• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win

Tesla’s Musk vs. GM’s Barra: Two auto CEOs, two very different conference calls

By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 12, 2015, 2:47 PM ET
Video Poster
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Whether he’s fighting with journalists on Twitter (TWTR), making announcements with double-entendres, or talking about robots killing us all, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk is known for saying a lot of bold things.

He didn’t disappoint during Tesla’s (TSLA) quarterly conference call late Wednesday, telling listeners that Tesla’s market cap will match that of Apple (AAPL) in 10 years, and that his company will spend “staggering” amounts of money on CapEx.

Quarterly earnings calls are usually dull, non-events. They’re especially uninteresting for automotive companies. To show how lively Tesla’s call was last night, here’s a comparison of what Musk said on his call with what General Motors (GM) CEO Mary Barra told investors in her company’s earnings conference call last week. It’s a battle for the ages: the disrupter vs. the giant. It’s Silicon Valley vs. Detroit.

On problems in China

Musk actually was pretty critical of his staff here, something you don’t usually see.

Unfortunately, this sounds brain-dead, but our sales team was telling people that it was difficult to charge in China, even though this is not true. That is pretty silly.

I put the guy who was in charge of the Supercharger roll out in China, who was doing an awesome job, an engineer, basically, he’s no sales person, in charge of China to make sure that charging is super easy and excellent.

Barra, meanwhile, said this:

In China, we had another solid quarter, contributing to record full year equity income as our sales continued to outpace the market.

So while Musk throws his staff under the bus, Barra quietly toots her company’s horn. We’re off to a good start.

On accounting practices

Musk used this subject to take a shot at some of his critics, defending Tesla’s use of non-standard accounting practices.

So we will probably keep even though it makes our financials look worse than they really are. It’s important because we do get some criticism about GAAP versus non-GAAP, as though when we do non-GAAP, we’re actually trying to people into thinking something is better than it is. But actually that’s not true. The way the accounting rules currently work don’t give a correct picture and we’re trying to give a more correct picture of non-GAAP, not a less correct picture.

Barra didn’t even get into this topic. GM’s CFO Chuck Stevens mentioned the automaker’s non-GAAP results, but didn’t get into any sort of detail about why these were superior.

On CapEx

This is one of the comments from Musk that’s getting the most ink, because he seemed a little bit crazy:

We are going to spend staggering amounts of money on CapEx, for good reasons and with a great ROI.

Barra was much more staid (are you catching on to a theme here?)

We believe there is opportunity in segments we’re not in around the globe that we’ll generate the right return and can enhance our brands and enhance our market position. So looking at those three buckets and again it’s an area, I ran in the company at one point in my career, there is an intense focus on that and we’ll seize every opportunity.

On upcoming new models

Again, Musk got all “contentious” — his word, not ours.

With respect to Model III, we definitely — we don’t want the delays that affected the X to affect the Model III. We are really — we are being quite contentious about this. There are things that we could do with the Model III platform that are really adventurous, but with schedule at risk. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to have something that is going to be an amazing car but it won’t be the most adventurous version of the Model III to begin with, but we will have then have the more different version of the Model III on the Model III platform following the initial version, so that we can stay on track for Model III.

Barra? She said GM has an “aggressive launch cadence of new cars and crossovers in 2016.”

On where the company will be in 10 years

Here’s where Musk predicted that Tesla could be as big as Apple in 10 years.

If you take this year’s revenue, around $6 billion or thereabouts, and if we are able to maintain a 30% growth rate for 10 years, add to your 10% profitability number, and have a 20 P/E, our market cap would basically be the same as Apple’s is today. That’s going to require a bit of — on the order of $700 billion — obviously, getting there will require some significant CapEx, but I am hopeful that we can do this without any significant dilution to the Company, maybe minor dilution but nothing serious.

As for Mary Barra, we couldn’t find a quote to match up with this one. It’s just never going to happen.

(You can listen to the full Tesla conference call here.)

About the Author
By Ben Geier
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

Trump’s 927-page disclosure is just a normal Tuesday for direct indexing and crypto wealth managers
InvestingDonald Trump
Trump’s 927-page disclosure is just a normal Tuesday for direct indexing and crypto wealth managers
By Catherina GioinoJuly 1, 2026
6 hours ago
US President Donald Trump sits in silence with his hands folded on top of each other.
CryptoDonald Trump
Inside Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto empire: Altcoins, Bitcoin—and a stake in Michael Saylor’s Strategy
By Camila Grigera NaónJuly 1, 2026
7 hours ago
The 6 Best Exercise Bikes of 2026: Fitness Expert Reviewed
HealthDietary Supplements
The 6 Best Exercise Bikes of 2026: Fitness Expert Reviewed
By Christina SnyderJuly 1, 2026
7 hours ago
Mark Zandi, Moody's chief economist.
EconomyU.S. economy
‘It’s fair to ask whether it was worth it’: The Iran war has cost Americans $1,000 per household—and that’s a conservative estimate, Mark Zandi says
By Tristan BoveJuly 1, 2026
10 hours ago
Melania Trump NFT earnings surge 28x in 2025 as the First Lady rakes in nearly $17 million in total earnings, filing shows
PoliticsDonald Trump
Melania Trump NFT earnings surge 28x in 2025 as the First Lady rakes in nearly $17 million in total earnings, filing shows
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 1, 2026
10 hours ago
Donald Trump sits at his desk in the Oval Office, smiling and with his hands folded in front of him.
PoliticsDonald Trump
Trump got a $78K pension from the Screen Actors Guild in 2025 because he appeared in Home Alone 2 in 1992
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 1, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
21 hours ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
19 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
16 hours ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.