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Silicon Valley’s technology giants are among the few winners of the global pandemic.
Their share prices hold or even rise as investors bet they will come out of the crisis even stronger.
But covid-19 disease also shows two tech tycoons with radically different attitudes in the battle to control the virus: Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
What did Musk say?
For the past few weeks, the founder of Tesla has been tweeting in an increasingly temperamental way.
First expressed skepticism about the coronavirus threat. Then he condemned what he saw as excessive measures to combat it.
Musk repeatedly used his Twitter account to criticize measures to combat the virus.The quarantine in California meant the closure of its main production plant in Fremont, and Musk wants it to reopen.
“Bravo, Texas!” He tweeted Wednesday, attaching a report on the state’s relief restrictions.
Then came a great capitalized statement: “RELEASE ESTADOS UNITED NOW“.
But it was during a call with analysts, after the publication of results that they showed a surprising profit during the first quarter, when his anger overflowed.
In his opening statement, Musk did not mention the virus. But in response to questions, he criticized California’s order that residents stay home:
“To say that they cannot leave their home, and that they will be arrested if they do, is fascist. This is not democratic. This is not freedom. They have to give people back their damn freedom. “
Her language became even more intense at one point.
He said an extension of the confinement was “forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights.”
He added: “Failing to respect people’s freedoms in this horrible and wrong way is not what people came to the United States for or built this country for.”
He then used a strong expletive – one I never heard of in a public conference – before continuing: “Excuse me. But an outrage is an outrage.”
Musk criticized California’s decision to implement confinement as a measure to fight the coronavirus.There was also a bit of outrage in response. Not from analysts who kept asking about gross margin and an app launch, but from viewers on Twitter.
Some recalled that the founder of Tesla proved far from prophetic in his analysis of the virus threat.
On March 19, Musk commented that there had been no new cases in China, adding: “Based on current trends, there will likely be close to zero new cases in the United States by the end of April.”
As of April 30, there were more than one million cases of coronavirus in the United States and around 60,000 deaths.
What did Zuckerberg say?
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also spoke for the past few days about the results of his company, which saw a drop in earnings but managed to please investors despite the warning that the business “I was facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty.”
Zuckerberg is cautious and says he is concerned about opening certain places too quickly.Zuckerberg’s language in his conference call with analysts was not as colorful as Musk’s. However, he was quite frank in presenting an opposite opinion to that of the Tesla magnate.
The rush to return to normality is a very bad idea for both public health and the economy, he said.
“While there are massive social restrictions on quarantines, I am concerned that reopening certain locations too quickly before contagion rates have dropped to very low levels will almost guarantee future outbreaks and worsen long-term health and economic outcomes.”
It could be said that it is easier for Zuckerberg to adopt this position.
Your employees can do a very good job of keeping Facebook running from home, while Tesla staff won’t build any cars in their backyards.
The social media company may be concerned about a drop in advertising, but it is far better off than the old media companies to weather the recession.
Its share price, which has only registered a modest drop since February, reflects this.
Defying gravity
For its part, Tesla’s actions continue to defy gravity.
You might think that with its main factory closed, a low oil price that makes electric cars seem less desirable, and an executive director apparently incapable of self-control, investors could run away.
Meanwhile, Tesla is in good health.But no. Stocks already up near record high and they are expected to rise further after the latest results.
Tesla, which sold 367,500 cars in 2019, is valued by the market at about $ 150 billion. That’s almost four times more than the US giant GM, which sold about 7.7 million cars last year.
All this means that Musk could be on the verge of enjoying the fruits of his labor.
He is well on his way to achieving the goals set to increase the value of the company, which would give him the opportunity to make a profit of around US $ 740 million in stock options.
You may have thought that Silicon Valley arrogance and Wall Street hysteria over tech stocks are two things that have gone out of style in recent months.
Try saying that to Elon Musk.
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