Photo: Twitter / Elon Musk
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk may have just shot himself in the foot, according to industry analysts and Tesla business partners. Either that, or he should lay off Twitter for a while.
Much like other public figures (cough, Donald Trump, cough), Musk has a reputation for tweeting first and thinking after. This certainly seems to have been the case the other day, when he went off on a British diver who had helped in the Thai cave rescue of the 12 boys, calling him a “pedo guy.”
Musk must have realized the error of his way immediately after because he deleted the tweets, but its effects still ripple. TIME reports that Tesla shares went down on Monday by 3.5%, compared to late Friday. The drop from $318.87 to $307.20 translates into a $2 billion loss from the company’s market value, but it could also signal the beginning of the end for Musk, if we’re to believe more somber analysts.
The “pedo” comment came after a spat with diver Vernon Unsworth, who had told CNN that Musk’s rescue submarine, the one he bragged about on Twitter for creating it specifically for the rescue mission, was nothing but a “PR stunt.” According to the diver, it would have never worked, even if it had gotten there in time.
As such, he kindly invited Musk to stick the submarine “where it hurts.” Regardless of what you think of this, it turns out what hurt Musk the most was his ego, because he didn’t waste too much time to go off on the guy on social media.
In between claiming to have proof that his submarine could have worked, he insisted that Unsworth wasn’t even part of the rescue team and, consequently, he was just some guy looking for publicity.
“Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it,” he added, completely out of the blue. “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true,” Musk said when someone challenged him on such an outrageous claim.
As it happens, not only was Unsworth involved with the rescue crew from day one, but he was there guiding the Thai Navy SEALs through the inundated passages, which ultimately led them to the boys. He’s considering legal action against Musk, so it looks like he’s about to take another hit where it hurts him the most.
Musk must have realized the error of his way immediately after because he deleted the tweets, but its effects still ripple. TIME reports that Tesla shares went down on Monday by 3.5%, compared to late Friday. The drop from $318.87 to $307.20 translates into a $2 billion loss from the company’s market value, but it could also signal the beginning of the end for Musk, if we’re to believe more somber analysts.
The “pedo” comment came after a spat with diver Vernon Unsworth, who had told CNN that Musk’s rescue submarine, the one he bragged about on Twitter for creating it specifically for the rescue mission, was nothing but a “PR stunt.” According to the diver, it would have never worked, even if it had gotten there in time.
As such, he kindly invited Musk to stick the submarine “where it hurts.” Regardless of what you think of this, it turns out what hurt Musk the most was his ego, because he didn’t waste too much time to go off on the guy on social media.
In between claiming to have proof that his submarine could have worked, he insisted that Unsworth wasn’t even part of the rescue team and, consequently, he was just some guy looking for publicity.
“Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it,” he added, completely out of the blue. “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true,” Musk said when someone challenged him on such an outrageous claim.
As it happens, not only was Unsworth involved with the rescue crew from day one, but he was there guiding the Thai Navy SEALs through the inundated passages, which ultimately led them to the boys. He’s considering legal action against Musk, so it looks like he’s about to take another hit where it hurts him the most.
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