Elon Musk reportedly took to social media to mock the Financial Times (FT) after the publication retracted its claim of a $1.4 billion accounting discrepancy in Tesla’s financial reports.
Musk posted on X, “Turns out @FT can’t do finance,” following the FT’s admission that the alleged gap likely had a benign explanation.
The controversy stemmed from an FT article that highlighted a significant inconsistency between Tesla’s reported capital investments of $6.3 billion in the latter half of 2024 and a $4.9 billion increase in gross assets during the same period.
The publication suggested this discrepancy implied a substantial misallocation of funds.
However, in a subsequent piece labeled a “mea culpa,” the Financial Times conceded their earlier analysis might have been overly simplistic, focusing too closely on the complexities of cash flow accounting.
They explained that expert opinions pointed out that aligning cash flow and accrual accounting can be complicated, especially since Tesla’s cash flow statement uses the indirect method.
The original supposed gap was ultimately narrowed down to around $463 million once factors like credit purchases and asset depreciation were taken into account.
The FT also indicated that remaining differences might be attributed to currency fluctuations or minor write-offs, stating, “At a certain point, it’s necessary to trust the auditor’s judgment.”
This acknowledgment was a significant shift that Musk leveraged to undermine the publication’s credibility.
While concerns about Tesla’s cash strategies and debt levels continue, this retraction served as a public relations victory for Musk, who frequently uses clashes with traditional media to bolster his image.
The FT updated its article with an editor’s note directing readers to the clarifications.
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