According to recent reports, tensions between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon are continuing to rise. The banking giant recently filed a $162 million lawsuit against Tesla over a stock trade arranged by the bank in 2014.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon have had a rocky relationship in recent years. Musk and his companies have ignored JPMorgan Chase & Co. for years, turning to other banks to expand their business. Negotiations between Tesla and the bank have also ended in conflict between the two.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 05: Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Musk and Dimon have reportedly tried to get along in the past but ended up causing further issues. Now, JPMorgan is suing Tesla taking the feud public. JPMorgan alleges that Tesla owes it $162 million from a trade that the bank helped to arrange in 2014.
“We have provided Tesla multiple opportunities to fulfill its contractual obligations, so it is unfortunate that they have forced this issue into litigation,” JPMorgan said last week.
In a typically sarcastic response, Musk told the Wall Street Journal: “If JPM doesn’t withdraw their lawsuit, I will give them a one star review on Yelp. This is my final warning!”
According to public records, JPMorgan’s investment bankers have not worked on any Tesla projects since 2016. JPMorgan did work on Tesla’s 2010 initial public offering of stock and multiple capital-markets transactions in the years following.
According to Dealogic, JPMorgan has received around $15 million from Tesla for advice and capital-markets work over the past ten years, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has made around $90 million.
JPMorgan’s Chase consumer bank is an extremely big auto lender but was hesitant to back Tesla and other electric vehicles early on. Later, Chase executives contacted Musk and attempted to negotiate an agreement to make Chase the primary lender to Tesla buyers at the company’s stores, similar to the deals the banks has with Maserati and Jaguar Land Rover. Musk reportedly said no to the deal. Chase has since signed a similar deal with the Amazon-backed Tesla rival and electric truck make Rivian Automotive.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com