Investors have for years endured millions of dollars in short-term losses in hopes of a long-term payoff. They might have even been able to stomach the $8.3 million that Telsa Inc. burns through each day. But it was a conference call Wednesday night that left many wondering how much more they can take.
Just after the electric car and solar panel company announced a record first-quarter loss, the Tesla CEO cut off two analysts who sought some basic answers: details about the company's cash needs and orders for its all-important Model 3 mass-market electric car.
"These questions are so dry. They're killing me," Musk said as he dismissed an RBC Capital Markets analyst in favor of a blogger who served up queries more to his liking.
Musk called the analyst questions boring and "not cool."