Elon Musk has become difficult to like

Elon is someone who I’ve admired for a long time. He is brilliant, relentless, and using his skills and resources to tackle some of the greatest challenges we face as a society. But in recent years, it seems to have gone to his head - there are repeated examples of him flaunting his fiduciary duty to shareholders of a business worth more than $140 billion. 

I do believe that Tesla is revolutionary and deserves a high value, but to be worth more than double the combined value of Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler doesn't make sense.

But Tesla stock aside, I take more issue with how Elon carries himself publicly. In recent years there have been countless examples of reckless behaviour by the Tesla CEO.

First, there’s the infamous “funding secured” tweet where Elon claimed that he was taking Tesla private at $420 a share and had the funding secured. In the end, the consensus was that Elon’s tweet was actually market manipulation and resulted in $20 million fine. Oh and there was no funding secured.

Then there’s the defamation suit related to the boys soccer team that was trapped in a cave in Thailand. Irrespective of Elon’s failed attempts to help with technology, he decided to personally attack a caver who was attempting to rescue the boys as a “pedo guy”… once again in a tweet.. This resulted in a lawsuit, and while Elon eventually won the suit , it was a needless distraction that could have been avoided with a little restraint (and maturity). 

And the latest example, the straw that broke this camel's back as you might say, is his irresponsible outrage and tweeting about reopening the economy, complete with a profanity-laden rant on an earnings call.

And to make things worse, it seems to be (at least in part) motivated by a potential $750 million dollar payment Elon could receive (link). Elon is currently worth ~$40 billion. There is no denying Elon’s brilliance, but I’d prefer to take my cues on reopening the economy from health experts and epidemiologists. 

As an outside observer with a lot of admiration for what Elon has built, it’s been frustrating to watch these continued meltdowns. All they do is distract from the extremely important work Elon’s companies are doing. 

I know I’m being pretty critical, but I guess I just expect more from one of the most brilliant minds of his generation. He stakes significant amounts of his personal wealth trying to tackle the most profound challenges we face, and that’s to be admired. No doubt. I just wish that someone who wields so much influence would act with a bit more responsibility.

Update: It continues to unfold in real-time. More stock manipulation and general melting down on Twitter .

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/1/21244346/elon-musk-tesla-twitter-stock-price-coronavirus-grimes