Purchased as an ultra-long-haul workhorse to connect its Abu Dhabi hub with far-away international destinations, the A380 first flew to New York in 2015 but left when the pandemic halted travel in 2020.
Etihad didn't follow through, however, instead deciding to re-launch the plane on flights to London last summer due to strong post-pandemic demand.
The airline has since moved one of those A380 flight to New York to up capacity at JFK — competing with rival five-star carrier Emirates' luxe A380 superjumbo already flying to the airport.
Here's what passengers can expect when flying Etihad in economy, business, first class, and its three-room "The Residence" suite.
Etihad's first A380 flight to the US since 2020 landed just after 10 a.m. on Monday after trekking more than 14 hours from Abu Dhabi.
Etihad Airways A380 flight path from Abu Dhabi to New York on April 22, 2024.
Courtesy of FlightAware
The famous double-decker left Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport at about 3:20 a.m. local time and landed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport just after 10 a.m. ET, according to FlightAware.
The plane is one of four A380s active in Etihad's fleet, each featuring dual-level cabin with economy, business, and first class seats.
An Etihad Airbus A380.
Etihad
The A380 replaced one of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners that previously flew the Abu Dhabi-New York route, leaving one Dreamliner and the superjumbo flying the two daily frequencies.
If it needs even more capacity, Etihad has another six A380s on "reserve," CRO Arik De told Business Insider in December when the NYC route was first announced.
The most basic offering on Etihad's A380 is economy, featuring the typical inflight amenities like entertainment, food, and reclining seats.
Etihad's economy product has an edge over competitors thanks to added amenities.
M101Studio/Shutterstock
Etihad's 415-seat economy cabin is located on the lower level of the mammoth superjumbo, and the nice finishings like a cupholder and a touchscreen remote highlight its five-star status.
Coach comes with a winged headrest and a tray table, as well as a seatback pocket, 17.5 inches of seat width, and 31 inches of pitch — putting its legroom on par with the likes of Delta Air Lines and British Airways, according to SeatGuru.
Customers can pay for an economy upgrade, like seats with extra legroom, ones that are more kid-friendly, or seats that are "neighbor-free."
The extra legroom bulkhead seats on Etihad's A380 can come with a baby bassinet (pictured in 2015 before Economy Space was designated in 2018).
M101Studio/Shutterstock
"Economy Space" seats offer five more inches of pitch than the regular coach seats. The bulkhead is in the first row of the cabin and won't have a row in front.
Neighbor-free seating is similar to Lufthansa's option, which guarantees the adjacent seat will be empty — essentially a 2-in-1-type booking.
Notably, Etihad does not have a premium-economy cabin like its UAE counterpart Emirates. Economy Space is as close as it gets.
Etihad's A380 economy cabin right before its inaugural flight in 2014. Specific Economy Space seats have since been designated.
First Class Photography/Shutterstock
Former CEO Tony Douglas said at its launch that Etihad has not added premium economy because it wants simplicity.
"We listen to our guests, and space is what they tell us that they really want," he told Executive Traveller in 2022. "But what we haven't done is put in a lot of cost and unnecessary complexity."
Etihad's upper deck is where the luxury is — and where the airline makes its money.
Etihad's A380 before its inaugural service in 2014.
AFP/Getty Images
The second level of the A380 hosts Etihad's most premium cabins. There are 70 lie-flat business class seats, nine fully enclosed first class "apartments," and the one-of-a-kind "The Residence" suite.
Filling up its expensive upper deck on every flight is essential in making the gas-gusting A380 profitable — meaning it has to have an attractive product to compete with the other five-star carriers also serving New York.
Business class offers the typical luxuries like aisle access, plenty of storage, and a touchscreen television with a connected remote.
Etihad's business class cabin is in the back half of the A380's second level. Some seats are forward-facing, and some are backward-facing.
David Slotnick/Business Insider
Customers can expect the common bells and whistles of business class plus a few special perks, but it's not cheap.
Flights for mid-July in A380 business class between New York and Abu Dhabi on Etihad's website show fares starting at about $4,000 each way.
The premium cabin also offers WiFi access, power ports, an amenity kit, window shades, and a pillow and blanket for sleeping.
Etihad's A380 business class seat in lie-flat mode.
David Slotnick/Business Insider
There is no sliding door on Etihad, as seen in business class cabins in Qatar or Japan's All Nippon Airways, but there is a partition between the pair of seats in the center section for privacy.
Customers can also enjoy an 'anytime' dining menu that lets people eat on their own schedule.
The meal from a previous BI flight review in Etihad's A380 business class.
David Slotnick/Business Insider
The flexible dining plan can be useful on some early-morning or late-night flights, like Etihad's New York-bound A380 departure that leaves Abu Dhabi at around 3 a.m.
First class sits at the front of the upper deck and includes nine 'apartments.'
Etihad's first-ever A380 flight to the US, taken in 2015 at New York-JFK.
Etihad Airways
Carriers like Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Emirates have added grandiose first-class suites to their A380s as well, thanks to the mammoth size of the jet.
The apartments are like mini hotel rooms with sliding doors that come complete with a separate armchair and bed — similar to Singapore.
Some cabins can be combined into one for two people to share, and the television swivels so it can be used from either the chair or the bed.
Two of Etihad's A380 apartments combined.
M101Studio/Shutterstock
The bed stretches nearly seven feet, so it'll be long enough for even the tallest travelers — and a convenient remote allows passengers to control the far-away television when lying down.
Also available to first-class flyers is fine dining, WiFi, power, storage, a luxe lavatory, and a standing shower.
Inside the first class apartment on Etihad's A380 at night.
First Class Photography/Shutterstock
First-class meals include high-dollar Champagnes, wines, steaks, and other gourmet food.
The shower is rare to see on airlines because of the costly extra weight of carrying the water.
The latter has installed two giant lavatories with separate vanities in its upper deck first class.
Those with a first-class ticket can upgrade to Etihad's crown jewel, called The Residence, which is exclusive to its A380.
A butler used to be available for The Residence, but Etihad has since abandoned that perk.
Etihad
The Residence is an actual flying hotel room as it is the only three-room suite onboard a commercial jetliner. It is considered the cream of the crop for long-haul flying and goes beyond the typical first class.
"We had our first bookings within minutes of the announcement that the A380 was coming to New York," De told BI in December. "It's a famous experience, and there are plenty of people out there who want to sample it, either as a dream one-off or as part of their overall travel mix."
The completely private suite features a living room, a bedroom, and an ensuite bathroom with shower.
The Residence bathroom with a shower.
Etihad Airways via Getty Images
The 125-square-foot space is designed to accommodate up to two people thanks to the double couch and bed.
It's about as close as possible to flying on a private jet without the six-figure price tag. At launch, the route between NYC and Abu Dhabi cost $32,000 each way for either single or double occupancy, according to Etihad, but that has varied over the years.
It's nicer (and bigger) than some New York City apartments — and deep-pocketed travelers are willing to pay thousands for the sky penthouse.
The Residence cost $32,000 one-way at launch, and remained above $20,000 pre-pandemic, depending on the season and the route.
Etihad Airways via Getty Images
Looking on Etihad's website in December for a flight between New York and Abu Dhabi for mid-May, the A380 apartments were priced between roughly $9,000 and $10,000 each way, with another $3,000 per leg on top for the Residence, totaling about $24,000.
Searching again on Monday, it appears the Residence is already booked up on most days for May, as it cannot be added to first-class bookings. Apartments are going for between $5,000 and $8,000 now each way.
One thing Etihad keeps equal across all classes is a prayer room, with one located in each cabin.
Etihad Airways
SeatGuru shows a prayer room toward the front of the economy cabin, in the middle of business class, and right behind the last row of first. A curtain adds privacy.
Etihad's return to NYC signals confidence in the A380 and its niche viability within the airline's strong hub-and-spoke network.
An Etihad Airways A380 over New York.
Etihad Airways
While many carriers have turned a cheek to the A380 due to high operating costs, Emirates, Singapore, Qatar, and Etihad, as well as a handful of other Asian and European airlines, all continue to fly the A380.
"We are entering a new phase of sustainable growth to meet the demands of our customers, and the A380 is the right aircraft to meet capacity demands on very select routes," De told BI. "We brought it back on our London services earlier this year, and saw tremendous commercial success, with guests loving the experience."
A South Korean woman lost $50,000 after falling in love with a fake Elon Musk.
The Musk impersonator befriended her on Instagram, where he told her he "contacts fans randomly."
Fake Musk then claimed he could make the woman rich by helping her invest her money.
A South Korean woman says she lost $50,000 to a con artist who was posing as Elon Musk.
"On July 17 last year, Musk added me as a friend on Instagram. Although I have been a huge fan of Musk after reading his biography, I doubted it at first," the woman, who declined to provide her real name, told South Korean broadcaster KBS in an "In Depth 60 Minutes" interview that aired April 19, per a translation from The Korea Herald.
The woman said she began to believe that she was conversing with the real Musk after the person she was talking to sent her photos of what appeared to be Musk's ID card and images of himself at work.
"'Musk' talked about his children and about taking a helicopter to work at Tesla or Space X," she told KBS. "He also explained that he contacts fans randomly."
The fake Musk, the woman said, even shared details about a meeting that the real Musk had with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April 2023. The impersonator said Yoon told "Musk" to build Tesla's Gigafactories in Seoul and Jeju.
"'Musk' even said 'I love you, you know that?' when we made a video call," the woman said, referencing a video call with what was likely to be a deepfake of Musk.
The woman said the scammer eventually convinced her to transfer 70 million Korean won, or $50,000, to a bank account he said belonged to one of his Korean employees. The person behind the fake Musk claimed he would make the woman rich by investing her money, she told KBS.
Love scams are a very real problem in the US, too. Romance scammers made off with $1.3 billion from their victims in 2022, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
This incident also isn't the first time someone has hoped to gain fame or fortune by channeling Musk. In China, a Musk doppelgänger named Yilong Ma has been posting videos of himself on TikTok.
The videos have caught the attention of Musk himself, who has questioned if Ma is even a real person.
"I'd like to meet this guy (if he is real). Hard to tell with deepfakes these days," Musk said of Ma in an X post in May 2022.
US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's meeting in November 2023 kicked off a series of high-level engagements between the two countries.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
US and China's engagements don't mean they trust each other more, said Eurasia Group's Ian Bremmer.
Washington and China still disagree on many issues, including trade, tech, and geopolitics.
Increased communications have stabilized tensions over Taiwan.
The US and China have been engaging more with each other.But just because they're talking more doesn't mean that they actually trust each other more, an analyst said on Wednesday.
"The trend for this year has been more engagement, more communications, but not more trust," Ian Bremmer, the president and founder of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.
In November, US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met during the APEC summit in San Francisco, appearing keen to smooth over tensions. Since then, there's been more stability in the US-China relationship, said Bremmer.
The rash of high-level meetings signals a thaw in US-China relations — even if the two do not agree with each other over many issues.
"That means you still have plenty of areas that the countries are unhappy with each other, but when there is conflict, the conflict does not escalate out of control — rather, the escalations are targeted and calibrated," Bremmer told Bloomberg TV.
It's a matter of seeing the glass as being half full or half empty.
"So we can say that the relationship is getting worse, it's true, but it's getting worse quite slowly and there's more stability to the relationship," said Bremmer.
US-China communication has stabilized tensions over Taiwan
The big upside to increased communications between the US and China is that the world's top two global powers are less likely to have a direct clash.
This is the reason Washington and Beijing's tensions over Taiwan — which Beijing claims as its own territory — have been relatively stable.
"The US and China know each other's red lines" and the challenges in this relationship after decades of communication, making "extremely nuanced calibrations" an easier task, said Bremmer.
He said that this understanding between the US and China is why there was no "strong and sudden escalation that brought the two sides to crisis" after Taiwanese Vice President William Lai — whom Beijing views as a separatist — won Taiwan's presidential election in January.
"It's always better to have more engagement, more conversations — especially when you don't trust each other," Bremmer said.
Musk didn't give many specifics, like how much the cars will cost or exactly when they'll be available. But it was enough to calm investors, and Tesla's stock rose 13% in after-hours trading.
"If you have a great product at a great price, the sales will be excellent," Musk said on the call.
He said that Tesla plans to keep making its cars and prices more competitive. Carmakers around the world, including once-dismissive Musk, worry about Chinese EVs' low prices undercutting their sales.
Tesla's cheaper models will be produced on existing manufacturing lines. Production might start late this year or in early 2025, instead of the second half of 2025, Musk said.
Tesla's cheapest car in the US is the Model 3, which starts at $38,990. The average US EV costs $53,758. The company sold 220,910 of the Model 3 last year.
Analysts were cautiously optimistic about Musk's announcement.
"Sounds promising, but Tesla is becoming more of a show-me stock based on how many delays we've seen in previous roll outs," Jay Woods, the chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told Reuters. "If they can deliver, then this is a great development."
Days before earnings, the electric vehicle maker slashed prices of cars in key markets, including the US, China, and Europe.
Tesla has been teasing a car under $30,000 since 2020. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the company was scrapping plans for a compact, $25,000 car. Musk denied the story.
Significant challenges and a plummeting stock
While a promise of cheaper cars relieved investors, Tesla's troubles are far from over.
During Tuesday's earnings call, analysts questioned Musk, who has leadership roles in at least five companies, about whether he was spread too thin. Tesla's head of investor relations announced his departure from the company during the call, making him the third senior executive to leave in the past week.
The first quarter of the year has been disastrous for the EV maker.
"Although there's no question that it was the right strategic decision, it did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipated," Ek told investors in an earnings call.
But Ek quickly assured investors that the company has managed to overcome this challenge.
"It took us some time to find our footing, but more than four months into this transition, I think we're back on track," Ek added.
And it seems that Ek's decision might have paid off for Spotify.
On Tuesday, the streaming giant reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2024, where it revealed that Spotify had made a quarterly profit of 197 million euros, or $210 million. The company had incurred a loss of around $241 million in the same period last year.
Founded in 2006, the music platform has become a go-to spot for listeners hoping to enjoy the latest tunes.
On Saturday, Spotify announced that Taylor Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," had become the platform's most-streamed album in a single day. Swift herself became the "most-streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history," the company said in an Instagram post.
"We've talked about 2024 as the year of monetization, and we're delivering on that ambition," Ek said on Tuesday.
"I feel good about the changes we are implementing and remain very confident in our ability to reach the ambitious plans we've outlined," he added.
The layoffs, Ek said in December, were necessary as the company needed to become "relentlessly resourceful."
"Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact," Ek wrote in a blog post at the time.
Ek isn't the only tech executive who has acknowledged the difficulties and benefits of cutting jobs.
"It was obviously really tough, we parted with a lot of talented people we cared about. But in some ways actually becoming leaner kind of makes the company more effective," Zuckerberg said.
Representatives for Spotify didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
The wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is seen beyond the stern of the container ship Dali weeks after the catastrophic collapse.
Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Baltimore officials are blaming the Francis Scott Key Bridge's collapse on the Dali's owner and manager.
In a legal filing on Monday, they accused the ship of leaving port even after its alarms went off.
The filing also accused the Dali's crew of failing to follow local navigation rules and being untrained.
City of Baltimore officials on Monday accused the owner and manager of the ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge of allowing the vessel to set sail despite it being "clearly unseaworthy."
In a legal filing against Synergy Marine, the manager of the Dali, and Grace Ocean, the ship's owner, attorneys for the city accused both companies of being "grossly and potentially criminally negligent."
The allegations came in response to a petition filed in Maryland federal court by the firms, which are both based in Singapore, asking for their liability in the bridge disaster to be capped at $43.6 million.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and the city council are contesting the petition, asking for no limit to be enacted.
Their filing contains a litany of allegations blaming Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean for negligence and reckless management that resulted in the bridge's collapse on March 26.
"Reporting has indicated that, even before leaving port, alarms showing an inconsistent power supply on the Dali had sounded," the court petition reads. "The Dali left port anyway, despite its clearly unseaworthy condition."
City officials further accused those in charge of the Dali of deploying an "incompetent crew" that was "inattentive to its duties," lacked proper training, and "failed to comply with local navigation customs."
A spokesperson for Synergy Marine said it would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing court proceedings. Grace Ocean did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
The Singapore-flagged Dali struck a support pillar of the Key Bridge in the early morning of March 26 as it left the Port of Baltimore for Sri Lanka, causing most of the bridge's span to collapse into the Patapsco River.
Authorities found that the 984-foot ship lost power as it navigated toward the bridge, causing it to lose propulsion. The crew on board broadcast a mayday call just before impact, allowing traffic police to seal access to the bridge.
Two ship pilots, or local experts on the terrain and river, were on board the Dali then. These specialists typically advise the ship's master, who pilots the vessel, on navigating such waters and weather conditions. The 22 all-Indian crew on the Dali were unharmed.
The Key Bridge's collapse has deeply wounded Baltimore's economy, cutting off maritime traffic to and from the city's port — the ninth-largest in the US — and disrupting trucking routes. The port is estimated to bring about $15 million in economic activity daily.
"Tens of thousands of jobs rely directly on the Port," the city officials' filing said. There are concerns of a further ripple effect in the regional economy, with port workers made jobless now unable to spend at local businesses.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the cleanup of the bridge site and removing fallen containers from the Patapsco, is investigating the cause of the allision.
The FBI also opened a criminal investigation last week into whether any of the Dali's crew may have known about system issues on the vessel, The Washington Post reported.
Tesla's robot, "Optimus," being displayed at the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China.
Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Elon Musk doesn't think Tesla should be viewed as just another auto company.
Musk told investors on Tuesday that Tesla's Optimus robots are its most valuable asset.
"We should be thought of as an AI or robotics company," Musk said.
Tesla's Optimus robots could become the company's most valuable asset, says the company's CEO Elon Musk.
"As I've said before, I think Optimus will be more valuable than everything else combined," Musk said in an earnings call on Tuesday.
"Because if you've got a sentient humanoid robot that is able to navigate reality and do tasks at request, there is no meaningful limit to the size of the economy," he added.
During the call, Musk told investors that the Optimus can perform "simple factory tasks in the lab" before offering a rough timeline on when he thinks the robots would be rolled out.
"We do think we will have Optimus in limited production in the natural factory itself, doing useful tasks before the end of this year," Musk said. "And then I think we may be able to sell it externally by the end of next year. These are just guesses."
Musk's bullish remarks about Tesla's work in robotics come as the EV giant struggles with declining sales. On Tuesday, the company announced its quarterly revenue dropped by 9% year-over-year. This fall is Tesla's biggest revenue drop since 2012.
Earlier this month, the company revealed that it had delivered 386,810 cars in the first quarter of 2024, a 20.1% drop from the previous quarter. The company's performance in Q1 was also its worst quarterly performance since 2022.
Tesla's present challenges appear to have jolted Musk into high gear as he attempts to sell the viability of the company's works-in-progress.
"We should be thought of as an AI or robotics company," Musk told investors on Tuesday. "If you value Tesla as just like an auto company, fundamentally, it's just the wrong framework, and if you ask the wrong question, then the right answer is impossible."
In the past, Musk has tried to salvage the company's fortunes by tweaking prices and touting emerging technologies.
However, Musk has repeatedly set and then missed his own targets for when Tesla will bring self-driving cars to the masses. In 2019, Musk said he was "very confident" that Tesla would have 1 million autonomous robotaxis on the road by 2020.
Representatives for Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Tesla had a tough first quarter, reporting a drop in revenue during a Tuesday earnings call.
But Tesla's woes are unlikely to deter its fervent fans from continuing to support the company.
Tesla customers are among the strongest brand loyalists out there.
Tesla had a rough Tuesday.
The company reported a drop in revenue during its first-quarter earnings call, falling short of expectations and ushering in a dimmer outlook for the electric vehicle manufacturer.
But luckily for Tesla, the company's fans are a fervent bunch, unlikely to be deterred by one bad quarter.
During the Tuesday earnings call, Tesla reported a net income of $1.1 billion from January to March, which is down about 55% from last year. Stock in the company climbed more than 10% as a result of volatile late trading shortly after the call.
"This ultimately comes down to: Do you believe?" Gene Munster, a managing partner at investment company Deepwater Asset Management, told CNBC shortly after the earnings call, describing Tesla's dilemma.
"If you believe the future is going to be hybrid cars and it's going to take a long time — 20 years — to get to full electrification, the stock's not going anywhere," Munster said Tuesday.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for his part, hand-waved concerns about the low numbers during the call, instead doubling down on vague promises of the future of artificial intelligence at the company and a fully autonomous car.
Musk's mid-call musings seemed to satisfy investors enough, The Washington Post reported. The Tesla chief said the company was speeding up its production timeline on a much-anticipated more affordable car and fully committing to the autonomous "Cybercab."
"If you believe electrification — despite all of its troubles now — is going to accelerate," Munster told CNBC, Tesla is the "best-positioned company to deliver on that future around autonomy and electrification."
And Tesla customers tend to be devout believers in the promise of electrification. The company's brand loyalists have been described as "cult-like" in their dedication to the manufacturer and its vehicles.
"Ultimately, this company is going to survive to see the next generation vehicle…and see the rising tide of electrification," Munster said. "I'm still a shareholder. I'm still optimistic."
Tesla is no stranger to staging a successful comeback. The company was among the first few car manufacturers to reopen after the pandemic, marking several quarters in a row of growth and revenue rebound.
The company, however, is facing a slew of struggles in recent months including recent regulatory attention, a car recall, and multiple lawsuits.
But industry probes and factory recalls are hardly deterrents to the majority of Tesla zealots.
"I just believe in what they're doing from an innovation standpoint," Munster said.
Sens. JD Vance and Bernie Sanders both voted against the foreign aid bill, but for very different reasons.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The Senate passed a bill to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan — and force a sale of TikTok.
Three Democrats and 15 Republicans voted against it. It now heads to Biden's desk.
Republicans opposed the Ukraine aid, while some Democrats took issue with Israel aid.
Billions in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan — along with a bill to force TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell off the popular app — are headed to President Joe Biden's desk after months of delay.
The Senate passed the $95 billion package by a sweeping bipartisan margin on Tuesday, with 15 Republicans and three Democrats voting against the legislation.
Republicans generally voted against the package because of their long-standing opposition to Ukraine aid, while Democrats opposed the bill over the lack of conditions on Israel aid.
That included a vote on a nearly $61 billion Ukraine aid bill, a more than $26 billion Israel aid bill, Taiwan aid, and a bill that combined an amended version of a previously approved TikTok bill that was combined with a bill allowing the US to seize Russian assets to pay for Ukraine aid.
The bill is broadly similar to a $95.3 billion aid package that passed the Senate in February, shortly after a bipartisan border deal collapsed in the face of opposition from former President Donald Trump and other congressional Republicans.
Most Republican senators — along with three Democrats — voted against that package.
But many of those Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, decided to support the new bill on Tuesday, bringing an end to a months-long fight in Congress over foreign aid and border policy that exposed divisions within both the Democratic and Republican parties.
Here are the 3 members of the Democratic caucus who voted against the bill:
Bernie Sanders of Vermont
Jeff Merkley of Oregon
Peter Welch of Vermont
Here are the 15 GOP senators who voted against the bill:
Elon Musk's Tesla is placing ads on X, the former Twitter.
LEON NEAL/Getty Images
Elon Musk gave a vague answer when asked if he plans to reduce his role at Tesla in the coming years.
Musk was speaking during a call on Tesla's first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Musk previously said he wants to maintain a certain level of control to keep growing Tesla.
Elon Musk didn't give a straight answer on Tuesday when asked if he plans to take a step back from Tesla in the coming years.
The Tesla CEO was speaking on a call that followed the company's first-quarter earnings report, which came as the electric vehicle maker deals with a decline in sales. The report showed Tesla fell short of expectations in profits and revenue in Q1 of 2024 but did better than estimated in net gross.
During the call, Toni Sacconaghi, a Wall Street analyst at Bernstein, asked about Musk's future involvement with Tesla, noting the billionaire is currently leading several companies. In addition to serving as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk is also the owner and CTO of X, formerly known as Twitter, and the owner and founder of The Boring Company.
"You're leading many important companies right now," Sacconaghi said. "Maybe you can just talk about where your heart is at in terms of your interests, and do you expect to lessen your involvement with Tesla at any point over the next three years?"
Musk replied, "Tesla constitutes the majority of my work time, and I work pretty much every day of the week. It's rare for me to take a Sunday afternoon off, so I make sure Tesla is very prosperous."
"It is prosperous, and it will be very much so in the future," he continued.
The vague answer notably did not actually address whether or not Musk plans to roll back his involvement with Tesla in the future.
Musk and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
During discussions about his Tesla pay package in January, Musk suggested he would not want to keep growing Tesla without maintaining a certain amount of control over the company.
"I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can't be overturned," Musk wrote on X. "Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla."
Less than two weeks later, a Delaware judge struck down Musk's $55 billion Tesla pay package, which included Tesla stock options.
Tesla is now asking shareholders to approve the compensation plan, arguing Musk deserves it and that it is "critical to the future success of Tesla."