What Jobs might say to Musk, CEO to CEO
A grownup CEO doesn’t overpromise and underdeliver, which has been Elon Musk’s trademark since 2010
Friday (October 5) marked the seventh anniversary of Steve Jobs’s death, which has me thinking not only about his remarkable life, but also about the man most often compared to him in terms of charisma, audacity and vision. That, of course, would be Elon Musk. When Jobs was pushed out of Apple Inc. by then-chief executive John Sculley and the board, he was a brilliant brat, someone who led through insult as much as inspiration. Despite co-founding the company, building first the Apple II and then the Mac, he had become such a disruptive force that he had to go.
When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he was 42 years old. He returned as a grown-up; someone, yes, who could still be caustic, but who had learned how lead, primarily from watching Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar Inc. He managed the company with a maturity that had been lacking during his earlier stint at Apple. He moulded his top executives into a cohesive team that could dream up great products and execute them brilliantly.
Musk is five years older than Jobs was when he returned to Apple. He has done some truly remarkable things — more remarkable than Jobs. He built one company that not only sends rockets into space, but also lands the first stage of the rocket on what amounts to a giant trampoline. Musk has also created Tesla, the world’s first serious effort to build an all-electric car. And he has succeeded. A few months ago, the Wall Street Journal’s car reviewer, Dan Neil, described the latest Tesla Model 3 as “magnificent” and “the next step in the history of autos.” He noted, though, that Wall Street bears were swarming all over Tesla’s stock, not because of the quality of the car but because of the quality of the chief executive.
A grown-up CEO doesn’t go on a crusade against short-sellers; he or she “beats” the shorts by increasing revenue and earnings, and by satisfying the marketplace — by performing — not by calling for short-selling to be outlawed, an absurd idea that Musk has voiced. A grown-up CEO is able to hold onto key executives instead of watching them race for the exits. A grown-up CEO doesn’t overpromise and underdeliver, which has been Musk’s trademark ever since he took Tesla public in 2010. A grown-up CEO doesn’t sleep on the factory floor; he or she hires skilled factory managers who can solve problems that crop up and keep the assembly line running. A grown-up CEO doesn’t spend all his time on Twitter. A grown-up CEO doesn’t take time from his incredibly demanding day job to get involved in a cave rescue in Thailand — and then call one of the rescuers a “pedophile” when his solution isn’t used.
A grown-up CEO assembles a board that combines expertise and independence. There isn’t a single person on the Tesla board, other than Musk himself, who has experience in the auto industry. Finally, a grown-up CEO doesn’t announce a deal to go private when there’s no such deal, then acknowledge later that the deal never existed, then tell the board that he’ll quit on the spot if it accepts a sweetheart settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, then agrees to a tougher settlement after being talked off the ledge by Mark Cuban, and then mocks the SEC on Twitter even before the settlement has been approved in court.
No, a grown-up really doesn’t do that. Musk’s petulance in calling the SEC the “Shortseller Enrichment Commission” has endangered 15 years of incredible work and ingenuity aimed at making a mass-market electric car a reality. He has redefined what it means to cut off your nose to spite your face. Let’s face it: Not every founder is cut out to be a chief executive. Musk has become such a cult figure among his supporters and shareholders that the stock would tank if he were to leave, and the game would likely be over. Musk knows that.
But the right thing for him to do now is relinquish the CEO post, while also making it clear to Tesla shareholders that he will remain a key part of the company. He could be the chief technology officer or the chief innovation officer. Then the board could bring in a chief executive who knows how to manage a mass manufacturing company, which is what Tesla is desperately trying to become. My candidate, as I mentioned in a previous column, is Alan Mulally, the former Ford Motor Co. CEO. I’ve heard other names that also make sense. The main thing is that it has to be done soon, before it’s too late. The other possibility, of course, is that Elon Musk could start acting like Steve Jobs. He could grow up. But I’m not holding my breath. The views expressed are personal