This is Scale & Strategy — the proverbial Sharpie, highlighting everything you missed in business this weekend!
Here’re the quick highlights from the week:
Here’s what we got for you today:
Why Tesla’s Board Wants to Make It Rain for Elon Musk
CVC Drops $1.5B on Namecheap, GoDaddy’s Cheaper Cousin
Why Tesla’s Board Wants to Make It Rain for Elon Musk
Tesla’s pitch to shareholders right now isn’t cars, AI, or robotaxis. It’s Elon Musk—and how much they’ll have to pay him to keep him.
Board chair Robyn Denholm is leading the charge for a new pay package that could be worth $1 trillion. Her sales pitch: Tesla without Musk isn’t worth imagining.
The timing isn’t great. Deliveries are down, Cybertruck flopped, and the robotaxi bet is still vaporware. Meanwhile, investors are still sore from Musk’s $50B 2018 compensation deal, currently tangled in Delaware court.
Still, Denholm insists shareholders want Musk locked in for the long haul, even as he divides his time between Tesla, politics, and every side project under the sun. “Our view is the opportunity ahead is far greater with Elon at the helm than without,” she said.
Critics call it weak oversight—Tesla’s board bending over backward to keep Musk happy. Denholm shrugs it off. She’s been here before, whether pushing through the SolarCity bailout or defending Musk’s compensation in court.
The ask now: re-up Musk with a trillion-dollar payday, no strings attached, in hopes he’ll stay focused.
Shareholders have to decide: Is Tesla really Musk—or has the board just gotten addicted to paying him like it?
CVC Drops $1.5B on Namecheap, GoDaddy’s Cheaper Cousin
CVC Capital Partners is about to bag a majority stake in Namecheap, slapping a $1.5 billion price tag on the Arizona-based domain registrar. Founder Richard Kirkendall isn’t cashing out completely—he’s keeping a chunky stake and will stay in the trenches alongside the buyout firm.
Namecheap’s not just about grabbing URLs anymore. Over 25 years it’s grown into hosting, security, and all the tools you need to get a website live without losing your mind. Customers range from indie startups to names like Figma and Buffer. Revenue hit $398M in 2024, up 18% year-over-year—solid growth in a space most people forget still prints money.
Why CVC cares: domain and hosting plays are private equity catnip right now. Clearlake and Siris own Newfold (parent of Bluehost), while Permira just dropped $7.2B on Squarespace. CVC already owns Webpros, which quietly powers 80M+ domains. Adding Namecheap just tightens their grip on the plumbing of the internet.
The announcement isn’t live yet, but the ink’s dry. Translation: GoDaddy just got another serious challenger backed by €200B worth of CVC firepower.
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This newsletter is a publication of Vector Research Partners (v4rp.com), a data and insights firm powering diligence and growth strategies for top operators and investors.
