--- title: "Tesla Executives Grilled Elon Musk When His Story Wasn’t Adding Up" description: "After getting caught tweeting out a lie, Elon Musk was interrogated by Tesla executives worried about government blowback. " date: "2025-06-02" modified: "2025-06-02" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/tesla-executives-grilled-elon" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" --- # Tesla Executives Grilled Elon Musk When His Story Wasn’t Adding Up ![After getting caught tweeting out a lie, Elon Musk was interrogated by Tesla executives worried about government blowback. ]() *\Image: Kevin Dietsch / Getty / Futurism\* After getting caught tweeting out a lie, Elon Musk was interrogated by Tesla executives worried about government blowback. Last year, after [*Reuters* reported]() that Tesla was killing its $25,000 model to focus on the Robotaxi, Musk tweeted that the British news wire was "[lying]()" — but according to new reporting from the same outlet, he was the one telling fibs. As [*Reuters* reports,]() Tesla higher-ups were perplexed that Musk had denied the cancellation of the cheaper model, because he had told people within the company that he was, in fact, kiboshing the project. Trying to get to the bottom of the morass, those same execs questioned the CEO and asked whether he'd reversed course without consulting them. In response, according to *Reuters*' unnamed insider sources, Musk said that the cancellation was still in place — something he seemed to admit months later when he joked in an earnings call that a $25,000 Tesla would be "[pointless]()." That fib could have gotten the company in trouble yet again with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has a [long history of nailing Musk]() for his tweets. Back in 2018, the billionaire's itchy posting fingers landed Tesla in boiling-hot water with the SEC after he tweeted that [he was considering]() taking the electric vehicle company private at $420 per share. Despite Musk ultimately [paying out $40 million]() for the stunt, the dumb debacle has continued to be a thorn in Tesla's side as the mercurial CEO kept blasting the agency for [daring to punish him](). As *Reuters* notes, Musk's agreement with the SEC requires that he have business-related Tesla tweets be [vetted by a lawyer](), though he has claimed to associates, per the news wire's sources, that he never consults with attorneys before posting. It remains unclear whether the SEC has approached Tesla, if execs explicitly relayed their fears about the SEC to Musk, or how he took the questioning. As usual with Muskworld, the whole situation is so hazy and awkward that it hurts to even consider the interpersonal dynamics. One thing's for sure: the way Elon tweets, it's like he's trying to set the planetwide record for personal damage inflicted by a post. **More on cheapo Teslas:** [*Drone Footage Shows What Appears to Be a Cheap Tesla Prototype Zooming Around a Test Track*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()