In a memo that a global supply manager at Tesla sent to some suppliers last week, the company has asked the suppliers to refund what it called a meaningful amount of money of what it had already paid these suppliers since 2016; the purpose of these retroactive discounts is to help Tesla become profitable, it said. The memo was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and reported Sunday evening.
According to the memo, the request for cash back is, as the WSJ put it, “essential to Tesla’s continued operation.”
