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Musk is agreeing to step down as chairman of the board (while staying CEO) and Tesla is appointing two new independent directors. It's a significant curtailing
by cwyers 8y ago
Musk is agreeing to step down as chairman of the board (while staying CEO) and Tesla is appointing two new independent directors. It's a significant curtailing of his power over Tesla. How was the coverage overplayed?
- enraged_camel 8y agoEh, it’s not that significant. Elon is someone whose reputation precedes him wherever he goes, and that’s where most of his influence comes from.
- sjwright 8y agoIt's probably a blessing in disguise for Musk, who was clearly stretching himself too thin across too many responsibilities. It's not like he will be any less influential where it matters. Merely running a company probably isn't Musk's most valuable contribution to Tesla. This will give him more ability to focus on engineering matters.
- shanghaiaway 8y agoMusk does not do any engineering. He's a marketing guy.
- mrhappyunhappy 8y agoIn an interview with Joe Rogan, Musk said he spends 85% of his time on design and engineering.
- shanghaiaway 8y agoThat's a lie though.
- sjwright 8y agoCitation?
- sabertoothed 8y agoI am an engineering PhD student. I have all the rights to call myself an engineer. But Musk does a thousand times more engineering than I do. And he knows a thousand times more about engineering than me. Or anyone of my colleagues. He can surely also be considered an engineer.
- shanghaiaway 8y agoMusk doesn't spend 85% of his time on engineering.
- sjwright 8y agoCitation?
- shanghaiaway 8y agoI don't need a citation to counter an obvious lie, by a notorious liar, backed by nothing. The same person also claims that he works 120 hour weeks. Obvious falsehood.
- dang 8y agoMaybe so, but could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News?
- sjwright 8y agoAssuming that was true[1][2] the point still stands, it means Musk could spend more time on marketing than the tedium of corporate matters. [1] You could argue it's true by pointing out that ninety percent of Tesla's marketing IS engineering, engineering that fuels a powerful perpetual hype machine. [2] It's obviously not. He is formally trained in economics and physics, and he proved these qualifications with PayPal and SpaceX respectively. When it comes to marketing he's quite clearly uncomfortable in that role.
- icelancer 8y agoThis is absurd. You are just repeating the same anti-Musk nonsense that has zero bearing in reality. Do you even know the origin story of SpaceX and how Musk designed and priced the Falcon rockets himself?
- markdown 8y agoI heard he built the first Falcon rocket in a cave out of spare parts.
- shanghaiaway 8y agoHe did not design Falcon.
- GuB-42 8y agoNowhere I've seen that Musk designed Falcon rockets himself. My understanding is that Tom Mueller is the real engineer behind SpaceX, having designed the Merlin engine. There are comments about how quickly Musk managed to understand rocketry but that doesn't make him an engineer. I suppose he has enough knowledge to understand what SpaceX is doing and where to invest but not for designing entire rockets.
- nickik 8y agoThat is simply false. He is the Chief Engender in SpaceX. I have heard multiple interview with people that work at SpaceX or used to work at SpaceX and the all talk about working on stuff and Elon being the one who makes engineering decisions and is hand on with all the product. Nobody knows as much about every single part of the Falcon 9 as Elon. Again, this has been said by many people. Please actually inform yourself and don't be guided by bias.
- dnomad 8y agoThe psychodrama Musk causes is far more interesting than anything Musk does. The guy is just a widget maker but his name is enough to summon outraged hordes all desperate for his failure. This kind of naked ressentiment is something that, until recently, you didn't see in the West. The other side of structural inequality is probably this basic need to see the wealthy and powerful suffer, particularly those who have the pretense to declare themselves do gooders. > Musk is agreeing to step down as chairman of the board (while staying CEO) and Tesla is appointing two new independent directors. It's a significant curtailing of his power over Tesla. How was the coverage overplayed? The obsession with Musk is way overplayed at this point. The idea that people care about Tesla at all is laughable. At this point it's all about the desire to see their betters brought low.
- Latteland 8y agoI agree with your comments about the naked interest in seeing him fail, but disagree with the cause. I think the people who want him to fail are more linked to supporting the status quo, in car companies, gas production, hating the idea of evs helping to reduce greenhouse gasses, stock shorters of Tesla, who are often some of those things. My dad fits in this camp. I haven't come across this from people who are jealous of rich people or concerned about income inequality. I see these rabid anti Tesla people are mostly rich, conservatives.
- dnomad 8y agoCertainly there's the standard conservative tendency to defed the status quo and hate all revolutionaries but that's sort of the point. Musk would be far more well received and relatable if he was just another grubby capitalist scrounging for as money dollars as possible before he dies. What really seems to get the anti-Musk people going is that the guy appears to be having so much fun. Even when he's working 16 hour days it's doing something he absolutely loves. This sort of day-to-day basic enjoyment is rare -- that Musk should enjoy it while saving the planet must seem outrageously unfair. The rising backlash against Musk and the tech industry is a potent fuel source for the rising ressentiment in the West. It goes beyond politics because people like Musk don't even have any real political power to take away. It's doubtful anything less than his complete failure will be enough to placate people.