As Tesla’s market capitalization evaporates by $800 billion, Elon Musk sends message to employees: ‘Hold on to your stocks’

Elon Musk tried to reassure employees at a recent all-hands meeting.

Amid the criticism, Elon Musk tried to reassure employees at a recent all-hands meeting that they are all still well-off.

“Hold on to your stock. It’s hard for most people to imagine a future where a fleet of 10 million vehicles is suddenly 5-10 times more useful,” he said.

Tesla’s new vehicle sales have fallen in recent months in Europe and parts of the U.S. and China. The company is also facing trade uncertainty after several executive orders from President Trump imposed new tariffs on goods and materials from Canada, Mexico and China. National auto shopping site Edmunds said this week that Tesla owners are trading in record electric vehicle sales.

“If you read the news, it feels like, you know, the end of the world,” Musk said during a livestream Thursday. “Like, I can’t walk past a TV without seeing a Tesla on fire. What’s going on? Hey, guys, if you don’t want to buy our product, you don’t have to burn it. That’s a little ridiculous. These are psychopaths, stop being crazy!”

Also during the meeting, Elon Musk talked about Tesla’s future. Much of the time was spent hyping Tesla’s technology or the prospects for it.

“What’s the most exciting future you can imagine?” he asked rhetorically, before replying that the robotaxis, artificial intelligence, and robots currently being developed by Tesla will lead to a future “where you can literally have anything you want.”

Musk thanked Tesla employees for the refreshed Model Y, saying that the company’s supply chain across three continents had demonstrated the challenge of bringing the car to market.

Musk also boasted about the upcoming Cybercab, a two-seater with no steering wheel or brakes, and that EVs would be upgraded to be compatible with a software update. This is a promise he has been making for years.

During Tesla’s most recent earnings call, Musk said that the driverless ride-hailing service would come to Austin, Texas, in June, using existing Tesla vehicles and a version of FSD, or “Full Self-Driving,” software. The Cybercab would be manufactured in Austin, like the Optimus humanoid robot. Tesla aims to produce about 5,000 of them this year.

Meanwhile, the robotaxi and humanoid robot market is booming. Alphabet’s Waymo is expanding its driverless ride-hailing service to multiple markets, recently launching in Austin. Chinese electric vehicle makers, including Zeekr, are also making plans.

Meanwhile, several humanoid robot developers, including Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, and Unitree, are working to bring their models to market. Boston Dynamics, in partnership with the RAI Institute, released a new video showing its electric Atlas humanoid robot walking, crawling, and doing gymnastics.

Musk, however, remains confident that Tesla’s Optimus is “the most sophisticated humanoid robot on Earth,” even though it’s still learning how to walk and catch a ball. For most of the demonstrations, humans will still have to tweak Optimus.

“We’ll give Optimus to Tesla employees first,” Musk said. “There are some pros and cons to that — there may be some bugs, but it’s going to be great.”