Elon Musk has fulfilled a promise to an independent business to cover the costs of a cancelled pie order.
The billionaire CEO of Tesla and owner of X, formerly Twitter, paid a California bakery $2,000.
Musk, who is worth approximately $208.6billion, had heard about the debacale involved Giving Pies in San Jose.
The bakery originally received a request for 2,000 mini pies from Tesla before that order was doubled. But a rep with Musk’s company cancelled on the bakery at the last minute just as the treats were set to be shipped, the business owner previously claimed.
Elon Musk stepped in to help the bakery
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Owner Voahangy Rasetarinera posted on social media: "To me, it was clear that Tesla’s corporate culture prioritised convenience over accountability, disregarding the livelihoods of small business owners like myself."
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, apparently became aware of the issue through media coverage, and said he would make sure Rasetarinera got paid.
He posted on social media: "Just hearing about this. Will make things good with the bakery. People should always be able to count on Tesla trying its best."
Rasetarinera told the Guardian by email three days later, “Tesla just paid the $2k that I was out of."
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The payment covers the cost of ingredients the company had purchased to fulfil the cancelled order. Hundreds of patrons lined up to order pies from the bakery in a show of support following the Giving Pies’ scathing review of Tesla.
Resetarinera originally told KGO: "When you’re a big corporation, $2,000 is pocket money, it’s nothing. But for us, it’s a lot."
She told NBC Bay Area following the outpouring of support: "Oh my gosh, it’s incredible. I am blown away. I’m like, ‘I didn’t do it for that.’ I’m so grateful. It’s amazing. People are amazing."
While she told the station Tesla offered her a new catering gig for a women’s day celebration in March, she turned it down because of a shortage of crust following the onslaught of new orders.
Earlier today, Musk announced plans will aim to ship its Roadster electric sports car next year. He posted on social media: "Tonight, we radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster."
Tesla had announced the Roadster, a battery-powered four-seater, at the end of 2017, which was originally set to be launched in 2020.
Musk in 2021 had pushed the launch of the Roadster to 2023, citing global supply chain bottlenecks.
In 2023, Musk said Tesla hopes to start production of its long-delayed next-generation Roadster electric sports car next year.
