CNBC’s Scott Wapner interviewed Linette Lopez, the Business Insider senior finance reporter whom CEO Elon Musk criticized over Twitter on her Tesla reporting, to respond to those comments.
Lopez denied, as Musk claimed, that she ever offered compensation to a Tesla whistleblower or provided insider information to short seller Jim Chanos, who has also criticized Tesla.
“I would prefer to talk about the reporting,” said Lopez. “It’s up to shareholders to decide whether or not the CEO of a $50 billion company should spend his time yelling at reporters on Twitter.”
Chanos has denied receiving information from Lopez. Lopez added, “I don’t understand where Musk is getting these things. It’s unfortunate that he has to respond to this rather than what I say in my reporting.”
Vanity Fair reporter Bethany McLean, whose reporting of Enron was also criticized by the company, was also on the segment and said, “I think Musk should be ashamed of himself.”
She later added, “I’ve never understand this whole idea that somebody who reports bad news is biased and a CEO is somehow pure and unbiased.”
Yale University School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld also was on the segment and stated, “It’s beneath a CEO.”
Sonnenfeld said CEOs should simply speak the facts and not attack with innuendo.
To watch, go here.
