My Age of Investment

After communicating and adjusting the relationship between all parties, Eberhard's resignation did not cause much disturbance.

The Tesla well digger entered retirement ahead of schedule with a "retirement fund" of more than 10 million U.S. dollars from the company.

Tarpenning also left with him.

The two have always been Jiao Buli Meng, Meng Buli Jiao, and have a very deep comrade-in-arms friendship.

Tarpenning's resignation was also expected by Xia Jingxing, there was nothing to regret, the old ones did not go, and the new ones did not come.

By diluting Tesla's founder's color and eliminating potential internal hidden dangers, he can also free up his hands to fully promote Tesla's development.

When Tarpenning left, the company bought back half of his shares.

Including the repurchase of Eberhard, Tesla repurchased a total of 10.16% of the shares of the two founders at a cost of US$25.4 million.

Tesla has no surplus funds in its account at all. After repurchasing the shares of the two founders, the funds in its hands began to be stretched.

However, Xia Jingxing and the rest of the shareholders had already reached an agreement, and completed the E round of financing, with an amount of 50 million US dollars and a post-investment valuation of 300 million US dollars.

Among them, Vision Capital invested 40 million US dollars, and DFJ invested 10 million US dollars.

At the same time, the 10.16% equity repurchased has become 8.47% after being diluted by the E-round financing. All these equity will be injected into the option pool to motivate new management and key employees.

After these changes, Tesla's shareholding structure has completely changed.

Vision Capital holds a total of 45.02% of the shares through its multiple funds, ranking the largest shareholder;

Xia Jingxing personally holds 17.78% of the shares, ranking the second largest shareholder;

Value Equity Capital holds 7.21% of the shares, ranking the third largest shareholder;

Eberhard and Tarpenning hold 5.82% and 2.65% of the shares respectively, ranking fourth and sixth largest shareholders;

Because DFJ invested US$10 million in Tesla in the E round of financing, its shareholding increased to 4.03%, becoming the fifth largest shareholder;

Other shareholders who did not participate in the co-investment, such as Waterfall Investments, Bezos Ventures, SDL, and Compass, diluted their shares proportionally, ranging from 0.7% to 1.69%;

8.47% of new shares were injected into the option pool,

The proportion of the total share capital expanded to 12.7%.

Through all the funds, Xia Jingxing holds a total of 62.8% of Tesla's shares. In fact, the shareholding has not increased much, an increase of about three points from the original.

Eberhard and Tarpenning sold half of their holdings, and the remaining half of their holdings were diluted by the E-round financing. The combined holdings of the two are less than 10%, and they will face further dilution in the future , has no effect on the overall situation.

The change trajectory of the two people's shareholdings can be regarded as a vivid explanation of how the founder of the company lost control of the company under the step-by-step coercion and temptation of capital.

Unintentionally feeling too much, Tesla quickly convened a new round of board of directors and re-elected the management.

"Straubel led the team to develop the battery management system, single-speed gearbox, and induction motor electric drive system. He has made outstanding contributions. He is hereby promoted to the company's CEO, in charge of all Tesla's daily work, and reports directly to the board of directors..."

"Gene Bodichevsky led the team to design the 3D model of the Roadster's power system, assisted in the development of the battery management system, was promoted to the company's CTO, and was responsible for leading the company's technology research and development..."

"David Lines, led the team to create the first prototype of the Roadster, was promoted to vice president of the company, and managed the vehicle engineering department..."

...

In the conference room, under the witness of all directors, Tesla issued several new personnel orders.

The departure of the two founders made room for Tesla's young men.

Especially the company's early core R\u0026D trio, everyone was promoted from one level to several levels, which can be regarded as a rocket speed promotion.

"Papa Papa~"

After the personnel order was read out, there was warm applause in the conference room, and the directors immediately sent blessings to the new management team.

In this round of promotion, the three Straubel who benefited the most were a little nervous and excited at the same time.

To be honest, it has only been about three years since the three of them joined Tesla, but they reached the sky in one step and became senior management.

This is something I never dreamed of before!

Thanks to the two founders!

Thanks to the board!

Thanks to Chairman Darren Xia.

The three of them all glanced at Xia Jingxing, with gratitude in their eyes.

The other two have already learned the truth from Straubel, and it was because of the recommendation of the chairman, Darren Xia, that the three young people got this precious promotion opportunity.

In addition, Xia Jingxing and Vision Capital are the largest individual and institutional shareholders of the company respectively. The change of CEO also allowed the three of them to see the energy and courage of the chairman.

Therefore, they respected and feared Xia Jingxing.

The three of them got up together and gave promotion speeches for a few minutes.

In a pleasant atmosphere, this board meeting ended.

After the meeting, the three of them came to the chairman's office together.

"Sit down!"

Seeing the three people with restrained expressions and movements, Xia Jingxing smiled kindly, and beckoned the three to sit down on the reception sofa.

"Daren, I don't even know how to express my feelings in words...

Thank you for your trust in me, I will definitely do well. "Jean Bodichevski waved his fist excitedly and said firmly.

Xia Jingxing smiled and nodded slightly towards Bodichevsky. The newly appointed CTO was very young, only in his twenties, and he was also the one who received the most doubts among the three new managers.

It was he who stood up to all the arguments, and this guy had a chance to become the chief technology officer.

Bodichevsky had a good personal relationship with him, and they asked Principal John to drop out of school together.

This guy is very talented in technology. When he was studying at Stanford, he was a core research and development member of the solar team. He was very passionate about technology. At that time, he wanted to drop out of school and join Tesla, even if it was to sweep the floor for Tesla for free.

After he joined Tesla, this guy acted as if he was on the hook, and quickly became one of the core trio of research and development, conquering everyone with his strong technical strength and love for technology.

As an alumnus who dropped out of school together, Bodichevsky was naturally closer to Xia Jingxing, and now that he was promoted, he obeyed and admired Xia Jingxing from the bottom of his heart.

Eberhard and Tarpenning, except for their work in the early days, have been engaged in management work later on. Their understanding of Tesla and even their control of electric vehicle technology may not be as good as the three in front of them.

Xia Jingxing's selection of these three people as the management team was not entirely out of personal friendship. The three of them are actually capable young people, but they are not good enough in terms of experience, but they can be cultivated slowly.

"Daren, after I take office, I will strictly control the cost of each link of automobile manufacturing, and strive to help the company make profits as soon as possible."

David Lines is the oldest of the three, he is already in his thirties, and he speaks more maturely and prudently. He is very clear that the biggest and most urgent problem for the company is cost control.

Xia Jingxing nodded slowly, his complexion gradually turned solemn, "Yes, the cost issue is the first issue we have to solve, and the board of directors is very dissatisfied with it.

In fact, if Tesla wants to gain more room for development, our cars should not be reduced to toys bought by the rich, but should be reliable vehicles that can travel hundreds of thousands of kilometers on the road.

At present, the board of directors has made a decision that the price of the Roadster will be increased by US$10,000, and it will be delivered at US$110,000. "

"ah?"

Straubel looked surprised, "Then the customer still has to quarrel?"

"You are the CEO, this is the first problem you have to solve after you take office."

Xia Jingxing looked at Straubel and said seriously: "Your performance will determine the board's evaluation of you."

Ten thousand alpacas galloped past Straubel's heart. He thought that God had finally blessed him, but he didn't expect that he would have to take the blame as soon as he took office.

However, he quickly adjusted his mentality, the more difficult things were, the more he could show his abilities.

If this matter can be properly resolved, then his position as CEO will be secured.

Although he is Xia Jingxing's direct descendant, there are still so many shareholders and colleagues watching over him. An incompetent person is not qualified to be the CEO of Tesla.

Moreover, he understands that if he wants to gain more support from Xia Jingxing, he has to show his own value. Just being a direct descendant will not be able to win the trust and reuse of the big boss for a long time.

"I understand. I will start to deal with this matter immediately and guarantee a satisfactory result for all parties." Straubel replied with a smile and confidence.

Xia Jingxing nodded secretly. He was quite satisfied with Straubel's EQ, but he was afraid that if he would bargain with him ignorantly, or be proud of his favor, then he would have to change.

"I convinced the board of directors to inject all the shares repurchased from Eberhard and Tarpenning into the option pool. After the three of you take office, you will receive a new round of option incentives."

Xia Jingxing knew that if he wanted the horse to run, he had to graze the horse. He did not choose to keep the repurchased shares for himself, but used them to motivate talents.

As a major shareholder, he paid the most to expand the option pool.

The three nodded. They all knew about this. The option incentives for the senior management will be several times or ten times that of when they were middle managers.

Everyone in Silicon Valley understands what this means, and this is the key to wealth and freedom.

Now that the key has been handed over to them, it's up to each individual to live up to their expectations.

To be honest, they felt that Xia Jingxing's generosity this time was very heroic.

The original 10% option pool has been diluted to only a few percent after several rounds of financing, and now it has been directly expanded by two times.

In addition, Xia Jingxing and Vision Capital have invested more than 100 million U.S. dollars in Tesla. They are Tesla's largest financial backers and have completely resolved Tesla's financial crisis.

After some conversation, Bodichevski and Davis left, while Straubel stayed.

"After Dylan, Eberhard and Tarpenning left, some old employees privately clamored to leave, saying that Tesla had changed."

Xia Jingxing nodded. This was within his expectations. The two founders have been in charge of Tesla for more than three years, and it is normal to have followers.

"I think we need to calm people down, such as announcing the E-round financing and adjusting the salary of employees." Straubel suggested.

"No problem, you can do it according to your own ideas."

Xia Jingxing looked at Straubel with a smile, "Don't be afraid, with me as your strongest backing, you can show your strength in front of the stage."

Straubel nodded, and from the moment Xia Jingxing gave him the credit for inventing the battery management system, he was on Xia Jingxing's boat.

Over the years, he has maintained a one-line contact with Xia Jingxing, reporting some of Tesla's situation to the big boss.

He suddenly recalled that a few years ago, Xia Jingxing had encouraged him to work hard, and it would not be impossible for him to be in the most prestigious position before taking the stage...

Thinking about it carefully, the big boss in front of me may have been laying out a few years ago, and it is by no means an accident to hand over the battery management system to myself.

As a person with vested interests, he will not point out these things, let alone tell anyone that a small person must have the consciousness of being dominated by a big person. If he does not have the right thigh, he will not be the CEO today.

At the same time, he was a little lucky that he didn't accept Musk's poaching at the beginning.

Poor Nikola, the real prototype car was only launched some time ago. The previous product launches and auto shows have been doing some vain things.