1
導(dǎo)讀
感謝思維導(dǎo)圖作者：
Carol Guo，雅思，癡迷檸檬烤鴨
2
翻譯
Elon Musk’s Solar Deal Has Become the Top Threat to Tesla’s Future
埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）的太陽城計劃是對特斯拉未來最大的威脅
英文部分選自Bloomberg Businessweek191118期
Elon Musk’s Solar Deal Has Become the Top Threat to Tesla’s Future
埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）的太陽城計劃是對特斯拉未來最大的威脅
Thousands of pages of internal documents and testimony show that the CEO’s promises about SolarCity were misleading or false.
特拉斯成千上萬頁內(nèi)部文件及證詞表明，馬斯克對太陽城的承諾具有誤導(dǎo)性，甚至是錯誤的
By Dana Hull and Austin Carr
達娜·赫爾（Dana Hull），奧斯汀·卡爾（Austin Carr）
During a heated deposition this past June, Elon Musk finally seemed to admit that his harshest critics were right. Since forcing through the controversial 2016 purchase of SolarCity Corp., the struggling solar sales-and-installation business he co-founded with his cousins, Tesla Inc.’s chief executive officer has faced almost-constant criticism: The move was called a catastrophe for Tesla, a $2 billion-plus bailout of a debt-saddled company of which Musk himself was chairman and the largest shareholder. Despite plummeting sales and substantial layoffs in the solar division under Tesla after the merger, Musk has fervently defended the SolarCity acquisition, once calling it “blindingly obvious” and a “no-brainer.”
在今年六月鬧得沸沸揚揚的證詞中，伊隆·馬斯克似乎終于承認了別人對他的嚴(yán)厲指責(zé)是正確的。2016年，馬斯克力排眾議收購了負責(zé)光伏發(fā)電系統(tǒng)銷售及安裝的太陽城公司，該公司由他和他的表兄弟聯(lián)合創(chuàng)立。彼時經(jīng)營慘淡，特斯拉的首席執(zhí)行官馬斯克備受爭議：由于馬斯克作為董事長和最大股東的特斯拉負債累累，還接受著逾20億美元的紓困資金，這場收購令特斯拉陷入困境。盡管并購之后特斯拉旗下的太陽能部門銷量驟降、大量裁員，馬斯克仍對收購太陽城公司極力辯護，曾稱之為“毋庸置疑”“不費腦子”。
注：
Deposition：A deposition in the law of the United States, or examination for discovering the law of Canada, involves the taking of sworn, out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that may be reduced to a written transcript for later use in court or for discovery purposes.[1] Depositions are commonly used in litigation in the United States and Canada. They are almost always conducted outside court by the lawyers themselves, with no judge present to supervise the examination.
But in a stunningly rare moment of contrition, Musk expressed regret over the decision at his deposition, part of a class-action shareholder suit that’s gained momentum in recent months. “At the time I thought it made strategic sense for Tesla and SolarCity to combine. Hindsight is 20-20,” Musk said. “If I could wind back the clock, you know, I would say [I] probably would have let SolarCity execute by itself.”
但是在一次難得的懺悔中，馬斯克為自己的決定表示了歉意，這是近幾個月以來愈演愈烈的股東集體訴訟的一部分。馬斯克說：“當(dāng)時我認為特斯拉和太陽城的合并具有戰(zhàn)略意義，但是現(xiàn)在看來確實行不通。如果時間能倒流，我可能會讓太陽城公司自生自滅”。
注：
Hindsight is 20-20 事后諸葛亮.看往事的視力是完美的. 20/20 是完美的視力.
The 85% of shareholders who approved the acquisition had title='In SolarCity Bid, Tesla’s Musk Targets Customers Wanting All' >master plan and would create the world’s first vertically integrated clean energy company. The hope was customers would drive a Tesla electric car, harvest energy from Tesla solar panels to charge it, and tie the ecosystem together with Tesla’s Powerwall home battery.
三年前這個月，出于對馬斯克的堅定信心，百分之八十五的股東為收購太陽城投了贊成票。馬斯克當(dāng)年稱，這兩家公司的合并一直是他總體規(guī)劃中的一環(huán)，并將造就世界首家垂直一體化清潔能源公司。馬斯克設(shè)想著，用戶駕駛特斯拉電動車，用特斯拉太陽能板為其供電，并連接到特斯拉Powerwall家用電池，從而打造一個生態(tài)圈。
In a trove of court filings unsealed this fall, thousands of pages of internal emails, board minutes and presentations, and executive testimony reveal how truly dire the situation was behind the scenes leading up to the acquisition, with almost every significant promise Musk pitched publicly either misleading or false. The documents in the lawsuit offer an unprecedented look at what happens when Musk’s reality-distortion field comes up against the reality of testifying under oath. Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment on the suit.
在今年秋天公開的大量法庭文件中，數(shù)千頁的內(nèi)部電子郵件、董事會會議記錄和陳述，以及高管的證詞都揭示了本次收購內(nèi)幕極為可怕。幾乎馬斯克公開作出的每一項重大承諾或具有誤導(dǎo)性或虛假。訴訟文件顯示，馬斯克的現(xiàn)實扭曲力場與現(xiàn)實情況背道而馳，這讓人大跌眼鏡。而被要求對此次訴訟予以評論時，特斯拉沒有作出任何回應(yīng)。
注：
reality-distortion field，即“現(xiàn)實扭曲力場”，就是指結(jié)合駭人的眼神、專注的神情，口若懸河的表述、過人的意志力、扭曲事實以達到目標(biāo)的迫切愿望，及所形成的視聽混淆能力。
Tesla Share Price
特斯拉股價
數(shù)據(jù)：彭博社編
From the outset, Musk’s quest to buy SolarCity was riddled with question marks. He’d already bet Tesla on the Model 3, heralded as a $35,000 electric sedan for the masses; was it really the right time to engage in a distracting M&A gambit? Musk has said SolarCity was on solid financial footing, but internally he wrote that the company needed to solve its “l(fā)iquidity crisis.” SolarCity, it turned out, was hemorrhaging cash and in danger of defaulting on its debt.
馬斯克收購太陽城在一開始就充滿了未知數(shù)。他早已將特斯拉押注在Model 3上，這是一款價值3.5萬美元的大眾電動轎車。這真的是分心參與并購的好時機嗎？馬斯克曾說過，太陽城財務(wù)狀況良好，但他對內(nèi)又表示，公司需要解決其“流動資金危機”。事后證明，太陽城資金大量流失，并且面臨著拖欠債務(wù)的風(fēng)險。
注：
M&A，即Mergers & Acquisitions
Elon Musk hands over first Tesla Model 3 electric cars to buyers
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/29/elon-musk-hands-over-first-tesla-model-3-electric-cars-to-buyers
Tesla’s board initially balked at the proposal. So did Evercore Inc., one of the banks it brought in to evaluate the deal. (Not that they felt their guidance would be heeded: “It’s Elon’s world. We just live in it,” an Evercore banker joked in an email.) Even Tesla’s then-Chief Financial Officer Jason Wheeler raised concerns. “We have Model 3 happening. We have a lot of things going on. We ourselves have a large debt load,” Wheeler said in his June 2019 deposition. “Why do we need to do this now, Elon?”
特斯拉董事會起初對并購提議猶豫不決，評估這筆交易的銀行之一美國投資銀行Evercore也是如此。（并不是說他們覺得馬斯克會聽從他們的指導(dǎo)，Evercore的一位銀行家在郵件中調(diào)侃道，“這是埃隆的世界，我們只是活在其中而已”。）即便是特斯拉時任首席財務(wù)官的杰森·維勒（Jason Wheeler）也對此表示擔(dān)憂，他在2019年6月的證詞中說道，“我們有Model 3，我們有一大堆事情要做，我們還要負擔(dān)一大筆債務(wù)。埃隆，為什么我們現(xiàn)在要急于做這件事呢？”
Then there were the jarring conflicts of interest. Besides his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive running SolarCity, its board and Tesla’s had complicated overlaps. Six of Tesla’s seven directors were Musk associates (including his brother, Kimbal) with SolarCity ties. Antonio Gracias was on the board of both companies. What’s more, Musk had used his other entities to raise capital for SolarCity: SpaceX, for example, had purchased $255 million of SolarCity bonds. Musk bought $65 million worth. Tesla’s directors had to grapple with this apparent self-dealing as Musk pushed them to reconsider the acquisition in May 2016. Musk said he recused himself from these deliberations, but court filings indicate he remained actively involved, even advocating for the move directly with bankers and investors.
再就是激烈的利益沖突。除了埃隆的表兄弟林登·里夫（Lyndon Rive）和彼得·里夫（Peter Rive）在運營太陽城，該公司董事會和特斯拉董事會之間存在錯綜復(fù)雜的人員重疊情況。在特斯拉的7名董事中，有6名都是通過太陽城與馬斯克聯(lián)系密切的合伙人（包括他的弟弟金巴爾（Kimbal））。安東尼奧·格萊西亞斯（Antonio Gracias）同時擔(dān)任兩家公司的董事。此外，馬斯克曾利用自己名下的其他公司為太陽城集資，例如，太空探索技術(shù)公司（SpaceX）購買了太陽城2.55億美元的債券，而馬斯克本人購買了6500萬美元的債券。由于馬斯克催促特斯拉的董事重新考慮2016年5月的收購，董事們不得不竭力應(yīng)付馬斯克這一顯而易見的假公濟私行為。馬斯克表示自己在盡力回避參與商討，然而法庭文件卻顯示，他一直都活躍其中，甚至還鼓吹直接和銀行家以及投資者合作。
注：
Angry shareholders accused Elon Musk of using Tesla and SpaceX to bail out his cousins' solar company for $2.6 billion
https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/elon-musk-accused-using-tesla-and-spacex-bail-out-solarcity-2019-9
To win over shareholders, Musk came up with the concept of a “Solar Roof” that resembled a traditional rooftop shingle but could capture power from the sun. At a joint Tesla-SolarCity event in Los Angeles in October 2016, Musk showed off the product to an impressed audience. The demos he unveiled weren’t functional, but the acquisition received approval a few weeks later.
為了拉攏股東，馬斯克提出“太陽能屋頂”的構(gòu)想，“太陽能屋頂”與傳統(tǒng)屋頂相似，但它可以從太陽中獲取能量。2016年10月，特斯拉和太陽城在洛杉磯共同舉辦了發(fā)布會，馬斯克當(dāng)眾展示了該產(chǎn)品，令人印象深刻。雖然他展示的樣品并不實用，但是這場收購卻在幾周后獲得批準(zhǔn)。
注：
埃隆·馬斯克開始販賣太陽能屋頂了，他要承包整條新能源產(chǎn)業(yè)鏈
http://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2016-10-29/doc-ifxxfysn8080184.shtml
Tesla’s leadership was aware the acquisition risked damaging the company, particularly if the upside Musk promised never came. In a previously unreported internal memo from 2017, viewed by Bloomberg Businessweek, Tesla executives shared public talking points, including stressing that the merger “wasn’t a bailout” and that family-run businesses can lead to long-term success (“the Kochs, for example”). They also discussed framing the Solar Roof’s technology development as “going extremely well” and its manufacturing on schedule. “The collaboration has been great,” they wrote of the Tesla-SolarCity merger.
特斯拉的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層意識到了這次收購對于公司利益可能有所損害，尤其是在馬斯克承諾的股價上漲不可能兌現(xiàn)時。據(jù)《彭博商業(yè)周刊》報道：在2017年首次披露的一份備忘錄中，特斯拉的高層統(tǒng)一了對外口徑，向外界強調(diào)公司并購“絕非救急”，而且家族企業(yè)能帶來長遠的成功（例如“科氏家族”）。他們還提到太陽能屋頂在技術(shù)層面“發(fā)展神速”并按預(yù)定時間生產(chǎn)。他們?nèi)绱擞涗浱厮估c太陽城的合并，“這次的合作堪稱完美”。
In truth, SolarCity was by then falling apart. Tesla gutted its sales arm, and in the fourth quarter of 2017 solar deployments declined 56% from a year earlier. The SolarCity brand is now defunct. The Rive brothers left Tesla shortly after the merger. Although Musk had long argued the merger was all about corporate “synergies,” he admitted in the shareholder lawsuit that he “took everyone from solar and said, ‘Instead of working on solar, you need to work on the Model 3 program.’ And as a result, solar suffered as you would expect.?… That would include engineering, management, sales, service. Everything that could possibly be redirected towards the Model 3 program was so redirected.” Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment on the memo.
事實上，那時的太陽城已經(jīng)分崩離析。而特斯拉此舉如同自斷銷售臂膀——在2017年第四季度，太陽能設(shè)備的安裝進展比往年同期放緩了56%?，F(xiàn)如今，太陽城這一品牌不復(fù)存在，里夫兄弟也在這次并購后不久便離開了特斯拉。盡管馬斯克一直咬死這次并購是出于“協(xié)同發(fā)展”的考量，但他也不得不在面對股東訴訟時承認，他“帶走了所有太陽能方面的員工并且告訴他們‘你們要從太陽能項目中抽身出來，投入Model 3項目’，這一做法使太陽能產(chǎn)業(yè)遭受了重創(chuàng)，影響波及了工程、管理、銷售和服務(wù)等部門，換句話說，所有能用到Model 3上的都被要求服務(wù)于它?！碧厮估矫娌]有對給予此備忘錄評論的要求作出回應(yīng)。
Perhaps the biggest woe from the acquisition is the Solar Roof. The product was supposed to be central to the merger, but Tesla has failed to develop a mass-market version and delayed high-volume manufacturing multiple times in recent years. Gracias, the Tesla director who was also title='Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?' >Tesla’s solar Gigafactory in Buffalo, Sanjay Shah, the company’s head of energy, said he had “high confidence” his team was title='Beyond Meat Inc.' >Beyond Meat, the plant-based food startup, and New York state officials wrote down the value of the Buffalo factory, built with more than $750 million in government subsidies. (Shah didn’t respond to a request for comment, and Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment on the Solar Roof or the Buffalo writedown. Musk announced a new version of the roof the day depositions were unsealed last month.)
太陽能屋頂可能是這次收購最大的悲哀，而它原本應(yīng)是此次并購的核心，但是特斯拉未能開發(fā)出該產(chǎn)品的大眾版，近幾年又不斷推遲量產(chǎn)。同時兼任特斯拉和太陽城董事的格萊西亞斯在4月份作證說，“目前，只在50到100個屋頂上進行了測試”。一年前，能源部主管桑賈伊·沙阿（Sanjay Shah）在布法羅的特斯拉太陽能超級工廠（Gigafactory）接受《彭博商業(yè)周刊》采訪時表示，他對他的團隊于2019年擴大生產(chǎn)“信心十足”，同時承諾，如果再次出現(xiàn)任何計劃之外的延期“公司的態(tài)度會比以往更加公開透明，確保人們知道延期的原因”。馬斯克在6月作證表示，沙阿在特斯拉任職期間主要負責(zé)的是Model 3項目的開發(fā)。沙阿現(xiàn)于素肉初創(chuàng)公司Beyond Meat任首席運營官。而紐約政府減記了他們補貼給布法羅超級工廠的7.5億美元。（沙阿對此不予置評，特斯拉也沒有回應(yīng)對太陽城或是布法羅超級工廠被減計發(fā)表評論的要求。上個月在供詞披露的同一天，馬斯克宣布了太陽能屋頂?shù)囊粋€新版本）
The contrast between the acquisition’s internal reality and external perceptions will likely give fodder to the shareholder lawsuit, started by pension funds alleging that the board breached its fiduciary duties by going along with Musk’s SolarCity plan and grossly overpaying for it, to boot. Tesla is also dealing with controversy stemming from legacy SolarCity solar panel installations. In August, Walmart Inc. sued Tesla over solar-related fires at its stores and warehouses, accusing it of “widespread negligence.” (The companies settled out of court and issued a joint statement saying they were pleased the matter had been resolved.) Tesla has also initiated an internal program, called Project Titan, to inspect homes adorned with traditional solar panels that are paired with a potentially faulty connector, creating a risk of blazes. At least two homeowners in Maryland and Massachusetts have experienced rooftop fires from Tesla’s flawed systems.
此次收購的內(nèi)部現(xiàn)實與外部看法之間的反差可能會將這起股東訴訟推向風(fēng)口浪尖。該起訴訟由養(yǎng)老基金發(fā)起，他們指控該公司董事會通過馬斯克的太陽城計劃并為此付出高昂代價違背了其信托責(zé)任。特斯拉還在處理太陽城的太陽能電池板安裝遺留問題時引起爭議。今年八月，沃爾瑪（Walmart Inc.）就太陽能電池板引發(fā)其商店和倉庫火災(zāi)起訴特斯拉，指控其“普遍失職”。（兩家公司達成庭外和解，并發(fā)表聯(lián)合聲明稱，他們很高興此事得到解決。）特斯拉還啟動了一項名為“泰坦計劃（Project Titan）”的內(nèi)部計劃，對安裝了傳統(tǒng)太陽能電池板的家庭進行檢查，這些太陽能電池板可能連接了存在故障的連接器，以杜絕起火的風(fēng)險。目前在馬里蘭州（Maryland）和馬薩諸塞州（Massachusetts）至少有兩位房主經(jīng)歷了特斯拉缺陷系統(tǒng)引起的屋頂火災(zāi)。
The shareholder lawsuit is set for trial before Delaware Court of Chancery Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights III in March 2020, according to Tesla’s securities filings. So far, though, Musk has mostly adopted a defiant (if not irritated) tone at his two depositions. In a back-and-forth with the plaintiffs’ lawyer, whom Musk called “dude,” he said now that Tesla has a better grip on its vehicle business, “we’re turning our attention to solar, and we’re going to fix it.” When pressed for details on the challenges with the acquisition, Musk called the lawyer “shameful” and a “very, very bad person” for scrutinizing a company that’s trying to change the world for the better.
特斯拉的證券備案顯示，該股東訴訟將于2020年3月在特拉華州衡平法院（Delaware Court of Chancery）由副法官約瑟夫·斯萊茨三世（Joseph Slights III）進行審判。然而到目前為止，馬斯克的兩次證詞中采取的語氣大多是充滿挑釁（如果不是憤怒的話）。在與被馬斯克稱為“伙計”的原告律師的問答中，他說現(xiàn)在特斯拉對汽車業(yè)務(wù)大局在握，“我們正將注意力轉(zhuǎn)向太陽能，并且會解決這個問題?！碑?dāng)被詢問到收購所面臨的挑戰(zhàn)細節(jié)時，馬斯克稱該律師“可恥”，是一個“非常非常壞的人”，因為他仔細審查一家試圖讓世界變得更好的公司。
Musk sounded eager to make this case at trial. “I can’t wait,” he said. “It will be great. You’re going to lose.”
聽起來馬斯克急于上庭?！拔移炔患按！彼f，“庭審將會很棒，你們一定會輸?！?/span>
翻譯組：
Olivia，英專大四，財經(jīng)翻譯實習(xí)生
Evelyn，女，MTIer，彭博商業(yè)周刊粉絲
Lance，冒牌美少女，認識幾個字母的萬年烤鴨
Hannah，女，英語教書匠，彭博商業(yè)周刊粉絲
校核組：
Sindy，英語專業(yè)，CATTI備考，工作黨
Li Xia, 女， 我視英語為初戀，英語瞧我像備胎
3
感想
本次感想由Hannah全權(quán)執(zhí)筆
Hannah，女，英語教書匠，彭博商業(yè)周刊粉絲
12歲就因編寫電子游戲源代碼登上南非當(dāng)?shù)匾槐倦s志的馬斯克確實是個天才。他也考慮過將來進入視頻游戲行業(yè)，最后無果，原因是這個追求不夠宏大。什么是宏大的追求呢——電動汽車、太陽能和火箭。在上個世紀(jì)，這些追求與其說是宏大，不如說是離譜，聽起來像癡人說夢。
99年馬斯克出售了自己的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)Zip2，迅速將賺到的1200萬美元投入了X.com(PayPal的前身)，只給自己留了400萬美元。在后來的投資中，他這種行為愈演愈烈，有個著名的段子是 “I made $180 million from PayPal. Invested $100 million on SpaceX, Another $70 million on Tesla, and $10 million on Solar City. I borrowed money for rent.” Zip2前高管、X.com的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人何艾迪說：“這正是馬斯克異于常人的地方。他承擔(dān)個人風(fēng)險的意愿達到了近乎瘋狂的地步。”
這就不難理解馬斯克力排眾議收購太陽城公司的行為。2016年特斯拉宣布以換股的方式并購太陽能供應(yīng)商太陽城，這兩家都是馬斯克控股的公司完成了“左手換右手”式的交易。這件事的意義在于，特斯拉成為世界上第一個真正整合了上下游的新能源公司。馬斯克的設(shè)想是：出行開電動車（特斯拉）、停車有充電樁或者充電通道（太陽城）、回到家也可以用家用電池（Powerwall）滿足日常需求。
前景是美好的，但是有哪些問題呢？第一是這兩家公司都是由馬斯克控股，存在著嚴(yán)重的利益重疊和利益沖突（見圖）。第二是并購的時機不對，特斯拉本身就焦頭爛額，以至于投資人質(zhì)疑一家虧損的電動汽車公司去吸收另外一家同樣虧損的大型企業(yè)意義何在。
董事會起初猶豫不決，評估這筆交易的美國投行也不看好（是不是proxy advisory service）。然而“這是馬斯克的世界，我們只是活在其中而已”。法庭文件暴露了馬斯克公開作出的每一項重大承諾或具有誤導(dǎo)性或虛假，其現(xiàn)實扭曲力場和現(xiàn)實情況背道而馳。
SpaceX曾經(jīng)是航空業(yè)的笑柄。但是在經(jīng)歷三次火箭發(fā)射失敗瀕臨破產(chǎn)之后，最終依靠第四次成功發(fā)射獲得NASA價值16億美元的合同，頑強生存了下來，繼而成為第一家將貨物送到空間站的商業(yè)公司，和第一次實現(xiàn)了成功回收火箭的壯舉，改寫了人類的太空史。
馬斯克曾力挽狂瀾于既倒，自己出任CEO，帶著面對嚴(yán)重的資金困境瀕臨破產(chǎn)的特斯拉度過艱難時期，成功上市，并以Model系列，把電動汽車從鏡花水月變成現(xiàn)實世界中人人追噴的香饃饃。
因為前面幾次于不可能處創(chuàng)造可能的神操作，想必營造了一種“你所啥都對”的個人崇拜的氛圍，以至于這樁極不被看好的并購在馬斯克的極力推行之下倒也暢通無阻。馬斯克常被人們稱為“瘋子”，誠然偏執(zhí)是很多天才的共同特征，正是這種不撞南墻不回頭的執(zhí)念帶著他們走向成功。但是面對前來審查的律師，罵之以“可恥”，似乎只要自己的出發(fā)點是“改變世界”就擁有了豁免權(quán)，未免失之偏頗。天才也有誤入歧途的可能，所有的監(jiān)管和諫言都不該缺失。
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