Tesla’s latest speed bump

Electric-vehicle maker Tesla is axing 7% of its staff to cut costs and make its cars more affordable – a belated dose of realism. Matthew Partridge reports.

931_MW_P07_Shares

Elon Musk: forced to focus on mundane matters

The man who promised he'd "help save Earth for humanity" and "colonise Mars" is now being forced to focus on some more "mundane goals", says Russ Mitchell in the Los Angeles Times. In a note to employees last week Musk announced that although last year "was the most successful... in Tesla's history", he was going to fire 2,500 workers (around 7% of the company's full-time workforce) in order to cut costs.

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CompanySectorShort interest on 23 Jan (%)Short interest on 28 Dec (%)
Plus500Financial Services13.1210.42
Arrow Global GroupFinancial Services12.4512.1
Ultra ElectronicsDefence12.1810.82
Marks & SpencerGeneral Retailers11.3711.6
DebenhamsGeneral Retailers10.6310.26
Wood GroupOil Services9.42NEW ENTRY
AASupport Services9.277.97
Pets at HomePet Retailers8.769.33
IQESemiconductors8.358.42
Babcock InternationalEngineering7.85NEW ENTRY
Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri