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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Spacelink (STRLK) CEO Elon Musk made an appearance on Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum.
The biggest revelation from his talk was that he is committed to staying on at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in five years, which is a more definitive timeline than he has given recently amid worries about his time commitment to the Trump Administration.
Elon Musk noted that he takes the blowback against Tesla (TSLA) personally, but does not regret his political engagement. “I did what needed to be done,” he stated. The response came after widespread backlash against Musk due to his interventionist statements, which are seen as impacting demand. While Musk maintained the brand has added sales from the right side of the political spectrum, recent deliveries reports have shown dramatic declines in North America and Europe.
Interestingly, Musk did say that he will pull back on political spending after a few high-profile election defeats. Analysts have been somewhat mixed about the lasting damage to the Tesla (TSLA) brand from Musk attacking some of his potential customers.
During the Qatar event, Musk also said that it is possible Starlink (STLK) will go public in the future, although he is no rush. He also said he intends to push ahead with his lawsuit against OpenAI, even after the company partly walked back its plan to restructure as a for-profit business.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were up 0.7% in early trading on Tuesday to $344.57. Over the last two weeks, the EV stock has held on to its +$1 trillion market cap.