I found it really refreshing in a way 273 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 4: because everything looks the same on the road, you know, 274 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 4: so many new cars are ubiquitous, and the amount of 275 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 4: happy and emotional reactions that it caused from people on 276 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 4: the street was really endearing and exciting. And I believe 277 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 4: that cars should be fun and should make people happy. 278 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 5: I think at one point you said it was like 279 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 5: being a celebrity being chased by the PROPARAZZI. I don't 280 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 5: know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. 281 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 5: But you have many, many more friends, now that's true. 282 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 4: I don't know if this was a mistake or not, 283 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 4: but at the time I thought it would be a 284 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 4: great ata to take it to Hollywood home depot on 285 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 4: a Friday afternoon. I mean, this is a work truck, right, 286 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 4: I put my dog in it, and I thought I 287 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 4: need to go get a palm tree in a pot. 288 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 4: I'll take it to home depot. And I have to 289 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 4: tell you I kind of got run out of home 290 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 4: by the amount of people walking up, circling it, wanting to, 291 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 4: you know, quote unquote help me load into the truck, 292 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 4: trying to get inside. It was was honestly a little 293 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 4: too much, and so I've been a hasty retreat from 294 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 4: home depot. But pretty fun. 295 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 3: Do you have any I know you were mostly driving. 296 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 3: You're driving on the roads. There have been all these videos. 297 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 3: I'm sure you've seen some of them on TikTok. It's 298 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 3: like it's basically like a cyber truck trying to climb 299 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 3: a hill. That like a Honda Odyssey could get up easily, 300 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 3: and the cyber truck is, you know, struggling. It's essentially 301 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 3: like showing that this may not be a capable. 302 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 2: Off road vehicle. 303 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 3: Or do you have any thoughts on whether that is 304 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 3: true or how true that might be and how big 305 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 3: a factor that's going to be for people who are 306 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 3: going to buy something like this. 307 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 4: Yes, I will say that I actually rented this truck 308 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 4: from Turo, the car sharing app, and James, who was 309 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 4: the man who owned it, asked that I not take 310 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 4: it off road. So that's that's one reason why I 311 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 4: did not take it off road. Admittedly, the cyber truck 312 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 4: is extremely untested an off roader or any sort of real, 313 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 4: actual sort of work site or farm ranch conditions. I 314 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 4: don't for a second think that most people who buy 315 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:19,640 Speaker 4: a cyber truck will be taking it to Moab or 316 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 4: will be loading up logs, you know, on the ranch 317 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,879 Speaker 4: or hey, bails. I really don't see that, you know, 318 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 4: I don't see that with the Rivian electric truck, for instance. 319 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 5: No, I don't either, then, sho Hannah, who is this 320 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 5: vehicle for? 321 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,199 Speaker 4: This vehicle is for tech bros who love elon I mean, 322 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,880 Speaker 4: let's be honest, James, the guy who rented me one 323 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 4: from Turo, said he has two more on order. He 324 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 4: placed the order for this one during the unveiling in 325 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 4: twenty nineteen. He already has orders in for two more. 326 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 4: But I will say also last night I was at 327 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 4: a dinner in Beverly Hills. There was a mother who 328 00:17:57,880 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 4: was asking me about it and wanted to know if 329 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 4: it would fit h child seat in the back. So 330 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 4: I was surprised because I thought this was going to 331 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 4: be tech bro central, and it does pull in interest 332 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 4: from moms in Beverly Hills that you know, you wouldn't 333 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 4: expect would even care about it. So there are some 334 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 4: some some unexpected fans, potential fans. But I think to 335 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 4: answer your question, it's it's fans of Elon, fans of Tesla. 336 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 3: So what's the like when you think historically, like what's 337 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 3: a parallel here? 338 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 5: Is it? 339 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 2: Like the hum is it the h H two? Is 340 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 2: that right? 341 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:31,679 Speaker 5: Like? 342 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 2: Because we were talking about like what's the. 343 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 3: Best case scenario for this thing, and David sort of 344 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 3: floated like I think on an earlier episode that it 345 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 3: could be like the Hummer. It could have like a 346 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 3: cultural moment in the same way. Eye catching, gigantic, obnoxious, 347 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 3: but maybe kind of cool. 348 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 4: Yeah, I definitely think it'll be a collector item. I mean, 349 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 4: the Delorean's a collector item. The DeLorean had a short 350 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 4: life span, but people still know it and love it. 351 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,920 Speaker 4: It's kind of like a truck version of the DeLorean, 352 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,120 Speaker 4: if you remember the car from Back to the Future. 353 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:09,000 Speaker 5: It was interesting in your column when everyone should read it. 354 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,439 Speaker 5: I thought it was terrific. We do know that Musk 355 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,880 Speaker 5: desperately wanted a futuristic look with this vehicle. But you say, 356 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 5: at first sight it screamed nostalgic, not futuristic to you. 357 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 2: Yeah. 358 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 4: Absolutely, I mean it looks like something from Blade Runner. 359 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 4: It looks like the DeLorean. Stainless steel is not a 360 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 4: new technology, you know. The fabrication, this is not new 361 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 4: or revolutionary fabrication at all. It's kind of the opposite. 362 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,679 Speaker 4: None of this is new. And the truck, you know, 363 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 4: it's multiple years late. So if anything, it's actually outdated 364 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 4: and behind and nostalgic. There's nothing actually futuristic about it, 365 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 4: you know. 366 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 5: Max. She did indeed have a lot of great lines 367 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 5: in this piece. I think this might have been my 368 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 5: favorite she wrote, it looks like a cross between a 369 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 5: Tanka toy and an adolescent video gamer's ultimate fantasy machine. 370 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 5: Not necessarily amateur, but a bit ridiculous. Wow, Hannah, like 371 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 5: that's quite a bit. Now tell me this ultimately, What 372 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,679 Speaker 5: did you like the most and dislike the most? 373 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 4: I have to say what I liked the most about 374 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:14,400 Speaker 4: it was how it drove, and a lot of it 375 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 4: had to do with how surprised I was about the 376 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 4: rear wheel steering and the ability for it to navigate 377 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 4: small areas like parking lots. I threw it to the 378 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,400 Speaker 4: valets at Chateau Marmont for lunch just. 379 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 5: Because I wanted to test how did they handle it. 380 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,199 Speaker 4: They didn't bat an eye, and that parking garage is 381 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 4: very small and awkward. But the truck is it's very long, 382 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 4: it's almost nineteen feet long. But because of the rear 383 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 4: wheel steering, it's actually the turning radius is really good 384 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 4: and nimble. Visibility I thought was surprisingly good, and so 385 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 4: actually the driving, you know, it's obviously it's fast. It's 386 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 4: a six hundred horse power vehicle with instant torque. None 387 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 4: of this is new or revolutionary. Again, you know, it's 388 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 4: like other electric big electric vehicles. But it was honestly, 389 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 4: it was fun to drive and from the inside I 390 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 4: kind of forgot how it looked on the outside, So 391 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 4: it was fun, and you know, I didn't really worry 392 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 4: about range. I got it with about three hundred and 393 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 4: forty miles on the battery and gave it back with 394 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 4: about two hundred. 395 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 5: So yeah, so it's supposed to get three hundred and 396 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 5: forty miles per charge? Is that your sense after having 397 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 5: given it a spin for twenty four hours? And by 398 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:32,959 Speaker 5: the way, I did note in your piece that renting 399 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 5: it for twenty four hours it cost you one three 400 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,199 Speaker 5: hundred and ninety one dollars, not cheap. But tell me 401 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 5: about the range. Did it seem like you were going 402 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:44,679 Speaker 5: to really get that those three hundred and forty miles. 403 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 4: No, those are not real world miles. I mean anything 404 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 4: you'd do, including even raising the truck height from sort 405 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,640 Speaker 4: of low to a higher ride height that reduces range. 406 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 5: And your biggest dislike. 407 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 4: To be honest, the reason why I wouldn't be able 408 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,439 Speaker 4: to personally buy the cyber truck is because of Elon. 409 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,680 Speaker 4: And you know, I know in my piece, I say, 410 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,479 Speaker 4: we let's suspend what we really think about the man 411 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 4: who created the truck. But for me personally, I couldn't 412 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,399 Speaker 4: justify giving him my money. 413 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 3: So Hannah, just just following up on that, taking your 414 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 3: framing from the story. If you if you suspend disbelief 415 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 3: about Elan or or you know, pretend pretend like it's 416 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 3: Elon is just a completely normal person who doesn't tweet 417 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 3: three hundred times a day. 418 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 2: What was like your what? What's the other? 419 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 4: You know? What? I hated about it the shifting And 420 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,399 Speaker 4: this won't be a surprise to anyone who's driven a tesla. 421 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 4: I hate the on screen shifting where you use your 422 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 4: finger to slide into drive and then slide into reverse. 423 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,400 Speaker 4: It's just like, give me something a little bit more 424 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 4: tangible and engaging than moving an icon with my finger. 425 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 5: I gotta say, the one thing that really jumped out me, 426 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 5: not just reading your piece, but listening to you again now, 427 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 5: is it got It seems like the crowd around you 428 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 5: was almost suffocating. It almost speaks to the fact that, 429 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 5: like you've gotta goad, you'd want to let these things 430 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 5: get out in the wild more, more, more properly, and 431 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 5: let others put up with that. And then if you 432 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 5: are so inclined to buy one and then you get 433 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 5: one in a year or so. 434 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 4: I definitely think that's true. And it's you know, like 435 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 4: I say in the piece, it's not something you want 436 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 4: to drive if you're not feeling especially friendly or talkative 437 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 4: that day, or if you're a shy person. 438 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 5: Just the way people reacted to it when Hannah drove 439 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 5: it around, that might be telling us something like maybe 440 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 5: there are maybe there are ultimately more buyers out there 441 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 5: for seventy seven thousand dollars a pop. Then we think, 442 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,120 Speaker 5: Hen Elliott, thank you so much for joining us. 443 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,919 Speaker 2: Thanks guys. 444 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 5: Okay, so we're gonna wrap up here today with a 445 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 5: segment we like to bring back periodically, Feud of the Week. 446 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 5: Mister Chaffkin, you are going to tell us about our 447 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 5: few to the week. I will be honest. I know 448 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 5: it's about pies. That is the extent of my knowledge doing. 449 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,760 Speaker 3: Okay, we've done Elon versus Mark Cuban, Elon versus very 450 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,439 Speaker 3: very fighting against. Now it's Elon versus the owner of 451 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 3: giving pies a San Jose pie shop. 452 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 2: Pies in the in the sense of like apple beef 453 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 2: with the pie guy. 454 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 3: So so the beef started on Valentine's Day, ironically, when 455 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 3: Tesla ordered a big order I think was two thousand 456 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 3: pies from the Giving Pie. 457 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 2: I don't know, two thousands a lot. I think there was. 458 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 2: There are mini pies, so, but the two thousand pies. 459 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,119 Speaker 3: It was a short notice order, and and the owner 460 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 3: of the Giving Pie said, okay, well I'm gonna you know, 461 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:50,400 Speaker 3: this is small. 462 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 2: I looked, I went to their website. 463 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 3: This is a small company, you know, going to bring 464 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 3: in all five or how many employees, and. 465 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,160 Speaker 2: Definitely they're going to work over the weekend. 466 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:04,239 Speaker 3: And and sometime in interim, Kesla canceled the order in 467 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,880 Speaker 3: a in a very ungentlemanly fashioned by text. This somehow 468 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 3: got out and as a result, first of all, a 469 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 3: lot of people felt bad for the Giving Pie owner, 470 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 3: and I think she experienced a spike in sales, people 471 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 3: trying to, you know, make up. 472 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:20,920 Speaker 5: For the sixteen lost. 473 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 3: And even Elon Musk seems to have had second thoughts, 474 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,160 Speaker 3: and he tweeted that he's going to make things right 475 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 3: with the Giving Pie. 476 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 5: We don't wait away. What kind of a feud is this? Then? 477 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 2: Well, I mean he canceled the pie order. 478 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:36,919 Speaker 5: First of all, we don't know that he canceled it. 479 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 5: He's trying to make it right. 480 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 2: David, I think we know. I think we know who 481 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 2: canceled this pieca. 482 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 5: Okay, so he's promised to make things right ergo okay, 483 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:47,159 Speaker 5: give me your pies. 484 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 2: And well, no, no, no, he hasn't taken the pies. 485 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,120 Speaker 3: And that's kind of one of the things that makes 486 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,400 Speaker 3: me think this feud could go on because the owner 487 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,199 Speaker 3: of the pie shot pointedly said that she does not 488 00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,439 Speaker 3: know how he's going to make it right. 489 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 2: She hasn't heard or anything further. 490 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,639 Speaker 3: So we have yet to see, you know, what the 491 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,159 Speaker 3: exact how this all shakes out. But yes, there is 492 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 3: a potential resolution on the horizon. For me, the big 493 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 3: couple big questions. Get hit me with your best theories 494 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 3: and how we got here. 495 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 2: So okay, number one question is who canceled the order? 496 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:21,120 Speaker 3: And I think, as I said, I think all signs 497 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,640 Speaker 3: everything we know about Elon Musk and Tesla and how 498 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:28,360 Speaker 3: he manages the company points to the man himself. And 499 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,119 Speaker 3: you know, this is a big I think it was 500 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 3: something like fourteen thousand dollars or something sixteen thousand dollars, 501 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 3: you know, Tesla, As we know, it's, as a Musk 502 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 3: put it euphemistically recently, between. 503 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 2: Growth waves, they're really trying to rein in costs. It 504 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 2: does not. It would not surprise me. 505 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 3: It would not shock me if Elon Musk or somebody 506 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 3: close to him saw this sixteen thousand dollars line item 507 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 3: and said, that's a lot of pies. 508 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 2: What the heck? 509 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 5: Like? 510 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 3: We are not spending sixteen thousand dollars on pies, like 511 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 3: know all that, but the giving pie, you know, it's 512 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 3: it mostly sells to other It seems like it does 513 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,080 Speaker 3: a lot of business with other tech companies. You know, 514 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,919 Speaker 3: it might signify, you know, everything that he thinks of 515 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 3: is wrong about Silicon Valley culture, you know, plying its 516 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 3: applying workers with these high end pies. 517 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 2: So that's my suspicion. 518 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 3: And then I think the other question, really important question, 519 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:21,959 Speaker 3: which may have been the question that Elon Musk was asking, 520 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 3: is why did they order these pies? 521 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 2: What were the pies? 522 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:26,920 Speaker 5: Was this just like the Munchies? 523 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:27,120 Speaker 2: Now? 524 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 3: I was talking to Dana Hall, our colleague and you 525 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,840 Speaker 3: know podcast panelists, and she was saying, well, maybe it 526 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 3: was for Pie Day, which is March fourteenth, But that 527 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 3: is a long Valentine's Day is a long way from 528 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 3: pie Day, and that would be inconsistent with the last 529 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 3: minute nature of this order. So maybe it was a 530 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 3: President's Day. 531 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:47,199 Speaker 2: I don't know. 532 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 5: So anyway, we've got Okay, so we've got a lot 533 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 5: of questions, We've got very few answers. I'm going to 534 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 5: guess in the Pantheona Musk feuds Man, this has got 535 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 5: a rank low Max, right, this isn't even top one hundred. 536 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 3: No, I mean I think he really this This was 537 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,440 Speaker 3: like a real, nearly a disastrous, you know, pr thing 538 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:06,920 Speaker 3: for him. Luckily he stepped in and you know, about 539 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,919 Speaker 3: to make things right because it is very messy. 540 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 2: The you know this could be. 541 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 3: You don't want to make an enemy of a friendly 542 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:18,440 Speaker 3: local pie shop. 543 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 2: I mean that's a very that's you know, may enemies 544 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 2: with Bob Iger is one thing, but like you don't 545 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:24,159 Speaker 2: take people like pies. 546 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 5: I love pies. Same, Okay, mister Chaffkin, Enough of the 547 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,399 Speaker 5: pie talk. Let's end it there. Thanks for listening to 548 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 5: elon Ink and thanks for joining me. Max. 549 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 2: Great to be here. 550 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 5: This episode was produced by Stacy Wang, Naomi Shaven, and 551 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 5: Rayhan Harmanci are our senior editors. The idea for this 552 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 5: very show also came from Rayhan Blake Maple's handles engineering, 553 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 5: and we get special editing assistants from Jeff Grocott. Our 554 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 5: supervising producer is Magnus Hendrickson Huge Thing as always to 555 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 5: Joel Weber. The elon Ink theme is written and performed 556 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 5: by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Sage Bauman is ahead 557 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 5: of Bloomberg Podcast and our executive producer I am David Papadopoulos. 558 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 5: If you have a minute, rate and review our show, 559 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 5: it'll help other listeners find us. See you next week