City profile

Elon Musk “This past year has been the most difficult and painful of my career,” the billionaire entrepreneur behind Tesla told The New York Times in an emotional interview last week. It may yet get worse, says The Observer. Musk’s decision “to bare his soul” about his sleepless weeks at the carmaker’s factory did not impress investors, who sent shares tumbling 9% – wiping $5bn off Tesla’s value. Investors and friends are concerned about Musk’s health and stewardship of the company, the anxiety focusing on his use of Ambien, the insomnia treatment, which “sometimes appears to have the opposite effect”. The board worries too about his tendency, “in a mood-altered state”, to take to Twitter, where he recently shocked the market with a bizarre plan to take Tesla private. It all seems to be unravelling for Musk, says Dealbook in The New York Times. Not only is Tesla facing a Securities and Exchange Commission probe over disclosure issues, but Musk’s “putative ally in a Tesla takeprivate”, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, “is reportedly talking to a rival, Lucid Motors”. Musk has asked “rhetorically” if anyone else could do his job better. “The uninvited answer is yes,” says Jonathan Guthrie in the FT. Tesla would be better run by someone who isn’t exhausted. If there is no one capable of keeping the show on the road while Musk, 47, recuperates, then directors haven’t “been earning their share payouts”. “Tesla, for all its faults, is a magnificent affirmation of faith in the future.” Musk should get some sleep and medical attention. “A brief absence could forestall a longer one.”