A former Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) executive and co-founder is reuniting with CEO Elon Musk for a keynote speech at a car event this week. Here are the details and how you can see the duo back together.
What Happened: The Financial Times Future of the Car event kicked off on Monday, May 9 with a day of virtual panels. The event runs May 9-12 with Monday and Thursday virtual-only days and May 10-11 taking place live in London.
The event has a cost of 299 British Pounds, or around $368 for the virtual-only portion, and a cost of 1,999 British pounds, or around $2,458 for the whole agenda.
The Future of the Car event features CEOs from several leading automotive companies including Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA), Volkswagen A G (OTC:VWAGY), Mercedes Benz Group ADR (OTC:DMLRY), Renault ADR (OTC:RNLSY), Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) and Volvo and Polestar, which are owned by Geely Automobile Holdings LTD (OTC:GELYF).
The event also features executives from automotive technology companies.
Tesla Inc CEO Musk is the keynote interview on Tuesday, May 10 at 1:15 p.m. ET Tuesday, which follows a discussion with Redwood Materials CEO JB Straubel starting at 1 p.m. ET. Straubel is part of a panel on creating a circular supply chain for lithium batteries prior to the discussion.
Related Link: Tesla Co-Founder JB Straubel Expects Most Electric Vehicle batteries To Last This Long
Why It’s Important: The keynote conversation with Straubel and Musk on Tuesday is only 15 minutes long, but reunites two of the key figures in Tesla history. Straubel, who joined Tesla in 2004, is credited with being a co-founder of the electric vehicle company and also previously served as the company’s chief technology officer.
Straubel left Tesla in 2019 and later created Redwood Materials, a lithium-ion battery recycling company that has partnerships with several leading automotive companies including Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F). Straubel and Musk could just be discussing the current state of the electric vehicle markets, including issues on materials and supply chains. There is also a chance Redwood Materials and Tesla could discuss ways the companies can work together.
Musk said recently that creating what is now Tesla with two original co-founders instead of just Straubel was the “worst decision” of his business career. The origins of Tesla have been controversial in the past with several people listed as co-founders including Musk, who joined the company after an incorporation date of 2003. Musk joined Tesla as chairman in 2004 along with investing $6.5 million of a $7.5 million Series A round. Musk credits Straubel as the reason he invested in Tesla.
TSLA Price Action: Tesla shares are down 9.07% to $787.11 Monday at market close.
Disclosure: Author is long shares LCID and GGPI.
Photo: Musk, Heisenberg Media; Straubel, Rudolf Simon both via Wikimedia Commons
