Electric truck maker Rivian makes Time’s list of the 100 most influential companies, while Tesla is on the outside looking in.
What, no Elon?
The TIME100 Most Influential Companies list was unveiled on Wednesday and it includes such heavyweight as Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Microsoft Corporation Report, Disney (DIS) – Get Walt Disney Company Report, Netflix (NFLX) – Get Netflix, Inc. Report and Ford (F) – Get Ford Motor Company Report, whose CEO Jim Farley took to social media to spread the good news.
‘An Exciting Time’
“I’m glad to see @Ford on @TIME‘s list of the most influential companies,” Farley tweeted. “It’s an exciting time for Ford & the entire auto industry. Congratulations and thank you to our employees around the world who are working to create positive change for the future!”
Even the electric truck start-up Rivian (RIVN) – Get Rivian Automotive, Inc. Class A Report, whose backers include Amazon (AMZN) – Get Amazon.com, Inc. Report and Ford, made the list that highlights “businesses making an extraordinary impact around the world.”
You know who didn’t make the list? Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report. Musk was Time magazine’s 2021 Person of the Year. He received the award last December.
Time did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the media giant said in a statement that it assembled the list by soliciting nominations across such sectors as health care, entertainment, and technology, along with its editors and correspondents as well as industry experts.
Apparently size does not matter in the listing, as Tesla delivered 936,000 vehicles in 2021, while Rivian delivered a total of 920.
‘Damp Sock Puppet’
Musk must be feeling a bit left out lately.
The world’s richest man has been involved in a beef with President Joe Biden to a point where Musk referred to the leader of the free world as a damp sock puppet.
Nearly 40,000 people signed a petition claiming the Biden Administration and the White House “have intentionally been trying to ignore Tesla’s hard work while propping up GM and others as ‘EV Leaders.'”
The petition claimed that the administration snubbed Tesla on behalf of the United Auto Workers.
Biden gave a shout out to Ford and General Motors (GM) – Get General Motors Company Report during the State of the Union Address last month for building new factories in the U.S. as they transform their combustion-engine offerings into electric ones.
Musk, meanwhile, emailed CNBC, saying, “Nobody is watching the State of the Union.”
Olive Branch
Biden finally did extend an olive branch to Musk in early February, publicly mentioning Tesla in a speech about U.S. auto manufacturing.
And relations could be improving, as Labor Secretary Marty Walsh recently visited Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, with Musk himself showing Walsh around.
Musk had not mentioned the Time list on social media at last check and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, although that may have something to do with the fact that Tesla eliminated its press department.
However, the people at Time may want to be careful about a miffed Musk.
After all, this is the man who challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to fight over Ukraine.
