Wearing Out His Welcome

Elon Musk is wearing out his stature with investment analysts and the public. He insulted them on an earnings call and generated numerous stories about it. For example, here and here. He has been living a charmed life. Few entrepreneurs have been given the slack that he has to lose billions while pursuing an electric vehicle. There have been solo voices in recent months that questioned why the company’s stock remains so high and now, it appears they are being heard. Musk himself seems to want to remain a visionary. The investment community is understandably concerned that he will have to tap capital markets yet again for a billion or two. Musk is skating on thin ice. One hopes he understands that perception can and has changed, and it is time for him to focus on the car business rather than boring holes in the ground and populating Mars.