A Glass House for Elon Musk Sparks Internal Tesla Probe

Internally, the key venture was described as a home for Chief Executive Elon Musk.

One idea confirmed a construction within the form of a twisted hexagon on waterfront land with Tesla’s manufacturing facility within the background, in line with a doc reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Other renderings depicted an expansive glass field, paying homage to Apple’s retailer on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, with a residential space that appeared to incorporate bedrooms, bogs and a kitchen, stated folks conversant in the matter.

Plans for the venture, which Tesla workers have been discreetly engaged on final yr, modified over time, stated folks conversant in the matter.

Some photographs additionally confirmed a waterfall function as a part of the landscaping across the constructing and a futuristic-looking pickup truck, resembling Tesla’s forthcoming Cybertruck, approaching from a distance, one of many folks stated. At one level, there was hypothesis amongst workers that the venture might embrace a museum.

Along the best way, the venture drew scrutiny from Tesla attorneys and board members, in line with folks with information of the state of affairs. An order for tens of millions of {dollars} in specialised glass—the kind of large-format panels used on constructing facades—sparked concern amongst some workers about what the supplies could be used for, a number of the folks stated.

After that order, Tesla board members investigated whether or not firm assets had been misused and if Musk, himself, had a task, some folks with information of the state of affairs stated.

Among the questions requested as a part of Tesla’s inside inquiry was how a lot worker time had been spent on the venture, one particular person stated.

The consequence of Tesla’s investigation and the standing of the venture couldn’t be discovered.

Last yr, Bloomberg reported that Tesla had been investigating the glass order internally and whether or not the supplies have been being secured for Musk’s private use. The involvement of board members and particulars about Project 42 weren’t beforehand reported.

Tesla, Musk and Robyn Denholm, who’s chair of Tesla’s board, didn’t reply to requests for remark. Other board members contacted for this text additionally didn’t reply to requests for remark. A spokeswoman for director James Murdoch declined to remark.

The firm had thought-about canceling the glass order at difficulty within the investigation or utilizing the supplies for one more objective, folks conversant in the matter stated. It couldn’t be discovered whether or not the glass was delivered to Tesla.

Tesla’s Austin-area manufacturing facility, which the corporate calls Giga Texas, is a key piece of Musk’s increasing enterprise empire within the Lone Star State. Musk and workers of his corporations have described a imaginative and prescient for a “utopia” alongside the Colorado River, with plans to include a city in Bastrop County, about 35 miles from Austin, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this yr.

As Tesla workers labored on Project 42, the electric-car maker was attempting to get its new meeting plant in Texas up and operating, a capital-intensive endeavor that’s crucial to its development ambitions. Tesla builds the Model Y crossover on the manufacturing facility, which formally opened in 2022.

Musk’s associates had additionally been trying to find a property within the Austin space for the billionaire entrepreneur, the Journal has reported.

The 52-year-old govt has for a lot of his profession maintained a quite nomadic way of life, taking part in down the necessity to personal a home or many private possessions.

Musk, who additionally owns social-media agency Twitter and runs rocket firm SpaceX, is commonly touring, bouncing backwards and forwards between his corporations’ varied areas in Texas and California.

A self-described couch-surfer, he has talked about sleeping at Tesla’s California automobile manufacturing facility throughout intense work durations. Since taking management of Twitter in late October, Musk has stated he has slept on the social-media firm’s headquarters in San Francisco.

Musk publicly vowed in 2020 to “personal no home” and proceeded to promote seven homes in California.

In 2021, Musk stated he had relocated his “main” residence to a roughly $50,000 South Texas cottage that he rented from SpaceX, the place he’s additionally CEO. He additionally had engaged a collection of real-estate brokers to indicate him Austin-area mansions and personally toured some houses, the Journal has reported.

His private monetary advisers advised brokers there have been sure necessities, together with the will for a big expanse of land that wasn’t accessible in properties available on the market on the time.

Musk has disputed the notion that he was trying to purchase a home however acknowledged that it might be time to discover a extra common place to remain. “I ought to in all probability reside someplace,” he tweeted in December 2021.

Meanwhile, restricted legal responsibility corporations tied to Musk’s companies or executives have been shopping for up land within the Austin space, in line with land and deed information. For occasion, an LLC managed by Jared Birchall, considered one of Musk’s high advisers, bought greater than 500 acres throughout the Colorado River from Tesla’s Austin-area manufacturing facility in 2021, information present.

Company insurance policies on what constitutes private or skilled spending by C-suite executives differ relying on the agency, and there could be broad leeway, company governance specialists say. Compensation packages can embrace entry to a company jet, help from a monetary adviser or a country-club membership.

It is rarer for boards to log off on utilizing company funds for private houses, company governance specialists say, although it might occur associated to parts of houses used for work functions, corresponding to assembly rooms for executives or board gatherings.

Tesla has stated in securities filings that the board’s audit committee should evaluate and approve transactions above $120,000 by which a associated particular person, corresponding to an govt officer, has a fabric curiosity.