Coffee shop hacker costs Elon Musk $370m

A coffee shop hacker sipping on a large hot chocolate has just hit tech billionaire Elon Musk where it hurts most.

A computer hacker able to obtain secret video of a fatal crash has cost Tesla a staggering amount of money in the US.

A Miami court ordered the car company to pay $US243 million ($370m) in compensation after one of its cars failed to stop at the end of a road, ploughing into a parked car and two pedestrians.

Naibel Benavides Leon died and her boyfriend Dillon Angulo was injured when they were struck by a Tesla Model S driven in “autopilot” mode in 2019.

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Tesla footage obtained by the Washington Post showed a road ending, marked by reflective signs. Picture: Supplied

Moments later, Tesla footage obtained by the Washington Post showed a Chevrolet parked at the end of the road before it was struck. Picture: Supplied

Tesla argued in court that it was not responsible for the crash as the driver was distracted and using his phone.

The company said the “verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardise Tesla’s and the entire industry’s efforts to develop and implement lifesaving technology”.

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The car involved in the crash was a Tesla Model S sedan. Picture: Supplied

Lawyers acting for the victims said Tesla claimed to be unable to provide data surrounding the circumstances of the crash.

But a computer hacker working for the victims was able to decode software obtained from the car, obtaining video of the crash, evidence it had been transmitted back to Tesla’s central servers, and information that suggested it had been marked for deletion.

The Washington Post reported that the hacker “found it while sipping a Venti-size hot chocolate at a South Florida Starbucks”.

The hacker is active on social media as “greentheonly” on X.com, where they forensically examine Tesla crashes regularly.

Got a car computer with a crash on FSD Beta (v11.4.7, gw 2023.7.30) in the mail

The typical "night, disabled car partially in lane you can see from far away" settings.
FSD active

Please be fully alert when using AP! pic.twitter.com/Ir6j8ehke4

— green (@greentheonly) March 20, 2025

The New York Post reported that the lost video footage, presented in court, was a vital piece of evidence that the jury used to justify its $US243m payout.

Reuters reported that Tesla “rejected a $60 million settlement proposal” surrounding the crash before losing the case at trial.

Tesla’s drive toward truly self-driving cars has been pushed by chief executive Elon Musk, who believes the technology is vital for the company’s future.

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The brand is currently rolling out a new version of its service, known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Australia.

Staff, journalists and selected customers have sampled the tech which is expected to be made available to thousands of Australian Tesla owners in coming weeks.

Originally published as Coffee shop hacker costs Elon Musk $370m