The richest man in the world just had a crazy week even for him, the mega busy CEO.
It’s an eventful and crazy week that the richest man in the world has just experienced.
Even for the billionaire who is involved with four companies – Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc. Report, SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company – playing leading roles in their respective fields, the past seven days have been among the most psychologically draining.
Indeed, the events that Musk has just experienced are at the height of his influence. He has more than 108.2 million followers on the social network Twitter, the platform for trendsetters and opinion makers.
To one of his fans and admirers who told him on the evening of October 6 to take care of his health after having recapitulated his news of the last seven days, Musk ended up recognizing that it had been a little too much.
“Very intense 7 days indeed,” the tech tycoon posted on Twitter.
The Hero Is Down
And what a week!
When Musk closed the presentation of Tesla’s dancing humanoid robot, Optimus, which will cost less than $20,000 on September 30, the Chief Executive Officer no doubt thought there was no better way to kick off the fourth quarter.
He thought he had succeeded in redefining Tesla, which he now presents as a technological group and no longer as a simple manufacturer of electric vehicles.
But the release of third-quarter vehicle delivery figures on October 2 was the first sign of trouble in the visionary’s well-oiled communications machine. These figures have disappointed the markets, which have also very badly received the fact that Tesla warned of having encountered new problems related to the transport and delivery of its cars to its stores.
It is therefore quite natural that the price of Tesla shares fell sharply on October 3 on the stock market. The next day, Musk started a big fire on Twitter that he still hasn’t been able to put out.
Without being asked, he proposed a peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been going on since Moscow’s unprovoked February 24 invasion of Kyiv.
This plan, perceived as pro-Russian, was mocked, criticized, torn apart by Ukrainians and Twitter users. Ukraine supporters agree that Musk is basically asking the Ukrainians to capitulate because one of the points of the peace plan stipulates that Kyiv must recognize as Russian territory the Ukrainian areas – Crimea and Donbas – occupied by Russia.
Musk has been criticized, insulted and called a traitor. The Ukrainians, who took him as a hero, accused him of turning his back and becoming pro-Russian and pro-Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.
The billionaire has spent the last few days explaining himself. He said that realism dictated his peace plan because he fears a nuclear war with horrific consequences not only for Ukraine but also for the rest of the world.
Popularity and Glory
But it is as if he were preaching in a vacuum. The damage seems to have been done. Musk, the hero of the Western world who provided Starlink, a secure satellite internet access service to Ukrainians, seems to have disappeared. Make way for Musk the realist.
On the same October 4, Musk sent a letter to Twitter’s (TWTR) – Get Twitter Inc. Report board of directors informing them that he was reviving his offer to acquire the platform for $44 billion. He asked in exchange that Twitter drop its lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court.
The platform is suing the mogul after he abruptly withdrew the proposal in July, claiming that Twitter had lied about the number of fake accounts present on the social network.
Due to the lack of trust between the two parties due to the multiple twists and turns in this saga that started on April 4, Twitter has not dropped its lawsuit for the moment. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick has given the two parties until October 28 to reach an agreement, failing which the trial which was to begin on October 17 will take place.
According to media reports, Twitter rejected requests from Musk for a price reduction. In the end, the billionaire seems to have capitulated, no doubt for fear that his deposition, which was scheduled on October 6 and 7, would poke holes in the Musk mystique.
During a deposition, Twitter lawyers who legally obtained private emails from Musk via subpoenas, have the right to ask any questions they deem relevant.
It is therefore drained of energy that Musk ends a week in which he seems to have lost much of his popularity and glory.
