autoevolution
 

Elon Musk Needs Someone Like Tim Cook for Tesla and SpaceX, Here's Why

Elon Musk has had a rough week, as someone sued him for $258 Billion, and some SpaceX employees wrote an open letter criticizing his behavior. If he was not the world's richest person since January 2021, we might feel sorry for him. Instead of feeling sorry, we have an idea.
Elon Musk 7 photos
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube video by Tesla
Elon MuskElon MuskElon MuskTop 10 questions Elon Musk will face in the Q4 2021 earnings callTop 10 questions Elon Musk will face in the Q4 2021 earnings callTop 10 questions Elon Musk will face in the Q4 2021 earnings call
Musk is one of those people who have identified themselves with the companies they led, and this sounds like a great idea until the person in question does or says something that makes the public uncomfortable. We are going with the latter term because it is not about anger here; it is about how much people “like” the individual.

For example, Steve Jobs was a person who identified himself with the company that he co-founded and led. This was fun at the beginning, a bit odd after he was ousted by the CEO that he selected (the famous "selling sugar water or changing the world" conversation), and then fun again when he came back. At least, that is what it looked like from the outside, even though people on the inside might not have had the same experience.

At this point, Musk is enjoying what might be his peak, even though he probably wants even more. Mind you, I am not suggesting that Musk has peaked, but he has reached a point where you cannot help but wonder what could he possibly do next, and the pressure might be too much for a human to handle.

Again, we are writing about the world's richest person. His fortune is valued at approximately $224 billion. As a reference, the previous "world's richest person," Jeff Bezos, had an estimated net worth of $144 billion. Musk is the CEO of Tesla and also founded SpaceX, and his attention is currently focused on Twitter while also going back-and-forth with improving Tesla.

Top 10 questions Elon Musk will face in the Q4 2021 earnings call
Photo: Youtube screenshot
Musk is human, after all, and he is 50 years old, which might not be the best moment to continue living "the startup life." Instead of sleeping in an office just to be sure that things go his way at Tesla, there are alternative ways to make that happen. My idea is to seek within the company and find the company's "Tim Cook." No, we are not proposing he tries to get Apple's head honcho to lead the automaker.

Instead, we are suggesting Elon finds "the Tim Cook to his Steve Jobs." It might be worthwhile to have one or several people who are already close to him, select one of those people, and then proceed to hand over the leadership of the company.

We are sure Musk has a lawyer on hand to ensure that the company will be led exactly how he expects it to happen and that everything will proceed in the direction that he chose with the help of the company's board.

The good part about the entire deal is that he already has that person at SpaceX, which has a president, who could be allowed to become the image of the company. Or not, and it would be fine as long as Elon could just take a step to the side and stop communicating as if he is SpaceX and Tesla together.

Top 10 questions Elon Musk will face in the Q4 2021 earnings call
Photo: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
This way, Elon Musk could focus on his next big thing (that's an Apple-related pun right there) and make Twitter into the free-speech platform that he keeps writing about. The good news is that Twitter already works that way, as far as we know, and he just needs to not fire anyone who expresses an opinion different from his.

If Elon leaves someone else in the driver's seat at Tesla, stops focusing on SpaceX, and just focuses his energy on Twitter, as well as other potential business ideas, he might become even wealthier.

In any case, even if Elon takes a vacation from Twitter, the internet altogether, as well as the companies he runs, he is not in danger of suddenly becoming poor, as long as his vacation plans are clear. A certain Chinese billionaire comes to mind.

With at least a couple of weeks off, Elon could come with fresh ideas to the table or, at least, clear his head and be happy with what he has, which is a net worth of $224 billion.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)

Editor's note: For illustration purposes, the photo gallery shows images of Elon Musk.

About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories