On a sunny April afternoon in Seattle, about 40 activists gathered at the pine box, beer and pizza bar in the sometimes Scruffy Capitol Hill neighborhood. The group reserved a side room attached to the outer yard; Before comments began, attendees flowed in and out, enjoying the hot day. Someone set up a sound system. Then the activists settled, stretching their ears as the flowed call crackled through less than perfect speakers.
In more than a decade of climate organization, it was the first time that Emily Johnston, one of the group’s leaders, was attending a happy hour to listen to the quarterly income of a company. Also the first time a local television station appeared to cover such a happy hour. “This whole campaign was just a magnet for attention,” she says.
The group, officially called The Troublemakers, was rewarded immediately. Tesla CEO Elon Musk Started the investors’ call for the first quarter of 2025 with a side recognition of exactly the work that the group has done over the past two months. He evoked the nationwide rematch to the so -called Department of Government Performanceaŭ Doge, penado tranĉi registarajn elspezojn dungitajn de junaj teknologiaj entuziasmuloj kaj eks-studentoj de Musk Company, nomataj-kun tipa muska interreta cerba floro-por an Early 2010.
“Now, the protests you will see there, they are very organized, they pay,” Musk told listeners. For weeks, thousands of people – including the problems – camped outside Tesla shows, service centers and freight stations. Musk suggested that not only did they pay their time, but they were only interested in his work, as they once received a “waste width” from the federal government. Musk had Presented the theory and sharpened it his social media platform x for weeks. Now, he argued that the protesters were away from the Dole – and furious.
Musk proposed no proof of his claims; To a man, every Protestant who spoke to Wired, insisted that they do not pay and it is exactly what seems to be: people angry with Elon Musk. They call their movement the “Tesla Takedown.”
Before Musk summoned to speak to investors, Tesla, who had now argued for a multitrime dollar effort to transfer global cars to electricity, presented them with one of the company’s worst quarterly financial reports in years. Net revenue decreased 71 percent per year; Revenue dropped more than $ 2 billion of Wall Street expectations.
Now, in Seattle, only the first minutes of Musk’s remarks left the supporters, many veterans of the climate movement, Giddy. Someone close to the statistical speakers repeated the best parts to the small crowd: “I think starting probably next month, May, my time -attribution to Doge will fall significantly,” Musk said. Under a spinning disk -ball, people who were clicked. Someone has held a picture of Tesla’s stock activity over the past year, cared for but falling black line.
“If you ever wanted to know that protest is important, here is your proof,” Johnston recalled weeks later.
The Tesla Takedown, an effort to counter at Musk and his wealth, where it hurts, seems to have appeared right at the right time. Tesla -skeptics have argued for years that the company, which has the highest market capitalization of any car, is supervalue. They claim that the company’s general manager was able to distract damaged foundations-aging vehicle list, CyberTruck store, the much delayed introduction of self-driving technology-with drop and display.
