4 ms·

From the tweets manipulating stock prices to the name of his kid, claims of forsaking possessions, false claims about constitutional guarantees of limitless fre

From the tweets manipulating stock prices to the name of his kid, claims of forsaking possessions, false claims about constitutional guarantees of limitless freedom, to the flagrant disregard for the health and safety of his employees, I can't help but wonder if Musk has had some medical event that is imparing his cognition. He once seemed to be the savoir of humanity but these days he just seems like the typical angry CEO looking to manipulate things to his advantage.

vulcan01 7y ago
Didn't he say that he doesn't get enough sleep [1]? That may be the "medical event"... [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sleep-deprivation-damage-2018-8 https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sleep-deprivation-...
- dkersten 7y ago
  Given the effects of my own stints with way too little sleep over long periods of time, I would say yes. Not getting enough sleep really does mess with your brain.
A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
I don't want to simplify it too much, but there is a lot money on the line. And after that, there is legacy to think of. Humanity takes a back seat to those two.
dr_dshiv 7y ago
Another way to look at it is that the world has gotten crazier than Elon. > false claims about constitutional guarantees of limitless freedom I don't know that i saw that tweet. Was this referring to first amendment freedom of assembly?
seibelj 7y ago
He's a billionaire and doesn't give a fuck, he's living his life exactly the way he wants to - "Life is Art" - and enjoys being a kooky public figure. He just doesn't care what you or anyone thinks.
- new_realist 7y ago
  Is that why he maintains a personal PR firm, an army of paid social media influencers and multiple AstroTurf Twitter accounts?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
jdross 7y ago
He seems pretty much the same to me, honestly. Everything he is doing seems either to the benefit of the companies he is building, or personally weird but ultimately harmless. Moving out of a state that won't let you run your business seems like a very savvy move for a person whose job is running a business and growing it as quickly as possible (which he would say is in order to accelerate the shift to a sustainable energy future, which you can agree with or not) I'm genuinely confused by the animosity
- SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
  I think it's dangerous and toxic in general for billionaires to threaten economic retribution when the government doesn't enact their preferred policies. I continue to think that here, even though I generally like this particular billionaire and agree with the policy position he's fighting for.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    You do what must be done. If the government provided more support to businesses due to COVID shutdown, this wouldn’t have been necessary. This is a Federal government failure manifestation. Elon is trying to save his business he’s worked two decades on. I can’t fault him. Airlines and Ford (pinnacles of responsible business operations /s) getting bailed out by the Fed through junk bond liquidity operations? Why not Tesla too?
    - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
      It's even worse for billionaires to threaten economic retribution because the government didn't give them enough money.
      - toomuchtodo 7y ago
        I agree with Elon (from his latest interview with Joe Rogan) that billionaires get a lot of shit (which is why he’s going minimalist nomad supposedly, to deflect criticism by eliminating anything ostentatious in his life). Almost all of them deserve it, but Musk, Gates, and Buffett don’t (all for various yet obvious reasons). They are in a different class. Arguably, we still want those billionaires to succeed, but we also want taxes paid and workers protected across the board. I don’t think that’s unreasonable, but complex problems and their solutions are hard to discuss at scale because of entrenched interests, sound bites, the twenty four hour news cycle, and people acting in bad faith.
ddorian43 7y ago
He has said that he may be bipolar so probably he's just manic.
eranation 7y ago
He should be careful, in this pace, he might get elected president.
- aspenmayer 7y ago
  I thought he was originally from South Africa, which would disqualify him from the presidency?
  - dekhn 7y ago
    It depends; if at least one of your parents is american, but you are born in a foreign country, you can be president (Ted Cruz). I don't think Musk qualifies (and he would never win, anyway).
    - aspenmayer 7y ago
      Yes, it does get rather complicated. There are edge cases but it’s safe to say Musk does not qualify.
paulcole 7y ago
> He once seemed to be the savoir of humanity In hindsight pretty impressive he ever pulled the wool over anyone’s eyes.
buttholesurfer 7y ago
Lmao. You don't even see that its got you talking about tesla. He's doing what Apple does with 700 USD wheels without even selling anything. Its free tesla talk.
BurningFrog 7y ago
I enjoy whenever someone lets their freak flag fly! That said I wouldn't rule out a medical event :) Also, if you piss off The Powers That Be enough, it doesn't end well for you.
coliveira 7y ago
Musk has clearly acted erratically in the last few years. He must certainly has some kind of brain disfunction. Many such people at certain times appear to be geniuses, but their lives are badly impacted by their lack of awareness of other human beings and insatiable ego. A case that went wrong very early was Elisabeth Holmes. But a lot of these crazy people go on to make a fortune and then the public is lead to believe that they're great, to praise then and even to try emulating them. For example, even with all signs of mental disease, we still see a lot o people incensing Musk as a great person to be imitated.
- Exmoor 7y ago
  I've said this in other threads before, but Musk's behavior is very consistent with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disor...
  - coliveira 7y ago
    Yes, this kind of disorder is very common in people who succeed in business, because it helps them to shut down concerns from other people. For example, Bill Gates had no qualms in plotting against Paul Allen, a guy who helped him to start his business.
paxys 7y ago
Musk says whatever he needs to to stay relevant on Twitter.
- dawnerd 7y ago
  Exactly, people don't seen to get that and read too much into it. He ramps it up usually around new announcements and whatnot.
- jrockway 7y ago
  I think there are as many people that would be happy with "ya know what, we should chill while we collect more data about the risks of restarting manufacturing" as there are that would be happy with "fuck the government, i'm moving". It will be in the news either way; people LOVE talking about Elon and Tesla even when he's not being weird. I don't know what is going on, but I think he should take a break from Twitter.
hyko 7y ago
Extreme wealth and power are amplifiers; any character flaws you have are going to be magnified by it a thousand fold. Most of us would appear very strange if viewed through this prism of the unbounded ego. Or maybe it’s just for the lolz + fat stacks of mad cheddar.
mc32 7y ago
No I think there was a time California had a leg up on the competition, but after years of adding government regulation and taxation, some people are finding that the difference is sufficient for it to be worthwhile to move. Some people move did to housing costs, some businesses will move due to business climate. Is it the start of a trend or a one off, who knows. Time will tell.
dkersten 7y ago
Elon and Trump behave rather similarly in many ways. Same narcisist bullshit, different asshole.
andrepd 7y ago
I find this almost funny to read if it weren't so sad. > He once seemed to be the savoir of humanity but these days he just seems like the typical angry CEO looking to manipulate things to his advantage. > I can't help but wonder if Musk has had some medical event that is imparing his cognition. How condescending is this? Is he acting like an angry little man, selfishly concerned for his bottom line and little else? Is he behaving like the stereotypical, upper-class born, billionaire CEO which he is? No, he must be having some kind of medical condition! Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, he is just... your average billionaire CEO? Father owned an emerald mine, had a "lavish lifestyle" growing up (his words), had enough capital to invest in companies and strike it gold. A mixture of luck and merit. Maybe, just maybe, he is not Our lord God-Emperor Elon.
bpodgursky 7y ago
> to the name of his kid Have you seen his girlfriend? Given her aesthetics and creative output, you should be glad the name can even be expressed in unicode. Musk probably moderated it, if anything. > tweets manipulating stock prices The stock price which is now... close to 2x the exaggerated $420 claim? Yeah, maybe he knew something you didn't. > claims of forsaking possessions This is for a good reason -- he needs cash to exercise the TSLA options he was just granted. He's stock-rich but cash-poor. The choices are either take on massive debt to exercise them, or free up cash ASAP. This is fine. > false claims about constitutional guarantees of limitless freedom Yeah... gonna need a cite here. > to the flagrant disregard for the health and safety of his employees He has different risk/reward beliefs than you. If he was working from home while his employees sweated unsafely on the factory line, that's one thing -- but he's also been in the office working beside them the whole time. He cares about what he's trying to do, and his risk/reward function is "fuck it". Did any of his employees honestly expect any less, when they joined? > He once seemed to be the savoir of humanity He's doing the same thing he's always done. His belief is that stopping global warming and getting humans off of earth take 100% precedence over anything else. Including, a 0-1% risk of death from disease. The same reason he's pushing to put astronauts in space -- the future is worth taking risks for. If believed in Musk in the good times, you should have understood that he'd hold the same principles in the bad times. It's the rest of the world that blinked, not Elon.
- dkersten 7y ago
  > The stock price which is now... close to 2x the exaggerated $420 claim? Yeah, maybe he knew something you didn't. That.. doesn't mean it wasn't stock manipulation. Its not really about the stock price, its about whether he caused people to buy or sell based on false claims or information. > He has different risk/reward beliefs than you. If he was working from home while his employees sweated unsafely on the factory line, that's one thing -- but he's also been in the office working beside them the whole time. He cares about what he's trying to do, and his risk/reward function is "fuck it". That doesn't make it ok, nor does it mean his employees don't feel pressured to go against their own risk/reward beliefs. There have been plenty of stories of Musk flippantly firing people for not "working hard enough". You might say well people who work there have other options and could choose to work elsewhere, but is it really a real choice if the person otherwise believes strongly in the mission, or is blinded by Musk's personal brand, or otherwise loves their job, or is worried about the economy due to pandemic. There are plenty of reasons why someone might feel pressured to work even if they do not feel its safe. The risk/reward function for a billionaire is not the same as for the average person working for him. Just because he thinks "fuck it" doesn't make it ok to put his employees at risk.

vulcan01 7y ago

Didn't he say that he doesn't get enough sleep [1]? That may be the "medical event"... [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sleep-deprivation-damage-2018-8 https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sleep-deprivation-...

dkersten 7y ago
Given the effects of my own stints with way too little sleep over long periods of time, I would say yes. Not getting enough sleep really does mess with your brain.

A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago

I don't want to simplify it too much, but there is a lot money on the line. And after that, there is legacy to think of. Humanity takes a back seat to those two.

dr_dshiv 7y ago

Another way to look at it is that the world has gotten crazier than Elon. > false claims about constitutional guarantees of limitless freedom I don't know that i saw that tweet. Was this referring to first amendment freedom of assembly?

seibelj 7y ago

He's a billionaire and doesn't give a fuck, he's living his life exactly the way he wants to - "Life is Art" - and enjoys being a kooky public figure. He just doesn't care what you or anyone thinks.

new_realist 7y ago
Is that why he maintains a personal PR firm, an army of paid social media influencers and multiple AstroTurf Twitter accounts?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

jdross 7y ago

He seems pretty much the same to me, honestly. Everything he is doing seems either to the benefit of the companies he is building, or personally weird but ultimately harmless. Moving out of a state that won't let you run your business seems like a very savvy move for a person whose job is running a business and growing it as quickly as possible (which he would say is in order to accelerate the shift to a sustainable energy future, which you can agree with or not) I'm genuinely confused by the animosity

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
I think it's dangerous and toxic in general for billionaires to threaten economic retribution when the government doesn't enact their preferred policies. I continue to think that here, even though I generally like this particular billionaire and agree with the policy position he's fighting for.
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  You do what must be done. If the government provided more support to businesses due to COVID shutdown, this wouldn’t have been necessary. This is a Federal government failure manifestation. Elon is trying to save his business he’s worked two decades on. I can’t fault him. Airlines and Ford (pinnacles of responsible business operations /s) getting bailed out by the Fed through junk bond liquidity operations? Why not Tesla too?
  - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
    It's even worse for billionaires to threaten economic retribution because the government didn't give them enough money.
    - toomuchtodo 7y ago
      I agree with Elon (from his latest interview with Joe Rogan) that billionaires get a lot of shit (which is why he’s going minimalist nomad supposedly, to deflect criticism by eliminating anything ostentatious in his life). Almost all of them deserve it, but Musk, Gates, and Buffett don’t (all for various yet obvious reasons). They are in a different class. Arguably, we still want those billionaires to succeed, but we also want taxes paid and workers protected across the board. I don’t think that’s unreasonable, but complex problems and their solutions are hard to discuss at scale because of entrenched interests, sound bites, the twenty four hour news cycle, and people acting in bad faith.

ddorian43 7y ago

He has said that he may be bipolar so probably he's just manic.

eranation 7y ago

He should be careful, in this pace, he might get elected president.

aspenmayer 7y ago
I thought he was originally from South Africa, which would disqualify him from the presidency?
- dekhn 7y ago
  It depends; if at least one of your parents is american, but you are born in a foreign country, you can be president (Ted Cruz). I don't think Musk qualifies (and he would never win, anyway).
  - aspenmayer 7y ago
    Yes, it does get rather complicated. There are edge cases but it’s safe to say Musk does not qualify.

paulcole 7y ago

> He once seemed to be the savoir of humanity In hindsight pretty impressive he ever pulled the wool over anyone’s eyes.

buttholesurfer 7y ago

Lmao. You don't even see that its got you talking about tesla. He's doing what Apple does with 700 USD wheels without even selling anything. Its free tesla talk.

BurningFrog 7y ago

I enjoy whenever someone lets their freak flag fly! That said I wouldn't rule out a medical event :) Also, if you piss off The Powers That Be enough, it doesn't end well for you.

coliveira 7y ago

Musk has clearly acted erratically in the last few years. He must certainly has some kind of brain disfunction. Many such people at certain times appear to be geniuses, but their lives are badly impacted by their lack of awareness of other human beings and insatiable ego. A case that went wrong very early was Elisabeth Holmes. But a lot of these crazy people go on to make a fortune and then the public is lead to believe that they're great, to praise then and even to try emulating them. For example, even with all signs of mental disease, we still see a lot o people incensing Musk as a great person to be imitated.

Exmoor 7y ago
I've said this in other threads before, but Musk's behavior is very consistent with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disor...
- coliveira 7y ago
  Yes, this kind of disorder is very common in people who succeed in business, because it helps them to shut down concerns from other people. For example, Bill Gates had no qualms in plotting against Paul Allen, a guy who helped him to start his business.

paxys 7y ago

Musk says whatever he needs to to stay relevant on Twitter.

dawnerd 7y ago
Exactly, people don't seen to get that and read too much into it. He ramps it up usually around new announcements and whatnot.
jrockway 7y ago
I think there are as many people that would be happy with "ya know what, we should chill while we collect more data about the risks of restarting manufacturing" as there are that would be happy with "fuck the government, i'm moving". It will be in the news either way; people LOVE talking about Elon and Tesla even when he's not being weird. I don't know what is going on, but I think he should take a break from Twitter.

hyko 7y ago

Extreme wealth and power are amplifiers; any character flaws you have are going to be magnified by it a thousand fold. Most of us would appear very strange if viewed through this prism of the unbounded ego. Or maybe it’s just for the lolz + fat stacks of mad cheddar.

mc32 7y ago

No I think there was a time California had a leg up on the competition, but after years of adding government regulation and taxation, some people are finding that the difference is sufficient for it to be worthwhile to move. Some people move did to housing costs, some businesses will move due to business climate. Is it the start of a trend or a one off, who knows. Time will tell.

dkersten 7y ago

Elon and Trump behave rather similarly in many ways. Same narcisist bullshit, different asshole.

andrepd 7y ago

I find this almost funny to read if it weren't so sad. > He once seemed to be the savoir of humanity but these days he just seems like the typical angry CEO looking to manipulate things to his advantage. > I can't help but wonder if Musk has had some medical event that is imparing his cognition. How condescending is this? Is he acting like an angry little man, selfishly concerned for his bottom line and little else? Is he behaving like the stereotypical, upper-class born, billionaire CEO which he is? No, he must be having some kind of medical condition! Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, he is just... your average billionaire CEO? Father owned an emerald mine, had a "lavish lifestyle" growing up (his words), had enough capital to invest in companies and strike it gold. A mixture of luck and merit. Maybe, just maybe, he is not Our lord God-Emperor Elon.

bpodgursky 7y ago

> to the name of his kid Have you seen his girlfriend? Given her aesthetics and creative output, you should be glad the name can even be expressed in unicode. Musk probably moderated it, if anything. > tweets manipulating stock prices The stock price which is now... close to 2x the exaggerated $420 claim? Yeah, maybe he knew something you didn't. > claims of forsaking possessions This is for a good reason -- he needs cash to exercise the TSLA options he was just granted. He's stock-rich but cash-poor. The choices are either take on massive debt to exercise them, or free up cash ASAP. This is fine. > false claims about constitutional guarantees of limitless freedom Yeah... gonna need a cite here. > to the flagrant disregard for the health and safety of his employees He has different risk/reward beliefs than you. If he was working from home while his employees sweated unsafely on the factory line, that's one thing -- but he's also been in the office working beside them the whole time. He cares about what he's trying to do, and his risk/reward function is "fuck it". Did any of his employees honestly expect any less, when they joined? > He once seemed to be the savoir of humanity He's doing the same thing he's always done. His belief is that stopping global warming and getting humans off of earth take 100% precedence over anything else. Including, a 0-1% risk of death from disease. The same reason he's pushing to put astronauts in space -- the future is worth taking risks for. If believed in Musk in the good times, you should have understood that he'd hold the same principles in the bad times. It's the rest of the world that blinked, not Elon.

dkersten 7y ago
> The stock price which is now... close to 2x the exaggerated $420 claim? Yeah, maybe he knew something you didn't. That.. doesn't mean it wasn't stock manipulation. Its not really about the stock price, its about whether he caused people to buy or sell based on false claims or information. > He has different risk/reward beliefs than you. If he was working from home while his employees sweated unsafely on the factory line, that's one thing -- but he's also been in the office working beside them the whole time. He cares about what he's trying to do, and his risk/reward function is "fuck it". That doesn't make it ok, nor does it mean his employees don't feel pressured to go against their own risk/reward beliefs. There have been plenty of stories of Musk flippantly firing people for not "working hard enough". You might say well people who work there have other options and could choose to work elsewhere, but is it really a real choice if the person otherwise believes strongly in the mission, or is blinded by Musk's personal brand, or otherwise loves their job, or is worried about the economy due to pandemic. There are plenty of reasons why someone might feel pressured to work even if they do not feel its safe. The risk/reward function for a billionaire is not the same as for the average person working for him. Just because he thinks "fuck it" doesn't make it ok to put his employees at risk.