Is Elon Musk going bankrupt? Tesla's two factories have been bleeding money.
Elon Musk, Tesla Inc's chief executive and world's richest man, has said that the company is losing billions of dollars in keeping its new Texas and Berlin factories afloat due to the supply-chain disruptions emerging out of China. He said the production at the two companies have been severely hit due to a shortage of batteries and China port issues.
Elon Musk revealed the financial hardships in an interview with a Tesla owners club. The interview was recorded on May 31 in Texas but was released on Wednesday.
Musk said the two factories - situated in Berlin and Austin - have been acting as what he called "gigantic money furnaces". He figuratively said he hears the "sound of money on fire".
Musk said that Tesla's Texas factory was not able to produce an optimum number of cars because of challenges in boosting production of its new 4680 battery. It said that it was not able to make its conventional 2170 batteries as the tools to make them are stuck in a port in China.
He blamed the COVID-induced lockdowns in Shanghai for the "very, very difficult" situation. He said they not only affected the Shanghai factory but also the California factory because many components of the cars used to be shipped from China.
"The past two years have been an absolute nightmare of supply chain interruptions, one thing after another, and we're not out of it yet," Musk said.Tesla`s overwhelming concern, he said, is "How do we keep the factories operating so we can pay people and not go bankrupt?"
Earlier this month Musk said due to the bad economy he might have to sack 10 percent of the Tesla staff and paused all hirings. He also said he would bring a 10 percent salary cut across the board.
With inputs from Reuters
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 "Elon Musk said two Tesla factories are bleeding money. (File)")
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