Yale’s Jeff Sonnenfeld argued that Tesla deserves the “meme stock” label, citing its extreme valuation despite Musk rejecting the characterization. Tesla’s valuation far exceeds both auto and tech peers, with Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood supporting its premium despite ongoing debate among experts. Jeff Sonnenfeld criticized Musk’s new compensation plan and called Tesla “the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen” in a CNBC interview. Sonnenfeld pointed to Tesla’s price-to-earnings ratio above 200 as “crazy” compared to Amazon, Nvidia, and Apple. Jeff Sonnenfeld urged Tesla to establish a succession plan as the company loses market share in Europe and China to BYD. He said it is time for Musk to step aside for a leader who “won’t cost a trillion dollars.” Tesla shares fell 2.1% to $416.85 on Thursday and are up 9.9% year-to-date.
