◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek November 18, 201925ILLUSTRATION
BY
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THEBOTTOMLINE A Teslashareholdersuithasrevealedthat
the deal for SolarCity raised serious questions among Tesla’s key
stewards—except for Musk, who fought hard to override them.HuaweiSaysItMakes
CitiesSafer.NotSoFast
● A report suggests the company’s surveillance networks
aren’t as effective, or widespread, as it claimsGigafactoryinBuffalo,SanjayShah,thecompany’s
head of energy, said he had “high confidence” his
team was on track to ramp up production in 2019,
promising that if any unforeseen delays again arise,
“we will be more transparent than ever before to
make sure you guys hear from us why.” Musk said
in his June deposition that Shah was mostly focused
on Model 3 development during his tenure at Tesla.
Shah is now chief operating officer at Beyond Meat,
the plant-based food startup, and New York state
officials wrote down the value of the Buffalo fac-
tory, built with more than $750 million in govern-
ment subsidies. (Shah didn’t respond to a request
forcomment,andTesladidn’trespondtorequests
forcommentontheSolarRoofortheBuffalowrite-
down. Musk announced a new version of the roof
the day depositions were unsealed last month.)
The contrast between the acquisition’s internal
reality and external perceptions will likely give fod-
der to the shareholder lawsuit, started by pension
funds alleging that the board breached its fiduciary
duties by going along with Musk’s SolarCity plan and
grossly overpaying for it, to boot. Tesla is also deal-
ing with controversy stemming from legacy SolarCity
solar panel installations. In August, Walmart Inc.
sued Tesla over solar-related fires at its stores and
warehouses, accusing it of “widespread negligence.”
(The companies settled out of court and issued a
joint statement saying they were pleased the matter
had been resolved.) Tesla has also initiated an inter-
nal program, called Project Titan, to inspect homes
adorned with traditional solar panels that are paired
with a potentially faulty connector, creating a risk of
blazes. At least two homeowners in Maryland and
Massachusetts have experienced rooftop fires from
Tesla’s flawed systems.
The shareholder lawsuit is set for trial before
Delaware Court of Chancery Vice Chancellor Joseph
Slights III in March 2020, according to Tesla’s securi-
ties filings. So far, though, Musk has mostly adopted
a defiant (if not irritated) tone at his two depositions.
In a back-and-forth with the plaintiffs’ lawyer, whom
Musk called “dude,” he said now that Tesla has a bet-
ter grip on its vehicle business, “we’re turning our
attention to solar, and we’re going to fix it.” When
pressed for details on the challenges with the acquisi-
tion, Musk called the lawyer “shameful” and a “very,
very bad person” for scrutinizing a company that’s
trying to change the world for the better.
Musk sounded eager to make this case at trial.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “It will be great. You’re going
to lose.” �Dana Hull and Austin CarrIslamabad’s Emergency Command Center, located
in a blast-resistant building on a highway outside
Pakistan’s capital, has a video wall with 72 screens
for 1,950 surveillance cameras. Completed in 2016
at a cost of about $100 million, it’s the nexus for one
of Huawei Technologies Co.’s global network of Safe
City projects.
Yet murders, kidnappings, and burglaries in
Islamabad all rose in 2018 from the previous year,
and total crime was up 33%, according to data from
Pakistan’s National Police Bureau. That may have
something to do with half the cameras being out of
order, according to a legislative committee. But the
samepatternofrisingcrimeholdstrueintherestof
thecountry,whereeightcitieshavecontractedwith
theChinesecompanyforsimilardigital-policing tech-
nology. Crime is up 11% nationwide since 2015, when
the first projects were announced. Islamabad police
didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A report on the Safe City initiative published
earlier this month by the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, a Washington, D.C., research
organization, found a big gap between what Huawei
says in its marketing and promotional materials
and the reality on the ground. While Huawei’s web-
site says the technology is deployed in 230 cities in
90 countries, CSIS was able to verify only 73 locales
in 52 countries. The company’s statements about