Elon Musk bashes journalists, but Tesla admits most of its sales have come from the media (TSLA)

May 25, 2018 at 11:54 AM EDT

Rebecca Cook / Reuters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone on multiple Twitter rants this week criticizing the media and its coverage of his company. He even said he would start a website that would rate the credibility of journalists and their editors.
But in the 2017 annual report Tesla filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla credited the media as a significant catalyst for sales.
Tesla has expressed the same idea in each of its annual SEC filings dating back to its 2010 initial public offering.

Since Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized the media and its coverage of his company. He even said he would start a website that would rate the credibility of journalists and their editors.

But in the 2017 annual report Tesla filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla credited the media as a significant catalyst for sales.

"Historically, we have been able to generate significant media coverage of our company and our vehicles, and we believe we will continue to do so," the company wrote. "To date, for vehicle sales, media coverage and word of mouth have been the primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs."

Tesla has included those sentences or a variation on them in each of its annual SEC filings dating back to its 2010 initial public offering.

On Wednesday, Musk wrote a series of Twitter posts in which he described the media as being hypocritical, impulsive, sensitive, unreliable, and ethically compromised. Musk wrote that he would create a website, named Pravda, which would rate the credibility of journalists and their editors.

A tweet from journalist Mark Harris linked to a filing that certified Pravda Corp. as a foreign corporation in October. There has been speculation that the filing is related to a satirical publication Musk has previously proposed, and that Musk's idea for a media rating website is a joke.

On Friday, Musk said he has not liked the media even when it has highlighted his accomplishments and said Twitter allows him to communicate with the public outside of traditional media channels.

"I’ve been through many press cycles & know full well same person praising me today will trash me tomorrow," Musk wrote. "Journos hound me constantly for interviews, but I do almost none these days. [heart emoji] Twitter as it allows me to bypass journo bs."

Tesla has faced a number of challenges in recent months, including missed production goals, questions about the company's financial health, and concerns about working conditions at the Fremont, California, factory where the company makes its cars.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/999848310344044544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Definitely did not. I’ve been through many press cycles & know full well same person praising me today will trash me tomorrow. Journos hound me constantly for interviews, but I do almost none these days. ♥️ Twitter as it allows me to bypass journo bs.

Musk has been outspoken about the criticism Tesla has received, and the media's reporting on it. During the company's first-quarter earnings call in early May, Musk expressed frustration about the media attention that Autopilot — Tesla's semiautonomous driver-assistance feature — has received after fatal accidents involving the system.

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