November has been an important month for America with the midterm elections coming and going. But this hasn’t stopped Tesla and CEO Elon Musk from generating news as usual.

The month began with an hour-long podcast interview with Musk, half of which was dedicated to all-things Tesla. Shortly afterwards came news of Tesla’s new chairperson as required by the SEC. And most recently, Musk has involved Tesla in news of California’s wildfires, something he regularly does with public life and death situations, an action which has brought him both admiration and criticism.

Lost? Need background? Want to know more? It’s all below, in the inaugural article, “So Far This Month in Tesla News”.

Musk Demonstrates Stability in Recode Interview

On November 2, Musk recorded a podcast interview with longtime friend Kara Swisher of Recode. The interview debuted a well-rested and calmer Elon Musk to the world, in contrast to the scattered figure who had been making questionable publicity decisions these past few months.

The interview began by addressing Musk’s tweeting habits, including his now infamous tweet claiming funding was secured to take Tesla private at $420 a share, a claim which never brought any concrete results with it. In the interview Musk took responsibility for his poor decision making. He quotes his brother as advising him, “If you do a self-inflicted wound, can you at least not twist the knife afterwards?” Musk attributes many of the mistakes to the difficult time Tesla has had with Model 3 production, stating, “This year felt like five years of aging, frankly. The worst year of my entire career. Insanely painful.”

A man who always looks forward, Musk soon moved on to discussing the future of Tesla. He reaffirmed his belief as stated in late October’s Q3 earnings report that Tesla will remain profitable in all future quarters.

Perhaps most excitingly is Musk’s own excitement on the long-anticipated Tesla pickup truck. Musk describes it as a “cyberpunk, ‘Blade Runner’ pickup truck,” and adds, “It stops my heart.”

Tesla Announces New Chairwoman Robyn Denholm

The biggest news this month in Tesla that no one knows exactly what to expect from is the SEC-mandated appointment of Chairwoman Robyn Denholm.

On September 29, in a settlement with Tesla, the SEC mandated Elon Musk step down as chairman after his ambiguous “funding secured” tweet. Musk is prohibited from occupying the chairman position for three years, although he remains Tesla’s CEO.

A few days prior to Denholm’s appointment, Musk cheekily tweeted, “Deleted my Tesla titles last week to see what would happen. I’m now the Nothing of Tesla. Seems fine so far”. Readers might see this as a tweak of the SEC’s nose and a message to supporters to let them know he remains secure as Tesla’s primary decision maker.

Denholm will leave her role as CFO of Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, to serve as Tesla’s chairwoman. It’s hard to know what role she’ll will play in the future of Tesla, but this at least fulfills hopes of replicating of Gwynne Shotwell’s COO role of SpaceX at Tesla.

Following the announcement of Denholm’s appointment, Musk tweeted, “Would like to thank Robyn for joining the team. Great respect. Very much look forward to working together.”

California Wildfires

On November 9, Musk tweeted, “Tesla can help people in California wildfire, please let us know. Model S & X have hospital grade HEPA filters. Maybe helpful for transporting people.”

Tesla also unlocked free supercharging to those in regions affected by the wildfire, who were notified via the in-car screen. This is reminiscent of Tesla giving free supercharging to those in Hurricane Florence’s path.

Some have criticized Musk in the past for jumping on natural disasters and other dire circumstances to earn publicity for Tesla. In the past, Tesla has reported their cars as “100 times more effective than premium automotive filters” as it removes “at least 99.97% of fine particulate matter and gaseous pollutants, as well as bacteria, viruses, pollen and mold spores.” The debate over whether such offers are self-serving or philanthropist is one that delves into the core of its co-founder’s soul. On one hand, Musk works tirelessly to create competent solutions for humanity, and on the other, he unapologetically seeks widespread recognition and credit for doing so.

The Take Away

What’s the main take away from all of this?

It’s important to understand this news in the context of Tesla’s well-received quarter three earnings report. The most recent quarter has been Tesla’s most profitable quarter so far. This put Tesla and its co-founder back in the financial community’s good graces, and given the power of headlines, perhaps back in the good graces of the general public as well.

With Tesla back on top, Musk and Co. are back to generating positive headlines to encourage fans and discourage nay-sayers. As Tesla is inexorably tied to Musk, his recent interview shows continuing promise for the stability of the company.

Having moved past his dispute with the SEC following Denholm’s appointment, Musk is back to doing what he does best in the public eye — getting the public excited for the future and persisting in demonstrating the usefulness of Tesla models, no matter the situation.

To learn more about the auto industry, visit CrossCheck's Blog.