‘Tweetstorms’ cross the line
Elon Musk is at war with everyone from regulators to a Thai-child rescuer
SAN FRANCISCO — “Do you think I’m insane?”
That’s the first line in the first chapter in the bestselling biography of Elon Musk by author Ashley Vance. Musk had asked Vance the question over dinner.
Vance dodged the subject. But anyone monitoring Musk’s Twitter feed and other public behaviour lately might well wonder what’s got into the CEO of Tesla Inc.
At a crucial juncture for the company, which is struggling to show it can mass-produce an electric sedan and generate cash, Musk has tangled very publicly with government regulators, stock analysts, journalists, former employees — even the creator of a farting-unicorn coffee mug.
On Sunday morning, after a rescue diver took to CNN to criticize as a “PR stunt” Musk’s offer of a small submarine to transport a Thai soccer team out of a flooded labyrinthine cave, Musk called the man a “pedo” on Twitter — short for pedophile.
Musk soon removed the tweet but not until the unsubstantiated slur had ricocheted around the world. The diver told reporters he’s thinking about suing Musk.
Tesla has yet to officially comment on Musk’s accusation. Thus far, Tesla’s board of directors has been silent on the matter. Tesla’s stock is down 14 per cent since Musk announced on July 2 that Tesla had hit a goal of producing 5,000 Model 3s a week.
James Anderson, a portfolio manager at Baille Gifford, which is a major Tesla investor, told the Guardian that he plans to address the issue with the company.
Gene Munster, an analyst with Loup Ventures, told the Washington Post the comments raised questions about Musk’s distractibility and “maturity.”
“This crossed a line, and it needs to stop,” he said. “They have such a great story to tell, and it’s getting lost in this noise.”
The situation is “very unusual,” said Jeff Haden, author of “The Motivation Myth,” a business book.
“It’s probably not a good look if you’re calling people pedophiles. If you’re a prosecutor in court, maybe it makes sense, but as the CEO of a major company? No.”
Musk’s confrontations come as he continues to struggle to fix crippling production problems with the Model 3 electric sedan, which Musk regards as a “bet the company” proposition.
The production goal Tesla hit earlier this month lags far behind earlier benchmarks set by the company. In August 2017, Musk told stock analysts there should be “zero concern” the company would hit 10,000 Model 3s a week by the end of this year.
The calendar says that’s still possible, but he’s currently struggling to sustain the 5,000-a-week rate.
Meanwhile, the company’s cash pile continues to shrink. When a section of the Model 3 assembly line was shut down after Musk failed at an aggressive attempt at robot automation, he set up a tent in a parking lot at the company’s Fremont, Calif., factory to handle the overflow, with partly finished car bodies transported from factory to tent on tractor beds and forklifts.
In an interview this month with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Musk was asked about his “Tweetstorms,” which the magazine showed were peaking in the spring as Tesla’s production woes increased.
“I have made the mistaken assumption — and I will attempt to be better at this — of thinking that because somebody is on Twitter and is attacking me that it is open season,” Musk said. “And that is my mistake. I will correct it.”
Ten days later, he sent the pedophile tweet.
Musk was not available for comment.