Elon Musk Tells Tesla Staff All-Hands: Crisis, What Crisis?

Elon Musk appeared in a surprise all-hands call to calm the nerves of Tesla staff as the company suffers a painful public fallout from the billionaire’s relationship with President Donald Trump.

The last-minute announcement reportedly had Tesla staff on edge, confused at the immediacy of the late-night call, according to a report from Business Insider, which said meetings were usually scheduled during regular work hours.

The meeting also flummoxed Tesla investors, after persistent live-stream issues which saw feeds deleted and then restarted. The all-hands was also streamed on Musk’s social media site, X.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

The all-hands in Austin, Texas, began with a highly produced video showing Tesla products, and its staff promoting the company’s mission: to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy”—despite Trump’s announcement earlier this week that he was ramping up coal production in the U.S.

Musk then appeared in person, hailing his team during the late-night call—which lasted past 10 p.m. local time—and warning investors to “hang on to your stock.”

The company’s stock price has plunged, closing at $236.26 on Thursday compared to an all-time high of $488.54 in December. The rise had been fueled by Musk going all-in on Trump—and the fall, far more precipitous than the general stock market sell-off appears to be due to Musk’s leadership of DOGE.

At the all-hands, Musk took part in a slideshow to highlight, among other points, Tesla’s safety record in work-related injuries.

“The Tesla team is an incredible team, great human beings,” Musk spluttered. “Anyway, some of the finest people in the world work at Tesla, designing and manufacturing our incredible products.”

The 53-year-old then offered a more sober insight into the situation at hand.

“Frankly, the car business is a tough business, so... there are times when there are rocky moments, like things are, like a little bit of stormy weather,” Musk said. “But what I’m here to tell you is the future is incredibly bright and exciting.”

“We’re going to do things that no one I think has even dreamed of... Until we actually do it, people won’t believe how actually how incredible it is.”

The “stormy weather” may have been a reference to the 40 percent stock plunge the company has seen since Musk began his work on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), or to the protests that have erupted at Tesla service centers across the U.S. Trump himself warned the public about vandalizing the cars on Thursday night. “People that get caught sabotaging Teslas will stand a very good chance of going to jail for up to twenty years, and that includes the funders,” he raged on Truth Social. “WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!”

The president also took part in a sales pitch for Tesla at the White House last week, in an attempt to boost flagging sales and ward off a customer revolt.

Other powerful Trump allies to have hawked Musk’s EVs have been Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“If you read the news, it feels like, you know, Armageddon,” Musk told his employees. “I can’t walk past a TV without seeing a Tesla on fire, you’re like, ‘What’s going on?‘

“It’s like, listen I understand you don’t want to buy our product but you don’t have to burn it down, that’s a bit unreasonable, you know” Musk said, then laughing. “This is psycho. Stop being psycho.”

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Trump’s largest campaign donor has been criticized for potential conflicts of interest with his work alongside Trump after being tapped to lead DOGE, a so-called department that has slashed federal agencies and uprooted norms. Musk, however, has retained control of Tesla and SpaceX, despite billion-dollar contracts with the government.

“Stretched pretty thin,” Musk said on Thursday night, joking, “I’ve like, 17 jobs.” He added: “At this point I just go to sleep, work, go to sleep, work, and then do that 7 days a week, pretty much. People say, ‘When are you going on vacation?’ I say, ‘What’s that?‘

“I guess I like being productive, I like getting things done, I guess I could choose to be like on an island somewhere sipping a mai tai, you know, with attractive people in bikinis and stuff.”

The surprise timing and last-minute nature of the all-hands suggested Musk understands the need to shore up the Tesla brand with both employees and the wider public. The meeting came just hours after Tesla said it was recalling the Cybertruck pickup due to a defect in a part that could cause a panel to detach and fly into traffic.

Musk on Tuesday told Fox’s Hannity that he was “shocked” at the attacks on his brand. “It’s really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of real hatred and violence from the left,” Musk said.

The FBI has confirmed it is investigating attacks targeting Tesla cars and dealerships, with FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino posting on X: “Our teams are actively working on the Tesla incidents and the swatting incidents, along with our other responsibilities to keep the Homeland safe.”

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On Thursday, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced charges against three individuals she claims are responsible for the “violent destruction” of Tesla properties.

“All three defendants will face the full force of the law for using Molotov cocktails to set fire to Tesla cars and charging stations,” a statement read.

“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” added Bondi. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”