Morton had been with Seagate for over 20 years and its CFO since 2015. 10 months after Seagate gets a new CEO, Morton leaves abruptly.
Morton goes to Tesla as Chef Accounting Officer in hopes of eventually becoming CFO.
Morton said he had no issues with Tesla leadership or financial reporting - just the pace and public scrutiny.
Interestingly, Morton already has a new job at Anaplan, and is back to the CFO.
Me thinks he had a few irons in the fire and this one just took longer to come to fruition.
No story here - other than an ambitious accounting executive in pursuit of the status of title and perhaps a more comfortable fit.
19
Elon, your cars are great and you have the lion's share of the high end electric car market for now. I worry that your chance to take the mainstream market may have been lost. The market is there, can you make an affordable product before everyone else does it. Don't lose a great head start.
9
There’s a story here but it’s not Musk toking it up. It’s the myth of Musk as hero.
Look, many people with extreme talent are just terrible at relating to others and thinking beyond themselves. That would be Elon Musk.
If I had an invitation to lunch with Musk I wouldn’t turn it down out of curiosity’s sake but I seriously doubt I would enjoy it, nor would I think the namesake of his company.
The level of adoration toward him here and elsewhere is a bit pathetic, but I think a lot of people are desperate for heroes. For Ayn Rand devotees he is the personification of John Galt.
In my world I’m surrounded by brilliant overachievers. What impresses me most are those with talent that bear it with dignity, respect for others, and a commitment to the greater good. Elon Musk is not one of those people, and I can’t think of anyone from Silicon Valley or high tech or on the Forbes 500 who meets that set of criteria.
People need to stop deluding themselves that there are benevolent, morally fit billionaires. They do not exist.
23
Such hand wringing from the NYT. Hopefully every Tesla shareholder watches the entire 2 hour plus interview and watches Musk emotionally state that his life's goal it to create things to make human life better. That's a CEO with a vision.
22
Elon Musk appears to be using Whole Foods founder John Mackey's stock manipulation handbook. Each cycle when there's money to be made by stockholders, the CEO does something outrageous to cause devaluation.
3
So big deal he smoked weed this is the heart of Tesla, it's Musk, take him or leave him.
11
This negative reaction to him smoking marijuana, just shows the wide spread public ignorance of the weed. If smoking Marijuana is having a negative effect on Mr. Musk, it should be mandatory for all adults!
9
I don't understand what all the hubbub is about.
Elon Musk taking a toke in a place where it's legal made me like him more.
Settle down, everybody.
27
Musk is a charlatan and most likely guilty of multiple SEC violations (reg FD, market manipulation, fiduciary duty). That is the real story. Smoking a little weed is a non-story.
10
Tesla is a flash in the pan. All the major car manufacturers have the capability of producing an electric vehicle. Until vehicle range is vastly improved, there is a greater availability of charging stations, and the cost of ownership comes in line with gasoline powered cars, electric cars will remain a play-toy novelty for the rich.
8
It actually was a good interview. And anyone criticizing it for the "Elon Is A Pothead Promoting Drug Usage!" notion clearly never watched it. It's practically an anti-pot ad. Musk is offered a joint (which he has to ask if it's a joint), takes one puff, doesn't even inhale, looks at it, shakes his head no, passes it back - then later on they discuss marijuana, and Musk says that he doesn't like it because it inhibits his ability to get things done and have a meaningful effect on the world.
As for the departure, Morton was brought in because his background was privatizations. But he felt like nobody appreciated his ideas as Tesla and he was being ignored. He seems to have misunderstood that privatization wasn't a means, it was a goal: to eliminate short-sellers, and thus the financial incentive to FUD the company - as well as to eliminate the end-of-quarter rush and allow the company to stay more long-term strategically focused.
There were multiple entities competing to buy Tesla. Including, among others, multiple sovereign wealth funds (not just the Saudis), and Volkswagen. The terms however were more painful to Tesla than staying public, including various combinations of loss of control, requirements to build large local production facilities and so forth. It also became clear that the best their advisers could do for allowing retail investors to remain in was an exotic trust structure that would have had a low chance of being approved by regulators.
16
Wait ---
Isn't this the same New York Times who's readers shout from the rooftops that smoking marijuana sharpens one's sense of creativity and helps focus on creative projects --?
Or - am I suddenly in another dimension...?
6
@Howard G
My point exactly in my post. Neither you nor I are in another dimension. We're just pointing out the hypocrisy.
Sit back and enjoy the rationalizations and double talk.
3
Musk does some stupid things but taking one drag of marijuana is the least of them. Would there be concern if he drank a beer?
6
He took one toke, and exhaled almost immediately.
I think even Bill Clinton may have imbibed more enthusiastically.
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
3
This guy is little more than a first rate flim- flam artist and second rate human being cut from the same cloth as Donald Trump. He gets a lot of passes from the NYT and other liberals because he knows hoe to push the right buttons. He and Alex Jones could switch places seamlessly.
4
Why does the NY Times cover everything that Elon Musk does? I recall a headline from a few years ago: "Trump to Skip Iowa Debate." The Times should be above the embrace of celebrity culture. Leave that to the Enquirer and People Magazine. Enough about every Musk detail. Please. Really.
6
It legal in CA, so who gives a hoot if he's toking. I just wonder if all that crazy stuff he's been doing lately is related to his partaking of weed and that his remark about loss of productivity is a comment on himself. Not a shareholder and the Model 3 is too small for my husband so we got our deposit back and moved on.
1
I saw the video. He didn’t inhale, just blew it out from his mouth. At least that’s what was on the short clip I saw.
Just like Clinton said that he tried it but “did not inhale” I just don’t get it. What’s the point?
4
This isn’t gonna be news tomorrow. Who cares if Elon spouts on about going private in public. Sue him if your a shareholder and you feel damaged by his provocations and in redress can prove to have been harmed. So jejune. And who cares if Elon likes to smoke. Better that than a wheatgrass drinking thief
or a plain-nosed drunk attempting to running an innovative company.
2
Kinda improved my opinion of the guy, tell you the truth.
13
I've never met a stoner who wasn't a liar.
I've learned the hard way to never trust a stoner.
2
Thank you Elon, for being Elon.
8
It’s interesting that a rumpled joint looks no different to me than it did from fifty years ago, with technology changing everything else, what happened here?
1
I don't care much one way or the other about Musk. The one thing that makes the needle on the scale lean a bit to the minus side would be his hypocrisy. He pretends to care about the environment with his electric car but donates large amounts of money to the campaign of a president who is doing everything he can to wreck and poison the planet.
The only reason I can think that he would be donating to a Republican is to hasten the day when the pioneers of the Mars colony board the space capsule and leave for their new home, He is convinced we will need to move to a new planet because we are destroying the earth. Are his donations part of his business plan to bring total destruction even sooner than it would otherwise occur?
Slowly transforming into the Bond villain he has always tending toward.
4
Isn’t it interesting NY is pushing to legalize pot because it is “safe” (actual reason is tax revenue) but when a CEO smokes pot Wall Street, located in NYC, sees this as a danger, front page negative news ensues and the stock drops?
So which is it, safe or a danger sign? Does this mean it is safe to smoke pot as long as the user is not a CEO? Would the same reaction occur if the CEO were to have a drink?
C’mon Governor Cuomo and Ms Nixon. Care to dance around this one? Feel free to join in media supporting legalization. I can’t wait to hear the rationalizations.
2
Actions have consequences. If the world judges Elon Musk unfavorably for smoking a blunt while being interviewed, he will have no one to blame except himself.
2
I’m not interested in the “celebrity” of Elon Musk. I find it boring.
1
This story is really getting old. Marijuana is already legal in some states so why the uproar? Who cares? Investors are so fickle it's ridiculous. And then of course you've got the short sellers who try their best to doom Tesla stock because they make money that way. Short selling is dangerous to our economy and should be illegal. Yet it proliferates like bad mortgage debt. Elon Musk is trying to change the world for the better and I'm tired of the establishment coming down on him. Tesla should go private.
1
The country would be a better place if there were no Twitter. Or, use Twitter, you're fired might be an alternative.
2
This guy created a video game when he was twelve and became a multimillionaire in his twenties. He created Tesla with his own money. The cars his company makes are beloved by their owners and perform better than any other manufacturer's electric offerings.
I doubt he is overly concerned what people think of his so called behavior.
3
The odd thing about this guy is that by pushing these “shock” tactics he is proving to the public that he only cares about his image. The only thing he is doing here is making sure there are headlines. He was still going after the rescuer in Thailand on Twitter and calling him “pedo” while the Chief Accounting Officer was looking at the numbers and deciding to leave or he’ll have to go to jail.
Normal people and by “normal” I mean with the right focus in mind, would REALLY be trying to find solutions to the obvious problems THE COMPANY has. He has put ego before the company he leads and he has shown that when he is criticized or scrutinized, he ESCAPES.
4
This could have been a brilliant think piece expanding on Musk's assertion of the limbic system's being served by the cortex. (There is a certain politician in the White House who seems to trade exclusively in limbic system arousal.)
Or the statement that widening traffic lanes is a 2 dimensional solution to a 3 dimensional problem (as city populations grow vertically.)
Or framing our relationship with our smartphones as the first step in the process of humans becoming cyborgs who will one day be forced to compete for survival with artificial intelligence (okay, yikes...)
The NYT joins many lesser publications in emphasizing the pot when there were many more interesting, substantive, even terrifying ideas being discussed.
10
He's no Tony Stark.
1
This is a serious red flag. I am guessing that he saw some seriously troubling things in their accounting records and bolted before the you know what hits the fan. Can you say Enron.
2
No one cares about the marijuana. Shareholders should be relieved. If a little whiskey and pot are Elon Musk's worst vices, Tesla is in good shape. He could be popping pills or doing cocaine. Those habits are more traditional among flamboyant CEOs and far more destructive. Again though, no one cares so long as the CEO is getting the job done.
I'm not sure how Michelle Krebs can chastise Musk for playing with other peoples' money though. He's the primary shareholder. He's playing with his money. All these other investors are hitching a ride on his train. Warning: Musk has already considered dumping the lot of you off at the next stop. Investor flight is actually a good thing for Musk. He won't have to buyback shares at $420 a hit in order to privatize the company.
The criticism I'd offer is someone should take away Musk's social media. His ego, erraticism, and impulsiveness wouldn't be such a problem if those traits weren't so unrestrained in the public eye. The childish part isn't his behavior. The childish part is that everyone can see it.
2
He didn't even inhale and I mean that. Watch closely.
1
Creative geniuses are rarely tidy. Get a second in there who colors inside the lines and stop overreacting to everything the boy king does.
1
I wrote a book on taking cannabis in cocktails. Cannabis Cocktails are non antagonistic.
Maybe if Mr. Musk had sipped one instead of smoking he wouldn’t have antagonized anyone.
1
Some free advice: Elon, you are very smart guy. But you need to get more sleep. Period. Lack of sleep clouds one's judgment. And speaking of clouds...smoking marijuana in a public setting (or a private one, in my opinion, mainly for heath reasons) isn't a good move. Yeah, I know cannabis is ubiquitous in California. But to paraphrase and alter Nike's tagline, "Just don't do it."
3
This clutching of pearls over Musk smoking pot would be comical if it wasn't so hurtful to the stock market. Wasn't it legal where he was? This is only news because of the effect on the stock - an effect caused by somebody toking off a joint where marijuana is legal. The whole uproar over this is pathetic.
10
The difference between the reporting of the interview and the actual interview is incredible.
So bummed the New York Times has joined the “click bait” world of Tesla articles.
Which is sad because the actual interview was very interesting, touching on may aspects of the our present day world that people care about - AI, social media, global warming, traffic - and Elon’s belief in a better future that drives him so passionately. Oh yeah, he appreciates the fun in life too.
If this is the kind of leader we are trying tear down, god help our planet.
Oh yeah and no where does the article mention the latest August numbers that has more model 3s being sold than all the cars together BMW sold.
People are going to be surprised when the fact that Tesla is actually thriving gets out because the press seems to be missing it.
In the meantime, focus on Elon taking a curious quick nerd puff, and report it as “Elon smokes weed!!!” while the rest of us spot more and more Teslas on the road.
5
It is a misrepresentation to say that Musk took a "deep drag of marijuana." He barely puffed on this big showy joint and did not inhale, The interview is on YouTube and supports this assertion. I think he did it merely to scandalize those prone to being scandalized. A bit juvenile, but nothing more. Elon Musk has certainly left himself open to attack, but that does not exempt us from the truth when reporting on him.
6
I admire Elon - not for Tesla, but for SpaceX.
As an aeronautical engineer by degree and always in love with anything space - he brought real engineering, breakthrough ideas to an industry - long dominated by big boys with NASA as the Chief funder. NASA - a government agency - congenitally not taking undue risks but also congenitally not designed to be challenged - had brought this industry to a dead man walking.
Elon - starting with nothing - but a detrmination to do things differently and successfully - will soon be the first private company to put Americans in space in over a decade. And just might beat a big time NASA contractor for good.
But, all this good stuff - and Elon may soon be another DeLorean.
I hope SpaceX directors are shielding this company from this otherwise brilliant man.
Not dissimilar to Republican efforts with POTUS to some extent.
Musk smoked that joint like a cigar smoker - he didn't inhale
5
The adult in the room, President Obama was a chronic marijuana smoker. As an avid Rogan fan I watched the podcast live Thursday night. It was low key and candid. Musk came across as thoughtful if unorthodox as most CEO types go. He wasn't just doing a 3 hour commercial.
Like Bill Clinton I don't think he inhaled the one toke he took. Rogan showed him a samurai sword over 500 years old that Musk admired. Later Friday I heard this headline from one of the talking heads in the mainstream media, "Elon Musk was drinking, smoking marijuana and brandishing a sword". Good thing I watched it live. From the TV news headline one would have thought Musk had come completely unhinged.
2
The uproar over what Elon Musk did in the Rogan interview is representative of the difference between the more relaxed and progressive west coast and the uptight eastern USA. Just look at your own map of states with legalized marijuana for a good indication of this.
Elon is just a human being, and a smart one with lots of ideas which may or may not pan out. We could use more like him.
7
Does anyone else suspect Musk is shorting Tesla stock? This all seems pretty contrived to me.
3
Investors will put up with anything so long as they keep raking in the bucks. No one cares if Musk is deranged or not, or a genius or not, or misunderstood or not--they don't care about Musk at all, except as he affects their stock portfolio. Right now, the stock is teetering--could go either way. If Musk continues to act out, and prices fall, investors will bail, and Musk will be on his own with plenty of time to smoke dope and muse about AI. Meanwhile, there are other innovative automotive companies out there run by stable entrepreneurs who looking for investors.
5
His recent erratic behavior assured me I made the right decision to NOT buy a Tesla. Cars are long-term commitments, and I want a car company with reliable leadership.
3
My reaction to Elon Musk has been that the hype is overblown. The Hyperloop for example is a concept that is impractical and will probably never gain wide application, but it has served as an excuse to not improve existing modes of transportation. As such, it has been a destructive force. Tesla is a lot of hype over very little market share. When your senior accountant resigns, you are in trouble.
6
Musk has plenty of issues regarding Tesla. Smoking pot is not one of them. It is legal in California and not really an issue.
15
When the new Chief Accounting Officer resigns after one month on the job it should alarm investors about the company's accounting practices. I would not be surprised if we later find out about massive accounting fraud at Tesla - especially around the booking of sales revenue (for those who remember the same issues at Computer Associates).
9
Ironically, all of the short interest is probably keeping the stock from crashing more quickly, as those people eventually buy back their borrowed shares, as the price declines.
1
BTW, I am a strong supporter of electric and alt energy vehicles, which can definitely make a difference, assuming they aren’t being charged via a coal fired power plant. Tesla as a company has had financial issues for a while now and Mr. Musk being irresponsible in public is definitely not helping anything.
2
Pot can be relatively harmless or it can be very damaging. It can also be highly addictive (psychologically). It all depends how often and how much. If Musk tokes daily and/or constantly, investors should be concerned. I say this as someone with over 25 years experience in the matter.
3
If Elon Musk got out of his limo on 5th Avenue and smoked a joint, how would people react? They'd send his stock down 6% and strongly doubt his leadership capability. Key members of his company would also resign. I think there's a double standard at work here. Musk has to remember that he's not the president of the United States.
5
Elon Musk makes it hard to order a Tesla. I am not going to commit a $2500 deposit to a company that seems to be self destructing.
6
The sight of Musk puffing and blowing smoke seems to fit the bill - both literally and figuratively.
6
Is Elon unorthodox, sure. Is his behavior of late unpredictable, sure. Don’t you think though that CEOs of much more “established” companies behave badly? Corruption, escorts, drugs, cheating shareholders and on and on. We just don’t see it play out in real-time like we do with Elon. The difference is that Elon is an icon of entrepreneurship and he has made himself more accessible in our new world of everything you do is on social media. We’ve made Tesla about one person instead of what it really is, the most remarkable new technology society has seen in generations. It’s strange how we assume just because we can’t see other CEOs on camera that they’re just home petting their golden retrievers and cutting their lawns.
20
Absolutely right. It’s hard to make geniuses color inside the lines. You’d think the guy offered our country to Russia or something.
2
Immature, self-centered, impudent man. Shameful! Investors have much to be concerned about. He’s completely lost sight of his duty to act like a grown up and behave in the public eye accordingly. If he doesn’t want to deal with the scrutiny he ought to take his gazilions and leave the driving of his company to others.
21
Looks like we're witnessing the unraveling of Elan Musk. The chief accounting officer must have decided to bail out when he got a good look at the financial situation at Tesla. There should be a federal investigation of this company it has a rotten smell.
4
Your comment makes no sense since TSLA is a public company whose financials are readily available to any one with an internet connection.
1
This is silly. Musk didn't appear to inhale. Even if he had, with pot now legal in California, he didn't break the law.
Is the outcry over the legal pot that presidents smoked when it was illegal?
Or is it over the legal whiskey that presidents and CEOs everywhere imbibe?
Or is that Musk can be interesting when interviewed for two hours, unlike 99% of the corporate leaders or politicians in the United States?
Maybe GM and Ford CEOs should go on that show.
55
@FR "Must didn't appear to inhale" you wrote. It isn't about inhaling - it's about his poor judgement. Bad behavior turns off investors, and it makes them and potential customers take their dollars elsewhere.
1
Why are we so surprised by this act ?
It is common place knowledge that engineers and executives in Silicon Valley are micro dosing LSD at work these days as a creativity tool.
Marijuana , in this context, is pretty benign. He was smoking marijuana in a state where the consumption of it is legal.
Elon has been under a fair amount of stress these days.
He is entitled to be able to blow off a little steam once and awhile.
He has an American product coveted by people around the world with a waiting list here and abroad.
How many other American products are like this outside of weaponry, Boeing planes, and Apple products ?
Let'gIve the poor guy a break.
9
Musk took a single hit, did not even inhale, claimed that he didn't notice any effect and then went on that he thinks smoking pot is bad for productivity. If the stock value dropped because of this, it's because people value sensationalist headlines over context.
23
Easy to say that Elon Musk is mad. But he has built so much with his madness.
I feel that a lot of the world's geniuses were mad. Thing is. Most of those geniuses were not beholding to shareholders and their monies.
4
Would people get so crazy over a shot of scotch? A toke is far less dangerous. Musk might be a little odd and the execs departing are cause for concern. But the rest is really Reefer Madness.
10
"I’d rather be optimistic and wrong than pessimistic and right.”
Yet, the outcome in both scenarios is the same...? Musk has issues, and that's coming from someone that used to be a huge supporter.
@J Harding While the outcome in both scenarios is the same, the monetary payoffs are not. If I'm optimistic and wrong I could lose a lot of money. If I'm pessimistic and right I could make a lot of money. The biggest concern about Tesla that I have is the news that the new Chief Accounting Officer quit after one month. Unless some one tells me he was fired, I have big concerns about accounting irregularities or even possibly accounting fraud.
3
So, this headline and shot of Elon Musk smoking weed is very misleading. You need to watch the whole podcast to see that one tiny clip in context and hear what Elon says about smoking pot. This is actually an excellent in depth interview with a super sensitive human being.
14
Yknow what the media and public loves? To see an incredible success story blared about.
Yknow what else the media and public loves? To see a big star in whatever arena dashed upon the rocks, plummeting to possible doom. What could be more thrilling.
I'm still a fan of Musk.
4
Those commenters accusing other commenters of being uptight should consider the context of the situation. It's not only about smoking weed, it's also about his erratic behavior as of late. Also, how common is it for company founders or executives to be interviewed publicly about their business and smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol while doing it? Yes, both cigarettes and alcohol (and now marijuana in CA) are legal but it certainly doesn't fit the usual professional atmosphere. We don't see people drinking or smoking (anything) usually on widely broadcasted talk shows, podcasts, etc. other than something you might see produced by an amateur on Youtube. It's different done off-hours, in the privacy of one's home say or at a company event.
7
Yes, I suppose he should conform and be like everyone else.
1
Musk is obviously a brilliant and accomplished man.
The fact that he shared a blunt with a comic radio host is so irrelevant it is beyond belief.
The man has a big ego, probably works way too hard but please,
do us all a favor and compare him to other biz men or major feckless politicians and he's a breath of fresh hot air.
44
So the radio host pulls out a joint and musk takes a puff. And that's made into a big deal. Tell me, did anyone in media play the markets, knowing that they were going to manipulate them with a fake rumor?
4
I was shocked about the Twitter announcement of the potential stock buyback. To me this seemed like a violation of the rules of public companies -- that announcements must comply with SEC procedures. It didn't seem that much different then making an announcement affecting public shareholders at the country club or the poker game.
4
I don't know enough about Elon Musk to really offer a firm opinion. All I can tell you is what my instincts have always told me about him from what I've seen. He has a lot of accomplishments and is exciting. If I could afford a Tesla, I'd probably drive one. He may be flying people into space someday. He is very smart, but nowhere near as smart as he thinks. His ambitions greatly outweigh his companies' capacities and may be dangerous if other more careful people don't intercede. He is more a salesman than anything else and his ego gets in the way sometimes. He thinks he is Tesla and he's not. Ironically, he does have some things in common with the historical Tesla, who, also frequently claimed to be able to do far more than he was actually able to do, was a showman and even more personality quirks. But, Tesla was also probably one of the most brilliant people who ever lived and changed all of our lives for the good. Musk is not evenly remotely in his league. I do thank him for popularizing the original though. He deserved to be more famous. There was a time very few people heard of him.
It's not the chief accountant and it's not the pot (which repulses me personally, but I would not look askance on a CEO just b/c they smoked pot moderately any more than one who drinks). But, there is just something about him I don't trust and perhaps his good qualities are starting to overwhelm his good ones.
2
You have one too many "goods" in that last bit.
With all of Tesla’s critical issues, how does Musk find time for a 2 1/2 hour interview? Forget the weed and whiskey. Wouldn’t his time be more productively spent working on those issues?
3
@NYSkeptic, should "working on those issues" require Musk's full attention 24/7? Would you be as critical if he spent 2 1/2 hours playing golf? Attending a concert? Dinner in a 4-star restaurant?
15
@NYSkeptic:
I would think that he certainly has the right to smoke a marijuana cigarette.
In my mind, playing golf would be a far greater waste of time
9
Did anyone at the NY Times actually watch the Joe Rogan interview? There was nothing unhinged or distressing about it at all. It's a 2.5 hour long form interview that goes in-depth on many topics, most of which center around his love for his companies and strategic visions for their products. I've got no stake in his companies, but if anything, I came away from the interview feeling more confident in their futures than ever. He even closed the interview imploring others to be more understanding and not rush to judgment. Ironic, given the response of the markets (and this article).
34
@Michael Thanks Michael you literally took the words out of my mouth. The majority of the interview with Musk was fascinating, insightfull and at times brilliant, which this article like many others the Times has recently published covering Musk barely payed service to.
How can the same paper that admiralbly published the ‘anonymous’ Op Ed on one day push out such a disappointing tabloid headline grabbing piece like this a few days later.
1
If a CEO had an alcoholic beverage during an interview it would not be news. I don't partake myself but someday marijuana will be considered as normal or more healthy than having a beer or a glass of wine.
I listened to the the Elon Musk interview on the Joe Rogan podcast. I thought Elon Musk came across as thoughtful and considered. He also made a great case for Tesla being a special company. I can understand the concerns if you are a stockholder about other issues but this feels like a reach.
22
In other words de stigmatized
1
@Malachi, millions of Americans already consider marijuana as normal or more healthy than an alcoholic beverage.
It's 2018, marijuana is legal in many places and enjoyed by a broad spectrum of society - the overreaction in this article and other quarters is just ridiculous and laughable.
3
The YouTube video discussed here of the "Joe Rogan Experience", is the number 1 trending video on YouTube with over 3.5 million views and has over 153,000 likes compared to only 3,000 dislikes. On YouTube, this means one thing, commercial success.
This article ignores how good the interview actually was. It actually convinced me to buy a Tesla. And, gave me faith in his abilities, I had not been interested in Tesla before.
The departure of Morton after only a month, during a time when Musk is clearly having personal difficulties and mental health issues, should only reflect badly on Morton.
This article's recollection of the 2.5 hour interview is rather selective and sensationalist. I watched it, in full, yesterday. Musk appears in need of a vacation, nothing more. As for his fitness to be CE, the man to me came across as a genius. It was an excellent and fascinating interview, giving insight into a mind that is vast and who has given immense thought to humanities greatest challenges.
He is working directly on problems of climate change and overpopulation by creating electric cars on a mass scale and preparing our species to become space faring. No other CE or billionaire has managed to work on these issues, so quickly and so effectively - especially given the scale and tractability of the problem.
If Musk feels alone right now, it is no wonder, what other CE's are working directly on removing our dependence on fossil fuels? Tesla's shares will rise.
22
@Reasonable
Point taken.
Somewhat aside, if he wants to effect a more immediate impact on overpopulation and climate change he will promote worldwide access to birth control and family planning education and perhaps shore up planned parenthood's funding, including expanding it to other countries. He should use his wealth to donate to candidates who advocate climate change legislation and women's reproductive rights.
Only the .01% will be able to afford abandoning our planet and that is only if they devise a method to survive long term in space.
1
Maybe it's time Musk thought about -- or was forced by his board to think about -- whether the breakneck pace and obsessive work ethic he has instilled at Tesla is really best for the long-term health of employees and the company. He probably isn't the only one at Tesla getting insufficient sleep, and very likely the others are relying on less benign pharmaceuticals than tokes to get them through the workdays.
5
Have you actually watched the video?
If you did you wouldn’t focus on a puff from a joint but instead would write about the amazing insights on AI and consciousness (among many other fascinating topics) that Elon talked about. So he doesn’t act like a stodgy CEO that just touts the company line. He thinks about the impact of his product. He’s inventive and playful. He’s a great CEO role model.
50
I believe the best thing Elon could do for Tesla is to take the wife and kids for a two week vacation in Bora-Bora. He has put in so many hours trying to solve every problem that has come along on production of the model 3 that he is no longer able to think straight. Like one of his cars stopped on the side of the road, his battery needs a nice slow recharge.
12
Full disclosure: I own no Tesla stock.
NYT reported something about nothing. What is the big deal? Especially in the context of the show dialogue. And legal in California.
16
it didn't look like he inhaled to me. so what if he did.
3
Isn't recreational marijuana use fully legal in CA now? So why the continued stigma?
22
@MH Recreational marijuana is illegal under Federal law, which applies throughout the US, including California (until it secedes, of course).
2
@MH:
Marijuana is legal in California, and I am quite certain that most residents are certainly not concerned over this revelation. It seems to me that marijuana has become a none issue in most people's lives in California. The only place that I ever smell it is around hotels and motels where there is a high preponderance of tourists from out of state and abroad. I grew a bunch of it a couple of years before it became legal, and it has sat around in my office since then.
I eat a potion of it once or twice a year, but find that I have better things to do for the rest of the time.
So are skydiving and many other risky activities yet any responsible board demands that their top leadership refrain from such conduct, especially when they are so closely identified with the company.
1
It is a shame this interview will be remembered for a “minor indiscretion”, because his discussion of Artificial Intelligence, global warming and the future of mankind was brilliant and important to us all.
What I saw today was a true genius, overburdened by the day-to-day of running a car company.
Come on, Mr. Musk! Partner with an established auto manufacturer to take over Tesla mass production and work on new revolutionary technologies!
Your talent is too valuable to wasted on the nitty-gritty of auto production.
We need you for more important things.
Good luck to you.
18
Perhaps Elon should convince Donald to have a toke. Cannabis, in case of extreme liars, may unhinge merciless telling the truth which for Donald might result in his immediate eviction from the WH – a happy ending for everyone.
12
He smokes some pot! Oh my!
8
There are too many people out there who're experts in criticizing Elon; people who have no knowledge of the complexity in running two important companies in the country: Tesla & SpaceX.
He deserves a lot of credit for developing a real future for electric car, one of the most important tools we have to protect our climate and environment.
May be Elon could use a long vacation to totally recharge; then return afresh in mind and soul.
15
The need for a vacation might be valid for a burned out assembly line worker but not for the CEO of a cutting edge company deep in getting itself to its end goal. If he’s truly exceptional, he can muscle through this and come out on top. If not, then he’s no different than us mere mortals.
1
So people invested in Tesla because they were certain that Elon Musk believed in some sort of puritanical penal system (and culture)that regards marijuana as the 8th deadly sin? Or did they invest because they thought they would get a HUGE return on investment and stand to make a lot of profit? The fact that this mans accomplishments are somehow washed away from a couple puffs only goes to show how right Rogan is about marijuana being legalized. Even if Musk somehow conducted this whole operation while he was high it would only serve to put us all the more in awe of the things he has done despite the failures.
4
@Ashley UMN, yeah dude, except for the huge profit bit.
"Deep drag?" Looked to me like he did not even inhale. But it is possible that Elon did catch a slight buzz from all the exhaust in the room.
Musk is the modern-day's Leonardo da Vinci. A constant stream of ideas and inventions flow through his consciousness. He has his own large bandwidth neural connection to the unconscious from which all that exists arises from. He has mastered the abstract in this way. Maybe he, and Tesla, would benefit from a number two for the more practical matters of running a car manufacturer.
10
@Peter,
"A constant stream of ideas and inventions flow through his consciousness."
It's called Attention Deficit Disorder
4
@John
Which is addressed by Peter's suggestion of hiring someone to work on "the more practical matters of running a car manufacturer".
The world is rife with intelligent souls with ADD. Their talent isn't to be dismissed any more than, say, Stephen Hawking was simply because of his condition.
1
@nom de guerre
ADD is not addressed by merely hiring an assistant executive, Bud.
This is not a big deal, the shares will recover and people will get over it - it's 2018. Stop obsessing over his every move NYT.
10
I'd think the acknowledged sleep deprivation messes with EM's brain much more than a toke or a swig. Or maybe there are other drug cocktails that are not out in the open which allow him to sleep so little...either way not healthy for the man or his company.
5
Dont judge Elon for smoking weed. 40% of the rich people I know smoke weed, and I run two companies and have 3 patents and I smoke weed. I smoke weed and dont drink, which in my opinion is a very good way to live.
8
Would you please just move to Mars already, Elon?
3
It’s no wonder that he’s promoting self-driving cars!
5
The weed probably helps him to calm down and not, out of nowhere, partake in moronic tweets.
6
Had Musk taken a swig of Stoly, would there have been such a fuss? Cannabis, when used by an adult, does not deserve the stigma assigned by shareholders and the media.
11
I think he also said it was not good for thinking. For sure, it didn't seem like he was there advocating pot. If that is what the viewer/commentator gathered from what looked like a stimulating discussion probably the mind of the commentator is dumbed out by the daily tv and lost ability to think critically. Not everything/everyone is an act. 'Collapse of the plan' sure: it is the fail fast approach. Nothing wrong with that. If his initial assessment was incorrect, there is no point belaboring it. The decision itself didn't seem incorrect. Most of the last few months he spent ramping up model 3 production. After such a stressful few months, and the suffocating feeling that goes with it, one could at least give him a few days to exhale!
2
I must admit, I kind of loved this.
9
I'm still flummoxed why Mr. Boudette is using the phrase "deep drag" to describe the actions of Mr. Musk as he sampled Mr. Rogan's marijuana. It is obvious to anyone who has ever smoked, weed or cigarettes or just about anything otherwise, that Mr. Musk barely took a drag, let alone a deep one. The verb "puff" more accurately describes his intake, or better yet, lack thereof.
11
Smoking marihuana is no big deal, akin to taking a shot of Jameson.
Hypocrisy about drugs does far more harm than the drugs themselves ever did.
Time for folks to wake up, and be more true.
12
To those of you who are shocked that he’s smoking pot:
You’d be surprised just how many people you know, well, family, friends or professionals that you’ve hired or worked for that have been smoking pot for years. They (the pot smokers) just don’t tell you because they realize you’re just naive and they’d best not trouble you.
14
I wrote six books while smoking cannabis. What have most people done? Nothing but complain about pot heads.
Tesla is behaving so recklessly these days, and so "defiantly," that it's hard to believe he's not cracking up under the pressure of the crumbling of his company. He's obviously a narcissist who has great trouble facing his failure. No one should be surprised if he kills himself in the end.
4
Expect to see new strands of marijuana named after Elon Musk floating around in the near future.
XD
5
Who cares if he’s on camera smoking pot?
Nobody, if he’s a $50,000/year assistant manage at Company X.
And Nobody, if he smokes in private.
But to do something so trivial and public that is guaranteed to generate bad publicity and drop stock prices is stupid and immature. What does smoking put have to do with Tesla? Zero. At least the stupid cave sub was connected to technology.
This guy is a nightmare.
9
What is Tesla’s employee drug use policy? Places like Home Depot year everyone, even the cashiers. Musk should face the same scrutiny that any of his line workers or cafeteria help would find.
1
“I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission and its future prospects, and I have no disagreements with Tesla’s leadership or its financial reporting.”
And then he quit? Yeah, right.
5
So Elon Musk is actually human?
7
Please...let the lemmings run off the proverbial sell cliff in regards to Tesla stock. I'll buy when the shorts feel vindicated and sated. Elon needs a two week vacation and a proven operations guy who he has faith in.
8
Ridiculous. If you watch the ENTIRE thing he asks "is it legal" and gives it a try. It'll soon be legal in every state. Big deal. The man is a genius. This is cliquey adolescent gossip.
17
“But even the notion of a marijuana-smoking chief executive seemed less disturbing to Tesla watchers than the departure of Dave Morton, the accounting chief, whose immediate resignation was reported Friday in a securities filing.”
3
@Angelus Ravenscroft lots of bean counters out there.
What a bunch of puritan nitwits the investors are to have an issue with this.
I checked the date. Yes, it is 2018. Grow up, Tesla investors!
16
Who cares what he was smoking? Rock on dude. Excellent!
11
@Doremus Jessup "Be Excellent To Each Other and Party On Dudes!"-Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
1
Did the New York Times really just forget its editorial stance a couple years ago on marijuana? This article's tone is off key. (Also, 420th comment)
9
Tesla's core problem apparently revolves around how to achieve profitable mass production of a mid-priced EV. Their struggles to,date suggest the there is one of two fundamental issues. Either they don't have the manufacturing expertise--which is readily available from veterans of firms like Toyota--or the product design is just not able to be profitably built. Given Musk's obvious brilliance their current state strongly suggests the latter.
1
"Either they don't have the manufacturing expertise--which is readily available from veterans of firms like Toyota"
Unfortunately, between the lingering "intellectual property" mindset and the Petrol-Dealer-Carmaker-Industrial Complex, you kinda have to avoid such carmaker insiders lest they sabotage the very future of electric cars. Hybrid is an unnecessary windfall to the fossil-burners, and Toyota is in the business of hybrids (when even that). So long as other corporations follow that outdated "IP" mindset, you also have to make sure said insiders aren't simply sending you bait for an infringement lawsuit *cough*Uber*cough*Waymo*cough* ...sorry, breathed something in.
Sadly, such necessary paranoia is ultimately moot, given who leads Tesla: "obvious brilliance", with obvious nuttery sprinkled on top. Musk, sadly, is living up to Tesla's reputation. (Not the company's. Nikola's.)
He must go, but I fear the corporate types among him on the Board will throw away the passion for actual *electric* cars, and be Just Another Carmaker.
@SR good comment but... fear not.
Or maybe he is lowering the stock price so he can take the firm private cheap.
5
@Vijay probably got tired at looking at the stock price and ticker tapered that up to,
no shortage to "Trade me out"
I would not want to work for him, marry him or buy a car from him.
13
What else does the board require if not video evidence that Musk isn't fit??????? No wonder he wants to go private - no board to worry about.
1
"A deep drag" is a poor observation and an over statement. The way Elon Musk puffed on that blunt was equivocal to Bill Clinton's marijuana use, in the fact that he didn't even inhale the smoke.
7
Give it a rest! Let this man do what he does best...for all of us!
6
In the words of my financial advisor when I made the innocent suggestion that Tesla sounded like a hot investment: "Well, we stay away from kooks."
11
Phhhhttt.... I don't see a problem here.
3
Sorry Neal, 'deep drag'? Have you ever seen someone smoke? Inhale? He filled his mouth with a puff and let it out, no inhale. I don't care why he did it, in fact part of his genius is the cavalier way he thinks. Bur a deep drag? Hardly!
6
Investors are surprised a Silicon Valley icon smokes pot sometimes?
6
It seems to me that he is just mirroring the current White House. Not sure why anyone is upset, after all he is brighter than 45 and more productive, too!
3
The shareholders and employees have legitimate reason to be concerned about Mr. Musk's stability. That said, smoking cannabis isn't an indicator of anything these days. Rich, poor, smart, dumb, creative or not...all types of folks smoke cannabis for all types of reasons. If Musk had sipped wine instead of taking a puff, the conversation about his stability would (and should) still be happening - but without trotting out old tropes about weed.
2
My advice: check the pot for paraquat.
1
He took a hit off a joint in a state where recreation use is legal. At the beginning of the same podcast he is sharing an alcoholic drink with the host as well. Why isn't there the same outrage over this? I think some of the investors who are freaking out over this may need some of what he was smoking.
6
This event has been way overblown. At an about 2 hours and 5 minutes into a very long (2:37),
often very interesting interview, Rogan lights a marijuana/tobacco blunt. He takes two puffs and hands it to Musk, who takes one puff and blows out the smoke. He then hands it back to Rogan who takes another hit and hands it to someone out of frame.
Shortly after, someone off camera hands Musk a glass of whiskey from which he takes 2 - 3 sips over the balance if the interview.
The interview is taking place in California, where pot, tobacco and whiskey are all legal for adults.
Both in the interview and in the entirety of his life Musk seems, and acknowledges that he sees himself as, a little weird. Isn't such a characteristic one necessary component of the leadership and creativity that drives Muisk's companies? Shouldn't stockholders who did anything like due diligence have already understood this about the man?
The guy has figured out how to land rockets on barges at sea. Let's all give him some slack.
11
@jphimself couldn't have said it better.
It's pretty amazing how people defend this man's every move. He's a multi-billionare who is burning through billions of dollars of his investors' cash and blames everyone else for his issues. He has been lying about Tesla's production capacity for years. Missing production targets for years. Literally killing people by lying about how effective AutoPilot is. He called a cave rescuer a pedophile because he didn't use his implausible submarine. He had Tesla take out massive loans to buy his failing solar panel company. And companies that actually know how to manufacture cars are finally releasing electric vehicles. I wouldn't be surprised if he launches another car into space to distract everyone again.
17
If the dude gets inspiration from weed then let him smoke. He’s not doing brain surgery. He’s talking to a comedian. There are plenty of people in business who smoke weed.
3
About the reefer, it's legal in California. Would anyone question him if he drank alcohol on the show? Doubtful.
6
@nom de guerre Umm, no. it's not, at least not until California secedes from the US.
gang, if you owned the stock, you'd be worried
2
Mr. Musk is a bizarre, manic individual who has basked in public hagiography for years now. He is incompetent and mentally ill.
13
@Wendell Murray The hagiography comment, yea, that's good. But "incompetent and mentally ill" people don't get government contracts to use their privately built spaceships. Spaceships, Wendell. Spaceships that take off AND land, and are less expensive than anything out there right now.
11
@Merino Cortés poor Wendell sat on a wall and had a great fall, poor Wendell
"puffs on a joint" How out of touch are you? This dovetails nicely with the NYT's other Weed derangement stories they've been running lately. Clutch pearls when "smelling marijauna" and the like.
5
Who drove home?
1
i'm a little confused..?..
didn't Elon want to go private and resign?'
or is this his way of making his golden parachute
travel to puff the magic kingdom?
(and land. :) :) ok
The short sellers have got to him. He appears to be giving up. I hope he bounces back and steers Tesla to a safe harbor. His impulse to go private was an indication he was fed up.
Too bad he didn’t think that idea through. Not like him really.
Elon, bag the Ambien and hit the gym or the woods.
Come back and kick some butt.
Disclosure: I own some shares.
8
Why is anyone shaken over this? I can see concern over a sudden announcement of taking Tesla private, but all this uproar over a joint and an employee leaving after a month? Morton's statement sounds reasonable. Isn't it better to find out you don't fit after one month? Starting a new car company is difficult. Starting an electric car company with so much innovative tech is even harder. Is there risk? Sure. Does Musk overstate and overpromise? Sure. However, we know that and adjust accordingly. My Model S is by far the best car I have ever owned and every few months it gets better through over the air software updates. Why didn't one of the big automakers produce an equivalent vehicle? They should have been able to do it more easily, but I don't think they have Musk's motivation or spirit of innovation. They were content to produce and sell incrementally improved internal combustion vehicles with "updated" styling and no real innovations. I'll take Musk's quirkiness (and his vehicles) instead.
6
Tesla badly needs a No. 2 to ramp up model 3 production. Even with all its negative publicity, last month more Tesla model 3s were sold than all models of BMW excluding SUVs. Tesla really needs to assure its customers that the company will ramp up production and deliver models 3s.
5
Might help him calm his more volatile impulses. That's a good thing.
2
I really don't think Musk having a hit, or two, or my god, even finishing a joint is a reason to be up in arms. It's legal where he was smoking and honestly, he might do better to think about what stoner snack to have rather than tweeting every thought in his head about Tesla.
11
There are many investors out there betting on an utter Tesla stock collapse, it might be prudent to measure Musk's critics with that in mind.
4
It almost seems like he is trying to get fired so that if Tesla hits a wall, he can say it was because he was fired. Maybe Musk senses major trouble brewing and wants a "graceful" way to exit the company and unload his shares.
4
He's brilliant. I hope he gets his act together.
2
@Karen
Er, no. Mr. Musk has nominal intelligent and some useful knowledge regarding information technology. Otherwise, he is far worse than the abusive, bizarre Steve Jobs.
He reportedly has been suffering from severe anxiety from the Tesla turmoil. I guess that's the therapeutic route he's taking, which I wonder if it has any relation to his recent relationship with edgy Montreal musician Claire Boucher (otherwise known as Grimes). It's unfortunate the fate of this company goes in tandem with Mr. Musk's personal life, but I guess that's what happens when your founder has an flamboyant and out-sized ego.
My main concern Elon Musk's status as a business visionary is his obsession with supersonic pneumatic tube transport, and the ridiculous notion that drilling tunnels under cities for low passenger volume rapid transit is in any way cost effective or would make even the tiniest dent in ground-level traffic. What these fantasy projects betray is a "visionary" who hasn't done even the most basic research into the technology issues or the logistics of mass transit. It's a big stain on the notion of his ability to map out the future.
6
Here we have a guy whose behavior has been extremely erratic - the Thai cave rescue fiasco, flip flopping on the public vs. private company issue, an unstable personal life, drug use (no not the pot - everything else), twitter feed that is being compared to Trump's... but the real indication that Musk is truly off the rails and why investors are running...
He can't seem to keep employees, i.e. the folks who keep the lights on and provide stability and productivity.
If this guy is being compared to Trump, I'd get out to, after all wasn't it four bankruptcies for Trump?
9
I hope Mr. Tesla is okay. Human beings who make significant scientific and artistic contributions are sometimes different; sometimes misunderstood: Van Gogh. Copernicus, and Turing, to name a few.
Being able to see possibilities is both a gift and a frustration.
I’ve got a solar array on my rooftop. I’ve long admired the Tesla Powerwall, and am considering going off-grid thanks to his company’s developments.
If you need help, Mr. Tesla, please seek it.
16
@Catherine
Yes, let's pity the man that is likely going preside over even greater layoffs and potentially the downfall of an iconic American brand, someone unwilling to just step out out of the way for the sake of jobs and the future. The guy needs to get lost and get help. His employees, formerly me, are scared and running if they can.
9
Again: if he needs help, I hope he seeks it. I don’t pity the man, I want him to function at his potential. We need people with both vision competence.
3
@Catherine
Once again, Mr. Musk has neither.
Food time to buy. Tesla will be a dominant company.
6
In case it hasn't been said yet, poor Elon took one hit and didn't inhale. Add what he said about his puffin history--it amounts to much ado about nothing. A corporate freakout over squat. So you guys at NYT need a new bag (so to speak) when it come to the subject of ganja. Get real!
4
He needs an intervention.
5
I am seeing more and more Tesla cars everyday so Mr. Musk most be doing something right.
11
@Robert Curley Jacobs Those massive subsidies are about to run out...
1
They weren’t massive, they already ran out, and sales are not flagging. What about massive, perpetual oil subsidies?
11
I watched the video of the lift off of the Space X Falcon Heavy rocket several times and it can still bring tears to my eyes. The environmentally-friendly Tesla car was created when it was most urgently needed. Mr. Musk's real accomplishments are enormously important to our civilization. I'm sorry that he seems to be suffering from stress (no, I'm not just talking about a toke on a blunt). The pressures on him must be enormous. I recall when Steve Jobs was fired from his own company, Apple, but ended up returning to even greater triumphs.
10
@kimw Mr. Jobs was personally and professionally bizarre, abusive and exploitative of all around him. His fellow founder, Steve Wozniak, did everything, quite literally, that Mr. Jobs later exploited through dishonesty and self-promotion.
3
Oh please, would anyone be causing an uproar if they saw Musk drinking alcohol? No, because we are use to it and he was not on the job. I personally don't think marijuana is any worse than alcohol. Now if he is drinking or smoking on the job that is an issue.
11
@Melissa As a matter of fact, Musk and Rogan are drinking whiskey in this very video, and you're right; no one seemed to care about that.
1
@Melissa, I remember when it perfectly acceptable to have a drink or 2 at a work day lunch and executives kept bottles of liquor in plain view and would offer visitors a drink. And I've worked at a few places where some of the best-performing employees often smoked weed during the day.
1
Musk is no fool. Tesla is nothing but a cash-burning machine, so the thing to do is to burn a little weed so nobody will ask any hard questions. Tesla is just an amateur niche manufacturer in a world full of pros. And that would be OK, except for its idiotic market capitalization of around $50 billion, its ballooning mega-losses, its cash-burn, and the fact that it is jimmying its production numbers in an existentially desperate effort to pump up its share price.
7
@Bunk McNulty
That's a strategy, I guess: Act stupidly and impulsively in order to put the public's focus on him and away from the company and the falling price of it's stock and bonds.
1
What a tempest in a teapot. Everyone is screaming for the guy to relax a little. so he relaxes a little and the world is coming to an end. What ridiculous nonsense. Besides...I don't think he inhaled.
4
"The upheaval that began with the abortive bid to take the company’s shares off the public market has deeply dented Tesla’s stock — the shares have lost almost one-third of their value since early August "
That is misleading at best. For starters there was no "abortive bid" for Tesla. And as of August 1, right before the rumors of the buy out started and before the August 6 tweet, Tesla was trading at $300 per share. Tesla's shares are today down 12% from that price -- nowhere near "a third of their value".
Elon Musk has indeed exhibited behavior that I trust his board will address. But the Times negative bias against Tesla can't be missed.
3
The stock ran up to $380 in response to the 8/6 tweet mentioning a buyout price of $420. It now sits at $260. 260/380 = .68.... you know, 68%. It has lost 32% of that peak value. That looks really, really close to 33%... you know, 1/3.
The statement is absolutely correct as written
1
Nope. The statement references the value “before the upheaval that began with the abortive bid”. The value before the non existent bid was $300. It’s down 12%.
1
Ahem.
Marijuana doesn't keep you up for days on end at the factory.
7
Elon Musk....are you purposefully being self-destructive?! Seek help!
1
If the prurient interest of watching an adult legally smoke weed makes people watch this interview, then it may be worth the Tesla market cap lost. Truly engrossing. I don’t see arrogance. I see someone a whole lot smarter than the naysayers trying to connect with us and share thoughts most of us simply cannot process. Is he a flawed human being? Absolutely. But what he brings to the world is the desire and ability to make it better.. That takes a whole lot more than writing a snarky comment or giving the man a simplistic label.
6
@ThirdWay
Sorry, but nonsense.
If he drank a shot of liquor would it be news. I am shocked! Shocked...
No get over it and be honest- this is not news. This is trying to resurrect a war on Drugs. The states which have legalized recreational marijuana have not gone to hell in a handbasket.
I dont smoke pot. But this article makes an arguement that smells worse than what bulls put out.
2
Kinda wondering if he's having you all on. If Tesla does turn a profit in Q3, along with a steady production ramp that lower stock price turns into a bargain, surges up, and now he's got the cash for another gigafactory. Perhaps short sellers retire from tsla as well.
Lock your shoulder harness!
3
I saw a snippet of the interview and thought it was benign and playful. If anything, Mr. Musk needs to relax and regroup, and a few moments of frivolous indulgence probably did him good.
I am very disheartened by the considerable number of people who seem to wish that he fails. I see Elon Musk as an American hero. He is not just another billionaire tech entrepreneur--his endeavors go directly to critical areas where society needs the help of geniuses. Teslas are not just sexy sports cars--they are electric and do not spew carbon into our atmosphere. Space-X is taking us back into space, fueling our imaginations and taking American ideals and commerce into new realms. Elon's vision for the future addresses many of our gravest worries.
I feel sorry for whomever can watch the Space-X rocket delivery systems land back on Earth, vertical, in tandem, like ballerinas, and not feel great affection for the man whose vision this was. I feel sorry for whomever in not captivated by the Tesla sportster out there zooming around in space for the next few billion years. If you cannot appreciate visionary works of genius such as these, you must live in an artless void.
I am not at all religious, but I pray for the health and prosperity of Elon Musk, and all the young men and women of the next generation that he must be inspiring. They are our saviors.
18
Given Mr. Musk’s recent history of very erratic behavior, watching him toking a fatty during a Podcast will not engender confidence in his judgement as CEO of a major manufacturer.
16
Musk is an egotistical jerk.
6
"taking a deep drag"?
Give me a break. He did not inhale. He clearly puffed it like a cigar. If he had inhaled 1) the smoke exiting his mouth would have been much more forceful and 2) there is no way he wouldn't have hacked a lung coughing. 3) For someone who rarely smokes, assuming that is true, he would have been high as a kite if he had actually inhaled that.
6
The guy is sending a spaceship to Mars. He's building 6,000 affordable electric vehicles a month, while establishing an electric charging infrastructure to accommodate it. On the side he's developing a hyperloop rail system and boring subterranean freeway systems. I say cut him some slack and let him smoke a doobie.
17
Smoking pot is not a bad thing. Elon Musk is a bad thing.
3
Why is Elon Musk a "bad thing"? He's a visionary.
4
Vision or hallucination?
2
Care to qualify that comment? I see him as one of the few lights in a dark time.
1
At least, he’s being blunt.
6
Tesla stocks are down because the CEO smoked marijuana? This is just plain stupid. Marijuana is legal in California and Mr. Musk as a 47 years old man is free to smoke whenever he wants.
Thank God, the U.S is not listed on a stock market, with Trump in the Oval office the US stocks would be trading below $0 now.
6
A video of a CEO doing shots would also harm a company’s stock price. These are investors, not Puritans. They are questioning his judgment - not that he smoked pot but that he didn’t seem to think anyone would care that he did.
5
It is, however, still illegal in the USA. Of which CA is part. And subject to the laws thereof, should some attention seeking jerk ever occupy the White House some day and order full enforcement.
Just sayin’. There is that tiny little detail that consumers and advocates in pot-legalizing states like mine try mightily to ignore. Until it is legal, it still ain’t legal.
1
His pot smoking could be the reason stoking his paranoia and recent tweets as his pot might have more THC than cannabidiol.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5655843/
2
"Elon Musk, appeared live on YouTube taking a deep drag on what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette."
Dear Old Gray Lady,
"Blunt." It's called a blunt, not a "marijuana cigarette."
You're welcome!
4
Doobie. Reefer. No matter what, the guy’s high. Not sure I want him piloting my spaceship when he’s under the influence.
Crank up the Greatful Dead. Just don’t leave the house.
1
Truly amazing. The guy is an incredibly talented, smart, hard-working intellectual who owns successful companies and has basically helped re-invent things that the baby boomers created but could not perfect: space travel, zero emission vehicles, etc. But the guy smokes weed and suddenly there’s an uproar as if he’s partying with Church and Chong. Therein lies the stigma of the pot smoker: that he is lazy and stupid if he smokes an herb, regardless of how successful he actually is. Yet drinking is considered high class if the cocktail is expensive enough, and imbibed by the right person. Even though the health effects of drinking are far worse than smoking weed, Elon is now assumed incorrectly to be a lazy stoner while he works tirelessly to make the world a little bit better than the previous generation left it. Perhaps he is a responsible adult who is working really hard and is successful despite the fact that he smokes pot like millions of other Americans. This shouldn’t even be news in the 21th century. Trump’s never smoked or drank apparently, and he’s one of the most incompetent people ever to walk this earth.
9
And yet if it were a glass of bourbon or wine, no one would think twice. Who cares? Everyone should smoke weed, the world would be a much happier, peaceful place!
9
There’s that saying in Hollywood: Ideas are dime a dozen but execution is everything.
Musk needs to get focused and stabilize his company and fix production. High turnover and smoking pot on podcasts isn’t going to help. I don’t care what all the pro-cannabis people on here say. Cannabis impairs mental functioning. Get it together. I want to see him succeed but all I see is a train wreck, and I’m not talking about Hyper Loop.
8
No negative thoughts about Elon, nothing personal against weed...but, he is the owner of SpaceX, has significant contracts with NASA (and likely the Department of Defense), and may have a security clearance...or perhaps that's now "had"...
1
Years ago I sat at a private dinner with two members of the Ford family who were in corporate leadership positions including the future chairmanship. They (and I . . . see shame emoji)) drank wine to the edge of oblivion.
No one cared. And you write about Musk and a puff of pot as though anyone should be alarmed?
3
His autopilot is on the fritz.
4
Elon Musk didn’t even inhale. Watch closely.
6
Guys, don't know if this has been pointed out, but when weed's wrapped in a cigar leaf, it's a blunt, not a joint.
6
I'm surprised at the number of people who approve of a corporate executive smoking weed while being filmed in an interview and can't see the correlation between unsteady corporate leadership. If your founder doing grass on a televised interview, how's he leading the business? How many of you would approve of seeing President Trump doing pot? Or your doctor blazing one before your triple bypass. There was a Denzel Washington movie called Flight where he was known to drink and smoke crack before a flight. Lots of CEOs use drugs, I'm sure, but they don't do it on camera.
7
From Mr. Musk's comments it's obvious that he's not an experienced or regular consumer of marijuana. Maybe if he was he could focus his interests a little better. It's obvious that the man lacks focus. Selling flamethrowers (that are "not flamethrowers") and constructing tunnels under L.A. to solve traffic congestion shows that he's a little unhinged.
1
I admire Mr. Elon Musk but he is beginning to make me wonder if he may turn out to be another Howard Hughes.
Mr. Musk has done so much work to advance the interests of science and technology. It would be a pity is he tarnished his legacy by doing silly acts in public.
47
A very good recommendation (although I can’t imagine him doing nothing for six months, or at least something relaxing.
What Mr. Musk and Elon need desperately is a Chief Operating Officer akin to Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. Steve Jobs had Wozniak, Bill Gates had Paul Allen. These people are geniuses and at the same time a bit crazy. They are gifted with creativity which can be a curse if a person doesn’t know how to stop, or to hand over a huge project to someone who can get it done.
Mr. Musk is incapable of this. And it’s a shame, because Tesla was way ahead of everyone else, and now everyone else is catching up or going farther (see GM’s Volt as a good example).
The world needs people like Elon Musk. Let’s hope he doesn’t take on too much before his ideas can become reality.
5
“It’s marijuana inside of tobacco,” Mr. Rogan replied and asked if Mr. Musk had ever had it.
The framing of this interaction is as weird as the fact that Joe Rogan didn’t just call it a blunt.
Which is almost as weird as the fact that people can’t speak openly about smoking cannabis yet.
4
Elon needs to put someone else in charge for 6 months and take a sabbatical. I have driven a Tesla a few times in the last couple of months and it is most definitely the future of the automobile.
3
On the West Coast, this is not taboo or strange at all however, some of Musk's other erratic behavior should have brought about resignations and loss in the company's value. It's just kind of ridiculous that smoking pot is what caused investors to be nervous and not the weird attacks on a British diver and a number of odd things coming from Musk as of late.
6
While some states claim to have "legalized" marijuana, it is still a federal crime to possess, use , sell or distribute it in all states.
1
Federal law always preempts state law, but enforcement is erratic however the current federal administration may be more vigorous
1
It’s legal in many places now.
In short, it’s like drinking a glass of wine. If people are outraged, they need to consider why, and what they legalized smoking pot for.
3
GWBear--He shouldn't be drinking in this situation, which he is, either. Very poor judgement.
3
Elon Musk is today's Howard Hughes. One day, he may end up wandering alone in the desert. Or heading out on a one way trip toward Mars. I do believe the unraveling had begun.
9
In re Elon Musk smoking pot:
What exactly does 'legal' mean in a world where the Press is going to act like the Committee for the Promotion of Purity and the Prevention of Vice?
11
Poor Elon - he's suffering from the male middle age identify crisis made worse by business challenges.
He will not recover his self-confidence, business acumen, and moxy until he keeps trying to find it from nubile 30 something women and low life broadcasters.
He may actually have to change his mind about the value of a lasting relationship with a woman of equal intelligence and capability. His past wives and girl friends were people he felt obligated to supply some together time with (as he himself has written) and he ultimately didn't find them worth his time - even the one who delivered 6 kids for him. He's barking up the wrong trees for female companionship.
He needs a psychiatrist or a musician - not a new COO.
Elon has more in common with Steve Jobs than any other CEO in America today. Jobs didn't find his tranquility and greatest business success until he met his forever partner and wife, Laurene, who was with him until the end. I suspect the same will be true of Elon. Now that Elon is experiencing a business success crisis, maybe he will open his mind to a woman who is literally his equal.
3
There was a nytimes business section article about Musk two weeks ago and I commented that we would be watching Mr Musk publicly implode in the next two months. Other commenters disagreed because it was the "business section" where readers just want stocks to increase in value and articles to be about stock increases. Well, I called it. Here's Mr Musk and he is losing it.
9
If he was sipping on a glass of wine instead of taking a puff of pot, would this even be news? #doublestandard
5
I don't know how Tesla can possibly continue making electric cars and inventing the future now that a bean counter and a mid-level human resources person left the company - where will a pot puffing CEO ever find replacements?
When car "X" or SUV "Y" goes electric it will beat the equivalent Tesla model is the conventional wisdom by which the press deems everything a "Tesla Killer".
Tesla is a technology company and should be valued like a technology company, not a car company. Car companies are not a good growth investment.
1
Oh my heavens! the evil weed. Call off your old tired ethics already. It's legal now, get over it.
6
I’m afraid of people who DON’T smoke weed or have a drink every once in a while. It’s legal in CA and many other states. Get over it!
4
@james Everyone, including shareholders, hedge-fund managers and regulators, knew he was a pot head and none of them had a real problem with it. But there's a time and place for everything.
What is with the NYT obsession with Musk? Is everyone buying short there?
In reality the CEO does not have that much influence on the day to day operations.
3
Don't forget he saved the company(s) when it was in trouble with his own money. Crazy, right? He could've been toking on some island right now reading Greek mythology all day. But he's crazy, so he tries to do the impossible instead.
3
Who the heck cares what Musk smokes or does with his free time? (He's NOT attractive, BTW!!)
I'd consider the abrupt flight of the Accounting Chief a much bigger concern.
8
@Annie Makes you wonder exactly what the Accounting Chief saw and heard that make him spin on his heels and run back out the door.
1
@Annie You don't think the Chairman or CEO or whatever Elon Musk of Telsa is (definitely the founder) smoking a joint is a bad thing when many companies have an anti-drug policy and can at any time drug test its employees? LOL. How would you feel if President Trump smokes crack in the White House and then talks about the drug epidemic is out of control? Examples and authority figures set the standard for policies in the company.
I highly recommend listening. I personally loved it. Makes me want to invest everything I have in Tesla as well as drive an armada of Tesla's. Honestly, I'd rather listen to a 3 hour highed up podcast with Rogan and Musk than the past year of whatever insanity this stupid presidency pollutes our collective atmosphere. BTW, there are 8 states where marijuana is legal. I'd rather hang with those guys smoking dope than spend time around the Trump dopes and its extended empire of dopes. Pick a side, America!
9
What do people think legalizing marijuana means? We got Stormy Daniels all over television being more credible and sympathetic than the president. You want me to be shocked by a toke?
6
Golly, this executive-hemorrhaging is like almost half as bad as the Trump administration, i.e., quite bad!
1
Amid all the fuss, nobody seems to have noticed that Musk convinced host Joe Rogan to buy a $140,000 P100D model S.
5
He didn't even inhale. There is no smoke escaping like that in a real toke, that's for sure.
4
@Mike I caught that as well and I can't decide if he was afraid of getting in the deep water versus a Bill Clinton, "...but I didn't inhale" moment. As an aside, I am a person who is anti-microdosing -- these SV tech guys are afraid that if they drop their greedy core there won't be anything left so they avoid the therapeutic and heroic doses.
2
He could be in violation of the DOD's Drug Free Workplace rules. That could result in penalties and lost contracts for SpaceX.
2
I think that was not vise to do that. That's is terrible PR communication. No matter how cool or legally approved it is to smoke marihuana on a live podcast. I agree with someone who sad in this comments, that its a bed timing right now. Investors think that Musks move was not cool, so they left stock price again down. Elon is no doubt visionary and someone who is bold and smart, but company doesn't make money. That's also a real fact. Competition is coming on a horizon very fast. Mercedes will release new SUV EQC.
1
Everyone is going full libertarian about the pot smoking and that's fine.
However, I don't know any "real" public company--meaning one with a functioning board and C suite--that would tolerate a CEO casually knocking down a whiskey and soda and toking on a joint publicly.
Has nothing to do with the whiskey or the joint, per se, but with the judgment or lack of judgment of the CEO
9
Cut the guy some slack. He's been stressed while trying to change the world and stroke his ego. The occasional toke is preferable to alcoholism or a meth addiction.
1
I'm not sure what strain Musk was smoking there, but the idea that you just "sit there like a stone" isn't always true.
3
One of these things is not like the others:
-Tesla is being investigated by the SEC.
-Tesla's Chief of Accounting left after less than a month on the job.
-Elon Musk appears to have smoke marijuana.
1
But that is part of his genius. Tesla's stock didn't drop $120+ in a month because of some rogue antics. It dropped that much because of the fundamentals underpinning the company. Musk is fine with people claiming its this outside stuff and not a systemic issue with the business. At some point sane investors have to acknowledge that Tesla has basically the same market cap as BMW but is missing 110 billion dollars of BMW's revenue. And BMW will be entering the electric market hard, fast and with efficiency as Mercedez seems poised to do as well. This stock drop a has a lot more to do with Tesla's failure to produce a low cost mass model vehicle(the Model 3 is nowhere close to costing less than 40k and is up over 50k at this point) Coupled with third party teardowns of the Model 3's coming off the line proving that they are poorly manufactured and you have big issues. Where is the momentum supposed to come from? Tesla doesn't actually invent break through technology(see solar city and their abysmal efficiency) as Munger and Buffet so cogently pointed out. They are in a super mature, high cost, low margin business with nothing other than aesthetics to build from. Its impossible to see how they could get to 100 billion in revenue in any decade soon. BTW, car manufacturing is of super high quality across the price point board.
6
No laws broken. No news. Nothing to see here. However, and I admit this sounds paranoid, what if a few off-script things were done or said, as is happening recently, and the beahiour tanked the stock a bit? What if Elon bought back a great deal of the stock under such conditions, and, or, paved the way for a large input of cash by a foreign investment firm? Better for them to buy back/buy at $200 than $420, to be sure. Just a crazy thought.
1
@VonnegutIce9
Well, he hasn't done that, has he?
And I don't know any board or any company that would tolerate a CEO casually knocking down whiskey and pot publicly.
Has nothing to do with the "pot" but with his judgment.
8
@Harris True, he hasn't done that, at least not yet. Count the board out as they have done precious little to reel Mr. Musk in, ever, about anything. They may be "appalled" but otherwise members just collect their paychecks. I'm a big fan of Elon and I don't think he does anything without a well thought-out motive.
Really ? First, people have written articles recently in well-read 'real' newspapers suggesting Mr. Musk should take a "chill-pill". He is obviously taking those comments seriously. Second, smoking weed is very legal in California and much preferred to Valium in the days of the "Middle-Class" Opiod crisis. But most importantly the effects of weed in people with certain behavioral and intellectual characteristics associated with ADHD is quite different from the average person's experience of smoking weed and highly beneficial to being able to focus precisely. Of course the common remedy Ritalin could be used--essentially a form of Heroin legal with a prescription and FDA approval. Weed hasn't made it that far yet. Imagine had Mr. Musk sat down to a desk and took his Heroin pill in front of everyone! Good grief don't publish the hit pieces please. Elon does enough damage without help.
But, you can certainly question whether Mr. Musk wants to portray himself realistically rather than adopting some preferred stereotype for entertainment purposes. After all American culture has become all about entertainment these days.
3
Looks like they need to bring in strong leadership...someone like Elizabeth Holmes...to get this company back on track.
6
Hope we will soon see an op-ed explaining not to worry because there is an adult in the room.
5
Smart to use cannabis to help that brain slow down and relax.Recent major study states there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption and more than 2 million people die yearly.A little weed ain't bad.
5
Musk taking one puff off of a (perfectly legal) marijuana cigarette, in the context of his appearance on Joe Rogan's show, is a non-event. It was just a bit of cheekiness. I don't think he even inhaled it, and made a point of saying he doesn't smoke marijuana. Any investor who is worried about this needs to relax, and maybe get out more.
I'd be far more concerned about Musk's continued comments about the fellow in Thailand, which seem to be completely off the wall and egregious. Musk really should put that twitter account on the back burner -- and then have the stove taken somewhere else, where he can't get to it.
13
Musk appears to be losing it completely. That taking private stunt aimed at shorts has left him wide open because it was clearly market moving. We haven't heard the last of that. Meanwhile what are the board doing. This is public company not Musk's playpen.
5
Clearly he is preparing his insanity defense in advance of the SEC indictment.
13
Hmmm:
-Tesla is being investigated by the SEC..
-Tesla's Chief of Accounting left within a month of being hired.
-Musk appears to have smoked marijuana.
One of these things is not like the others.
4
Let's freak out. Compare and contrast Musk with Trump. Personally, I'm far more comfortable with a stoned but very thoughtful and inventive Musk than a unbalanced and malevolent Trump. If I had to choose one to bank my future on, I say fire up another one, man. Easiest decision I'll make today.
20
@Some Dude Can I vote for "None of the Above"?
"Weed is not helpful for productivity. There’s a reason for the word ‘stoned.’ You just sit there like a stone on weed.”
This is a perfect example of how inaccurate and negative marijuana stereotypes get reinforced in our society.
First, marijuana comes in hundreds of unique strains, each with their own chemical profile and each producing somewhat different effects. Yes, there are strains that make you lethargic but there are also strains that give you energy and creativity. Many people consume marijuana and are very productive during their experience. MDs who prescribe marijuana choose the strain that will produce the effect that each unique patient requires. For example, different strains will be more/less effective in treating different conditions such as nausea (chemotherapy), muscle spasms (multiple sclerosis), poor appetite and weight loss, seizure disorders, crohn's disease, PTSD, insomnia, etc.
Second, like any medicine, dose matters. The effect that you receive from any drug will vary by dosage. Consuming a modest amount of marijuana may make you feel a little happier but will not make you "stoned" in the way that many people stereotype marijuana users.
Bottom line: public figures should educate themselves on subjects before they speak on topics that they are not knowledgeable on and the NYTimes should include a comment in their article to correct inaccurate statements like this. Leaving them unanswered implies agreement.
8
@Richard So you would be fine with an anesthesiologist putting you under just after he had a blunt?
I didn't think so.
I watched it.
He never inhaled!
6
@Tuco Indeed...he just posed, and blew some smoke...so cool!
1
Cut the guy some slack. If he needs support, give it to him. He's obviously under a significant amount of pressure and may not be handling all of it well. He's also by all accounts one of the main reasons Tesla, SpaceX, Boring Company and others even exist. So help the guy out unless you find him replaceable.
5
I was surprised by Elon's actions, mainly because none of our other leaders, except perhaps Obama, have the self confidence and boldness to defy convention at every turn and plow forward toward such admirable goals. Musk consistently blows smoke in the face financial analysts and more importantly, the oil-addicted auto industry. His vision of cars and superchargers challenged all the major auto manufacturers to go electric ... they all did. His view that marijuana consumption is so trivial that he'll smoke it on camera is exactly correct. But, his products are the bottom line: his cars are incredibly sophisticated technological marvels, and his rockets are preparing to take us to Mars. Elon, "illegitimi non carborundum."
4
@Phil Klebba
Er...he's running a public company.
2
I admire Musk - he has a vision, actually visions, and he has done so much to pull them off. I hope he and his company succeed. But the stress of his endeavors are obviously taking a toll, and I hope he can get help, whatever it takes, to right the ship, regain control, and soon share control with someone so it's not all on his shoulders.
The marijuana part? Not a good move right now, with all the other pressures he and Tesla are facing. The legality-of-pot issue is really a moot point. Public perception that he's got all his wits about him is what matters.
7
The interview with Joe Rogan was poignant and explored the dynamic and uncertain future that humans will face as our technology becomes more and more sophisticated and integrated with our lives. Musk states that he wants to make things that will make the world a better place, that people are inherently good and deserve more credit, that we should spend more time with our friends instead of on social media, and that we need more love in the world. I wish the Times would focus more on that aspect of the interview and not on what he smoked.
1
The Wall Street geniuses criticizing Musk insist that he needs to brings in a conventional CEO, just like Apple did with John Scully. That way he can start making boring cars based on cheap technology from yesterday and rockets that force you to throw them away after each use. That is exactly what happens when you allow a technology driven corporation to be led by accountants instead of visionary engineers. Higher profit margins for a few quarters, followed by a long, slow and agonizing death.
39
@AndyW Cook is a boring manager-type, and Apple seems to OK with him as CEO.
And Apple hasn’t launched anything that created a new product category since Steve Job’s death. It has also allowed its desktop MACs to languish so much that creatives have had to use Windows and Linux based workstations for the most demanding high end video editing and special effects. This is because the accountant in him has stifled innovation and competitiveness in desktop machines. The new IMac Pro is too little, too late and costs way way too much, even for a Mac. Apple has also done nothing exciting with Apple TV and fallen way behind with Siri in AI. Let’s also have a conversation about ITunes and ICloud’s complete state of non-evolution. As an iPhone IPad fan, I hope that Tim Cook eventually pulls his other languishing product lines out of their creative funk. For now, he’s riding almost solely on the lucrative momentum provided by incremental iPhone and iPad iterations. He’s basically an ops guy and it shows. Nice person, but no demonstrable proof yet that he can be the creative driving force Apple needs to keep from peaking.
1
The oil industry and the auto industry dependent on the oil industry are trying to take out Tesla, the threat to their hegemony.
Wall Street's hucksters are further trying to derail Tesla, to make a killing in short selling the company.
Together, these longtime enemies of science and climate stability are working to destroy Musk personally.
So, he could use some sleep. So what? Tesla is still a great innovation, founded by a genius. We shouldn't lose sight of the good he does.
53
@Susan Kraemer
Exactly. And Trump never got over the “you quit me so I quit you” from musk to trump.
Smoking pot is legal; taking a toke should not be more newsworthy than drinking a martini.
79
Would it be any different if he was drinking scotch?
40
@Copper
he drank more whiskey in the interview than smoked weed...but that was hardly mentioned.
2
Elon Musk smoked a joint and investors got upset. Maybe THEY need to smoke a joint!
I'm sure if Mr. Musk had had a couple tumblers of single malt they would have joined him. This is the 21st century. Lads. Grow up people!
66
@John Paul Esposito. Couldn't agree more. The guy has been under tremendous pressure, give him a break.
5
@John Paul Esposito Ummmm....there's a reason why investors are upset. It's their money he's using to make achieve his goals. Let that sit with you for a moment
If those expensive Tesla toy cars could run on the hot air Musk is blowing, there might be a future for his pipe dreams.
3
I have been following Tesla and electric cars for years. The main story recently is that Tesla has met it's production goals on the model three and expect to turn a profit for the first time in the next quarter. That is the real story.
As long as I have been following electric vehicles the media has pummeled Musk as if he were an idiot. It seems they are wrong, but they just can't let it go. I assume it is just the old financial guard who are significantly tied to oil doing as they are told. Good soldiers for the dirty old industries.
Electric vehicles are coming and can't be stopped. Any loyalty that people have for the old polluting industries just shows what lapdogs they really are. Americans are weak and cowed and so are most of the media experts. But then, being weak, they have no choice but to be sniveling minions.
21
@Chris Electric vehicles aren't polluting? Where do think all that electricity and comes from? How is it generated?
Maybe Elon Musk does want to take the company private - at 100 bucks a share!
3
He's acting like a crazy man, a Donald Trump on steroids. No CEO of a publicly traded company in his right mind would smoke dope on a podcast. And contrary to his guess, the possession, use, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana is still "against the law" under the federal Controlled Substances Act regardless of what California law provides. While it's unlikely that the feds will go after him, the market will. I'm short TSLA and have no objection to his smoking dope - the more the better.
2
@Mrs. Proudie
you must be a big fan of AG Beauregard III, champion of Blue laws.
1
@Mrs. Proudie, respectfully, if you believe this is like Donald Trump on steroids, you haven't been paying attention to Donald Trump.
8
Being a tech genius doesn't guarantee common sense. The Occupy Shirt says it all. Socialist. Another Billionaire Capitalist advocating Socialism for every one else.
@Hitman3144 His shirt says "Occupy Mars". It's not about socialism, it's about his desire to reach Mars and discover a way for humans to live there.
@Hitman3144 The shirt says "Occupy Mars".
Elon Musk has supercharged the electric car industry, revived interest in mundane orbital space travel, and even made tunneling interesting through his Boring Company. I'll gladly take whatever he is smoking.
27
Any other CEO (whose name & personal vision weren't so intertwined with the company's) with Musk’s behavior would be long gone. Tesla, of course, is Musk’s own vision, and it’s hard to see the company operating without him. But the board doesn’t need to outright fire Musk. It's pretty clear that he needs is a chief operating officer to manage the company day-to-day, so he can have some time to reboot, whether he needs treatment, a new perspective or just a vacation.
7
@shanta k. sukhu
absolutely, rebooting got Clinton back in step.
Anyone now driving a Tesla or thinking of buying one needs to understand that it's highly unlikely Tesla will be around to service or provide certified parts for your vehicle two years from now.
7
@Doug Hill The Tesla brand is too valuable to disappear. If Tesla becomes unviable as a stand alone company it will be bought by another car company or by one another silicon valley company.
15
@Doug Hill Whys that?
@kj I'm strongly suspecting because Doug Hill has shorted Tesla, in which case he makes money if Tesla stock goes down. It's in the interest of short sellers to scare off potential Tesla buyers with the oft-cited FUD-- fear, uncertainty and doubt. And they are working overtime to spread FUD at any opportunity.
"A deep drag"
come on he barely inhaled, if at all
11
Maybe WJC is his hero and role model.
Looks like the Tesla shorts are finally being proved right.
Going private at $420 is looking crazier and crazier. What was he smoking?
3
I’d be impressed if he stopped acting out and started working on the state of the planet especially with the world in peril now and worsening by the minute. A woman in her 20s speaking with me about the state of the world actually seriously said “well we can go to Mars” . Frightening ignorance. He should get some therapy because things are going on we can see and possibly not only ambien.
1
@Samuel So, what have you done for the planet so far? The guy is changing how we drive cars. I'd be happy to hear your accomplishments.
All of these proponents of legalized marijuana say it's harmless. It's not harmless if you smoke it in a blunt.
1
True, the tobacco is horrible for you.
The stock market is to Elon Musk what America is to Donald Trump. Serious investors are fleeing both.
6
@John LeBaronNot quite, serious investors our making out like bandits under President Trump.
2
So an executive leaves a new position because he says the public attention and pace of the company was different from what he expected and the CEO puffs a legal product in the state he was in. Not much to talk about when it's taken at face value. It's as if a normal person didn't enjoy the pace of work prior to their 90 day evaluation period was up and smoked a cigarette with a friend... Come on.
10
It’s absurd to claim this happened in a vacuum. These are just two of many events that point to Musk’s instability and issues at Tesla
It is sad to see a brilliant innovator create needless controversy for a company he is trying to nurture.
12
Musk literally reinvented rocket launch economics, forcing the entire industry to completely redesign its business model. He simultaneously did the same to the luxury auto industry, forcing everyone else to accelerate their investments in electric vehicle and autonomous technologies. He then accepted a legal pot hit from a podcast host and then said weed didn’t really do much for him. Musk further commented that pot only zapped productivity. Of course, this trivial media moment only succeeded in further energizing the jealous and the petty. History will write thousands of pages on how Elon Musk forced multiple industries to reinvent themselves. Unless he actually goes through some kind of Howard Hughes like devolution, his idiosyncrasies will likely only inhabit a few paragraphs. At the moment Musk’s only mental heath issue seems to be lack of sleep, a common condition for driven creatives. One that is very far divorced from being a Howard Hughes like mental health crisis.
77
Imagine leading Tesla, whose shares trade on the stock exchange.
Folks come in and sell $millions of shares short, and then bribe Tesla workers to sabotage the software running the factory, so that production goals will not be met. It is very difficult to prove who did the sabotage. But if a number of different areas in the plant are being sabotaged, then Tesla cannot easily prevent this problem.
And the problem stems from Tesla being traded on the open market. I just wish there were more regulations on short selling. And I wish that the SEC might prevent this kind of sabotage of US companies by short sellers of their stock. That is what the SEC should focus on. And no, Musk cannot describe what happened in public or there would really be a falling stock price. But I know it happened with the Tesla painting robots because that did make it into a news story.
6
Plenty of regulations exist on short selling. You can expect the Tesla short sellers follow them to the letter. Plenty of regulations exist for a CEO to take his firm private. Tesla’s inability to follow those regulations is subject of SEC investigation. The SEC does not need regulations for short sellers sabotaging production lines. Each state has criminal laws against that activity. While we have heard allegations from Tesla, it is not clear the firm provided any proof of employee action or links to other investors. Since CA politicians do not seem reluctant to go after accused Wall Street felons, I might wonder about the state’s inaction on this case.
What a loser. That's America I guess, the spoiled rich kids get to do whatever they want and the poor people just get to be labor slaves.
12
@Mons He is self-made, not a rich kid.
@Mons He founded multiple companies, including a rocket company from scratch. Eccentric maybe, loser no.
@Mons How is he a spoiled rich kid when he has built everything himself and never inherited anything? I really wonder who the loser here really is :)
1
When shares lose a third of their value over the course of a month, something appears to be wrong. A company's chief accountant quitting during the same time frame, "a few weeks after coming aboard," contributes to that appearance.
Someone is at least guilty of hiring malpractice.
I don't know how healthy Tesla is financially--I know they've spent a lot of money. I understand why the market is skittish.
I hope they can pull through--they contribute to a cleaner future. But I wouldn't bet the rent on it.
Let's not conflate Musk's completely harmless pot smoking with his broader behavior on social media and managament of Tesla. If investors and Tesla executives feel "shaken" in 2018 by a man legally smoking pot, they need to reach for a dooby themselves.
36
Maybe now is the time to buy some Tesla . . .
9
the other auto makers are angry with Musk. with fossil fuels slowly leaving the others are in no position yet to imagine a future without all that oil. Musk has developed an automobile that does not rely on any of the usual pipelines for his raw materials. for students of auto manufacturing the name Tucker was denied inclusion back in the day by the BIG 3 and their ability to stop him that way. they cannot do that to Musk and his product.
9
Imagination is fine but you also have to master mass production at a cost that allows an affordable price to consumers as well as a profit and return to shareholders - ohhhh, sorry, not cool.
How are those automobiles manufactured by Apple and Alphabet working out?
1
I appreciate what Musk has done with the auto industry, but I'm concerned about his recent behavior. Criticism of him cannot just be brushed off as doing the bidding of the auto industry.
@daniel r potter
I don’t think that is the case this time. I believe the legacy manufacturers are letting Tesla gain acceptance and will then move. Today, most consumers, including myself, would like to own electric cars but refrain from doing so because there continue to be problems with adopting the technology. I live in an area where I travel long distances on a regular basis and am unwilling to plan my travels around the availability of charging stations. If I did the bulk of my driving in urban areas this would be an issue.
As far as Musk smoking pot, there are a number of possibilities...
1) Mr. Musk, moments before he took the drag said: "It's legal isn't it?" Where was Joe Rogan recording the interview, and was pot legal there?
2) Was there really marijuana in that cigar?
3) Was this a public admission by Mr. Musk to prevent a blackmail situation?
4) Was this a public admission by Mr. Musk to prevent cognitive dissonance, a psychological barrier that is sometimes caused when an individual denies their dark (shadow) side.
5) Was Mr. Musk making a political statement about pot smoking?
6) Is Mr. Musk attempting to get booted from his job because Tesla is sinking, and he would prefer to get ousted for pot smoking rather than for bad management?
7) Is Mr. Musk attempting to shed his security clearance at SpaceX?
8) Is Mr. Musk grooming his image, to be one of the 'cool guys'?
9) Perhaps Mr. Musk just doesn't care.
1
I don't know the average age of Tesla shareholders but judging from the reaction of him smoking a joint, I'll take a guess: pretty old indeed.
17
@LR: I'm old. Pot was around before I was born.
1
Am I missing something? This is the first time I've heard Musk speak, and he is really not very articulate or insightful. Perhaps his intelligence manifests in different ways -- not everyone smart is eloquent -- but for someone who shoots off his mouth so much, he is (surprisingly) not very good at it.
4
Musk is fine. This puppy (Tesla) is entering cruise control now- hence some time off to toke and vent a little. Last month Tesla sold more cars than all of BMW.
He is smart enough to know that now BMW and Daimler are the real competition. He will likely have to bring in some muscle to help run this beast.
2
Musk is a talented guy, however his increasing erratic behavior and acting out are hurting his business as well as his innovative agenda. He has expressed some relationship issues and there was a question about the “working 140 hours a week” kind of statement along with use of the sleep medication Ambien.
He’s let us know he has problems. I thought selling flame throwers was at first a joke but was real and so out of touch with reality. So crazy it shouldn’t need an explanation.
4
There's an expectation that public figures are saints. I understand the role-model argument. But is a judgmental and puritanical culture really healthy?
Why don't we just give the guy a break? He's a human being. He's contributed to our world more than many a meek soul. Why all the uproar over a (perfectly legal) puff on a joint?
10
Have you heard Elon Musk chastize shareholders for being concerned about his compay's financials?
What goes around comes around.
I have defended Musk many times on these pages but he really needs his cars (and rockets), and not himself, to be in the news. A long vacation may be in order.
13
The problem with fake news is that when there are readily available sources, it's easy to rebut and then it looks as if you have an agenda.
It's clear from the video that he didn't take a "deep drag." He puffed on it once like a cigar, meaning he likely didn't inhale at all. Even if he had inhaled, it certainly wouldn't have been enough to get anybody high, but your quote is a fabrication that's refuted by the video.
There's also this that others reported and you left out:
"He later explained that “I’m not a regular smoker of weed,” adding that he smokes “almost never…I don’t actually notice any effect…I know a lot of people like weed, and it’s fine, but I don’t find it very good for productivity…it’s like a cup of coffee in reverse.
“I like to get things done, I like to be useful, that is one of the hardest things.”"
You take a 2.5 hour video, ignore anything of any relevance, and focus on literally a few seconds. You act as if the whole thing was about Musk getting high, when he didn't get high and claims he never gets high.
116
@Hagrinas:
+1
3
Can we kill the lazy stoner meme already ? Typical weed user in my area has a six figure income, employs others, and contributes back to their community. I dont have any tesla stock so don't care. If the CEO was doing shots I would look to the context, likewise weed use. No person stoned or un stoned sees TSLA as other than cryptocurrency at this point.
20
@Casey
Sure, and let’s start handing out joints when we meet with stock analysts. Or, better yet, at shareholders meetings.
4
Right and how many of your movers and shakers will catch a buzz while having a conversation streamed on the Internet?
@TW Smith
Well Joe Rogan's podcast interview at his personal studio was neither so...
Sad demise of a brilliant but flawed individual. He may have stretched himself too far.
3
Smoking the devil's lettuce?? Won't someone get this absolute menace off the street?
10
The board is handcuffed; any other CEO would necessarily be honest about Tesla's capabilities and prospects as an automobile manufacturer.
1
Smoking weed? Unless I missed something, he took one puff and didn't even inhale it, just blew it right out. Musk seems way younger than his years. And not in a good way.
3
A brilliant guy, but a poor choice to lead a public company. Even if you support the company’s goals it is very difficult for me to consider investing in Tesla even with the recent decline in share price. There are two main reasons:
1. Mr. Musk has become very unpredictable and volatile. The “taking Tesla private” moment and the ensuing disclosures that revealed this was just loose talk is but the most egregious example of a series of missteps. You never know day to day what he might say or do - such as smoking marijuana on camera.
2. Tesla is going to need more cash to support operations and refinance/retire debt. With a depressed share price this becomes more expensive and more dilutive of present shareholders.
7
Tesla shareholders panic at the idea of Musk taking a toke, but blithe to the open revolt unfolding in the White House?
21
Musk is trying to create a mental illness defense for his flagrant stock price manipulation ploy with that fake going private stunt.
2
Investors are concerned that Musk took a hit off a joint?
Wonderful!
Buying into such an irrational fear is a sure-fire contrarian trade, which I just executed before writing this.
10
Deep drag? It was a puff at best, and he seemed to just want to see what it tasted like as if he were a guest in Mr Rogan’s home and Mr. Rogan started smoking a blunt. I hope the people who think this is egregious drive the price of Tesla stock down low enough so I can afford to buy it at a bargain.
19
Elon, one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the world don't need no stinking cigarette. He is amazing and maddening all at once but boy is he successful. Remember what Bill Clinton said Elon: Don't Inhale.
2
I don’t have an issue with smoking weed. I would have a problem if the CEO of a company I invested in was smoking weed. Being a CEO is a 24 hour job. Tesla is a company plagued by production issues and can’t make a profit. He doesn’t have the time to waste getting high. If Elon wants to drugs, he should resign. He has too much on his shoulders to be smoking weed.
4
@Jake
He said he doesn't smoke weed for the exact reasons you mentioned above. A good start would be to watch the actual interview instead of blindly reacting to headlines like most of the people here.
And "he doesn't have time to waste to get high", I'm pretty sure he hasn't been sleeping... ever... to make more time for work.
4
@Jake
Watch the video, you can't call that "smoking weed". I'd be willing to wager that Musk would pass a drug test.
1
@Jake You have only to go to Burning Man to find that many highly successful CEO's enjoy weed from time to time. But none of them are chronic weed indulgers.
Notwithstanding the news that a dozen or so top executives have left Tesla this year so far, what should have raised more eyebrows is the area(s) where these top executives worked in.
Here we are, with the chiefs in finance and communications jumping ship, and then a new accounting chief resigning immediately after less than a few months on the job, it speaks volume. I have no doubt that this accounting guy is scared off after having close looks at Tesla's books. Given that top executives can be on the hook on civil lawsuits, should investors sue, his resignation is likely due to something unbecoming that he's seen and does not want to be held accountable for.
In totality, it tells us the financial situations of Tesla. Most people can and will tolerate crazy bosses (just ask those who complained but still worked for Steve Jobs), as long as they still believe in the mission and be remunerated handsomely for withstanding heat from the Musk's kitchen (much like the Trump kitchen). But if they realize that they could go to jail for it, no one would do it. (Just ask Michael Cohen and Flynn.)
9
The Tesla narrative continues to puzzle me. Musk has said the company will be profitable in the second half of this year. Given the reduction of government subsidies for their product, a continued lack of demonstrated ability to consistently produce said product and a focus on raising capital and controversy, why would investors continue to flock to this company?
17
@Lostin24You are reading the narrative of the short sellers. They are producing their product just fine and have no issues with cash. Ramping for the first mass-produced electric car ever takes considerable capex (e.g. buidling a giant battery factory), and they are staged for profitability next quarter.
3
@Lostin24
"Theranos" ?????
2
@Lostin24 The company itself doesn't get subsidies. It won't affect Tesla if customers don't get the same tax credits that all other EV buyers get, as long as Tesla keeps selling cars. The waiting list is hundreds of thousands long, and it was clear to most of these people from the beginning that they stood no chance of getting a tax credit that was limited to the first 200,000 domestic sales.
All indications are that Tesla is producing the Model 3 steadily. When reservations started, the announced start of production was before the end of 2017. Nobody expected Tesla to make it, much less be ramped up to 5000 cars per week within six months of that. Tesla did manage to get so far ahead, by starting production in July 2017, that when Musk became overly optimistic with quarterly projections, people lost sight of the fact that Tesla is still on target overall.
Investors continue to flock to the company because they see the big picture. Those who invested when the Model 3 was announced see the company ahead of where anybody expected. Those who invested in early 2013 when Tesla projected 20,000 for the year and entered into a battery contract that would allow for 100,000 cars per year by 2017 saw the first target blown away and the second one met.
Tesla might have been off in the short term with quarterly projections, but in the long term they are blowing away expectations, making cars with the highest satisfaction rate and top reviews.
1
I can't imagine that weed is Tesla's problem. That the top accountant left after a month of looking into Tesla's numbers is probably the main reason.
60
This guy seems to love to run his mouth in public and get the attention focussed on himself. His job should be to manage production goals for mass produced more affordable vehicles, and do what he can to encourage innovation at his company behind the scenes if he really wants Tesla to succeed. Seems like the communicating should be done by a communications director, not an attention hound.
I'd like to see this company mass produce and take market share away from the other automobile companies who still produce the vast majority of their vehicles to be petroleum consuming machines. I don't see where all the public attention grabbing helps foster this goal.
1
Marijuana may actually be a good thing for Elon. I would recommend it over the Ambien he takes and also over the other drugs he allegedly uses.
Weed in itself is a minor issue. Its that plus his other more erratic behavior.
At some point TSLA is probably a good investment. But when the stock is so tied to who Elon is dating, what he is tweeting, or whether he smokes weed with Joe Rogan - that is reason for pause.
19
Creative thinking does not REQUIRE erratic behavior, and vice versa. They are two distinct phenomena.
8
Sounds like Musk was toying with the critics. I find it hard to believe someones is making a big deal about it even if it was 100% 420. Liquor is still the main lubricant of commerce, despite killing 100,000s every year.
If cannabis is legal, it's legal, get over it already. It should've been legalized back when Nixon was president and his commission recommended that course of action. Instead, Nixon used illegality fluffed up by the DEA, an organization founded specifically as political police to carry out Nixon's goal, to attack activists. Followed by almost another half-century of enforcement biased to go after minorities.
Musk is an innovator. His problem isn't pot, it's delegation, a very common affliction shared by people who smoke or don't, drink or don't, etc, if you're the sort of person he is. Going after him about what may or may not be his preference in smokeables is pretty close to marching a zombie Nixon out of his grave.
Mush is an innovator. Cannabis often facilitates this. While AG Sessions doesn't like it, there's lots of proof reefer helped the careers of the Beatles. Where is jazz as an art form without pot? Would anyone have thought Bill Clinton was at all cool if he hadn't at least fessed up to faking his way through the 60s. And Obama could be counted on to be honest about the matter, might have even been a greater president if he'd decided he still might benefit from a reefer now and then. I have 100% safe driver awards for decades.
Buy Tesla.
26
I do not understand the bullying, bashing and character assignation of Elon Musk that is going on. The looking outside of the box type of people seem to attract those who enjoy bullying, bashing and character assignation. I wonder when our society and culture will grow up and pass through adolescence into intelligent and honest adulthood.
23
@JN
I do. Everyone, especially short sellers, hate a winner, especially if they're not on board earlier and destined to make a killing.
5
@JN: Musk referred to one of the divers who saved the Thai kids a pedophile. Then said it must be true since the diver didn't sue. Talk about bullying and bashing.
1
Short sellers love a loser masquerading as a winner.
When you have an erratic CEO and senior management is leaving, that is a strong signal that there is trouble in the company. "A word to the wise is sufficient" . . . . Run.
13
People in our country lack vision. I watched the entire interview and I found it invigorating and encouraging. I'm actually quite disappointed that the NY Times even thought it worth mentioning that he was enjoying cannabis. You do realize that the majority of creative executives in the Silicon Valley micro dose LSD to enhance their creativity. Although Steve Jobs was not for marijuana (he thought it dulled creativity) he was all for psychedelics and absolutely used them.
19
@CurtisJames
Really? The "majority?"
6
@CurtisJames, Musk can do all psychedelics all you want in your private times, no one is going to stop him. But there is a certain etiquette and decorum that everyone expects the leaders to observe, if they want to be respected. Perhaps Musk is taking a leaf out of the Trump playbook, throwing all etiquette and convention out of the window, but whether the audience takes it or not, is a totally different matter.
I don't have a care if Musk smokes pot or not. I do care if he's mentally fit to execute the company's vision. While he's the founder of the company, many a founders never make the big leap to the next higher layer. Bezos did, as did Gates, and the two Google founders have their big comeback after hiring an adult to caretake the company for a decade, while the Uber guy clearly did not make the cut. If Musk is unable to execute, then yes he should step aside (or wait till he gets pushed aside as the Uber guy did).
3
@CurtisJames
Low doses of LSD is like a mild speed high and lasts about 12 hours. You don't trip on it.
Donald Trump and family in the White House ... Donald Trump is the most powerful man on Earth... and his board is worried about his marijuana use? Pass that joint Mr. Musk we all need it!
18
Just want to reiterate that Musk was absolutely right: It's legal in California. If anything, this makes me like Musk more, which was probably partly what what went through his mind before he took that puff. Alas, he forgot that big chunks of the rest of the country still equate weed with sedition or something (while hypocritically descending into actually ruinous opioid addition).
PS watch "The Wolf Of Wall Street" to see what *worrisome* CEO drug intake looks like.
A puff of weed. Give me a break, are we grownups here or what?
38
Well, it’s pretty obvious Musk doesn’t really smoke pot. He didn’t inhale and he made the old claim that weed makes one unproductive.
I think a lot of smokers would disagree with that. Depending on the strain, I have found the opposite to be true.
5
@Helen Wheels Yeah, I noticed he didn't ihnale as well. He smoked it like a cigar. In fact, he looks like he never smokes weed. I feel almost like this whole thing is just for show.
1
Trump and Musk, twinning. Both seem to think they can say or do anything and get away with it. The only thing we need to realize is that the public is so bored this kind of meaningless outrageous entertainment sells.
Let's get real, he was not the original designer of Tesla,he did not build the Tesla, and he obviously has an incapacity to understand the limitations of his technology. In any case I would think evolution in car manufacture makes for simpler cars. Since when did a dancing car or funky doors make it easy? So many more connections that could fail.......
All he did was SELL. And folks without joints are lapping up his wares without questioning the engineering. Don't blame him look in our own mirrors and see who is stupid.
4
@Meena It was Eberberhard(Brilliant Engineer) and the guys at at AC Propulsion(Brilliant Engineers) who came up with Electric Cars. Elon Musk just caught in interest in their technology. Eberhard pitched to Elon the electric plane but he wasn't interested. He was more interested in the Electric Car so he then used his money to fund the idea and Tesla.
Musk didn’t seem altogether there before he picked up the blunt. Tesla needs a CEO who won’t create a media and Wall Street firestorm every time he opens his mouth.
5
Wait a sec! Don't these tech investos know that Mr. Musk is just being cool?
Barack the UltraCool Prezzy smoked weed for years and even spoke of that haze when he got into politics, which sure beat working.
And people leaving him after too short a period? Look at how many Defense chiefs he went through, like a pop music diva replacing paramours. That's even more cool, investors!
And Elon Musk never even thought of working out a deal for Hezbollah to run cocaine into the United States in partnership with the Colombians. Would it help is Elong came from Chicago?
1
No large company can be a single proprietorship, and Tesla's products are too good to let them be wasted. Musk needs to learn how to delegate.
48
@Richard Schumacher
He needs to move to a role where he is in charge of innovation. Get a real ceo.
2
For people saying that pot is no big deal, you're absolutely right. No worse than whiskey. UNLESS you're a CEO of a company and already acting a bit erratic.
13
@Anne
Or a pilot, truck driver, surgeon...
8
@Anne
If you're so worried about his image, you should praise him for the marijuana and hope he catches some Zzzs as a result. Wasn't everyone riling on him for not getting enough sleep?
There’s a saying that goes: “If you like Tesla, buy the car, not the stock.”
That’s been my philosophy, and I’m a happy Tesla owner.
9
Steve Jobs, a truly miserable human being by all accounts, is viewed as a demi-god by the masses. Musk, who is an idealist with much bigger ideas, who actually produces the best cars (and soon, trucks) in the world, is a threat to too many special interests to enumerate here (many of whom advertise heavily in the news outlets who are most critical of Musk), is mobbed for any human foible he displays. What people don't understand is both the high level of competence that Elon has, and the real sincerity that he has which is virtually unheard of in the corporate world.
TSLA is the most shorted stock in history, and the shorts parry negative narratives that are parroted by those who don't know any better; that is why Musk pondered taking the company private.
Those who bash Tesla cars without ever having driven in one are part of the problem. Those who bash them professionally do so because they feel threatened (oil, gas, legacy automakers who actually cannot compete at Tesla's level, primarily).
Elon should be allowed to do what he does best. NYT should stop listening to their advertisers about putting any stumble under the microscope; the game is too transparent (and corrupt).
120
@An Observer, I don't particularly care what the short-sellers are doing. But if I was a TSLA shareholder (and I'm not), I would be concerned about the non-stop exodus of top-level executives from the company.
As for the cars themselves, several of my friends have one and they all love them. I love the idea of an all-electric car, and even more than that, I love the idea that Tesla cuts out the local franchised dealer middlemen.
But I don't need a $70,000 roadster. I want a $25,000 four-door sedan that gets me around town.
3
@An Observer
I had a lot of TESLA stock when the company was young, that's when idealism alone can take you anywhere. TESLA is (supposed to be) today a mature company, it must be run professionally, profits, and that structure that does not match idealism anymore.
I have a model 3, fantastic car, but I no longer hold TESLA stocks....
@Andy
Statistically speaking, top execs are not leaving Tesla at a greater frequency than any other Silicon Valley firm. There is a constant shuffle in the Bay Area as one giant plucks talent from the other giant. Apple, for example, lost Siri co-founder Gruber in July; Jimmy Iovine is backing away from Apple Music; Bozoma Saint John left Apple to Join Uber; and so on. Churn is the name of the game there. But again, Tesla gets all the media attention, because of my aforementioned reasons.
The wheels are coming off this buggy. I don't own (long or short) but am amazed by the stream of bad and stupid stories that come out of this company.
10
“At first I thought I was insane,”
Any second thougths ?
9
No surprise here ,you can afford to smoke dope when the taxpayers are supporting your company,for the time being that is.
3
Stock shares plummet because the CEO enjoys a whiskey and a puff of weed? Are people really that stupid? Oh right, Donald Trump is president and Brett Cavanagh may become a supreme court justice… forget it.
176
Tesla is making what appears to be a great power train ( batteries, controllers, electric motors) but that's probably where his expertise should end. The rest needs to come off an assembly line of a company/companies that have years of proven expertise on the auto/truck business. I'm afraid he is going to lose it all.
3
At this level, accounting chiefs/directors usually leave for one of two reasons. Either their advice is being ignored or they are being asked to do something unethical.
18
Wow, he smoked pot.......what breaking news.
Who cares? That changes exactly what?
85
another volatile rich guy......
2
Pot doesn't cause wild swings in behavior, but some of the other things Musk has hinted he might be doing would. His behavior of late is more like that of someone who is flaming out than an executive and inventor who is in control.
Hopefully, he hasn't alienated himself so much from his loved ones that an intervention is impossible. He seems to need one. Pedo talk, racist talk... those are unbecoming of anyone, but especially someone with his responsibilities toward employees.
Share prices rise and fall. When there is no confidence in leadership, the way back can be near impossible.
---
www.rimaregas.com
27
@Rima Regas Better read the medical studies .The indica strain of cannabis sativa which may be as much as one hundred times the potency of 'weed',has proven to cause types of psychosis in some individuals.Especially chronic use ,hence the nickname "Chronic " because the user becomes a constant user in order to retain the high.Yes getting high ,loaded ect has meaning.
1
@Alan Einstoss
FYI, chronic simply refers to very high quality marijuana. Technically, you would need to become a "constant user" of any type of MJ to "retain the high", as it is not generally a long-lasting drug.
@Alan Einstoss
I read the studies. The problem is with processed marijuana in which the ratios of CBD to THC exceed what one would get from smoking a joint. Then you have vaping, eating, etc.
Musk was seen smoking a joint and he made allusions to using LSD. There's been talk of his use of Ambien.
It's quite the cocktail if he's doing all of the above and more. Pot, on its own, wouldn't cause his personality to change like this.
Musk took a taste. He didn't even inhale.
A non-event, sensationalized by the shorts for financial gain. Plain and simple.
16
As much as I try, I can't blame Trump for everything. But Trump and Musk are certainly birds of a feather.
3
@Jim Cricket
Except that Trump's work produces profitable business results. Musk is not that likely to even get his huge initial government loans paid back if the car manufacturing fizzles.
99% of all the businesses Trump has created are still turning out profits.
@L'osservatore
yet he has bankrupt 3 times, and is known by not paying his employees ....
Now he is the president, and people like you put him there in the name of profits, ....
The planet will be destroyed, but you will die surrounded by dollars! I hope that makes you happy.
1
@L'osservatore Trump only benefits from your analysis since his business remains private and off the public record.
There is such a thing as too smart for one's own good.
1
Tesla's Musk problem is easily solved if you correctly understand that Musk is an entrepreneur, not a manager.
It's close to impossible for these two functions to have both skill-sets.
A visionary entrepreneur has no interest in the details of optimizing operations and a manager focused on systems, best practices, cash flow, and accountability will not be much of a strategist.
Musk needs to delegate and stay away from the business end of Tesla. Free him to create the future.
22
@Fourteen You have to believe the board knows this already, why they haven't acted and implemented what would be normal management to help him is beyond me. It's holding me back from long term $TSLA investment. That said I love my M3
@tmw
"You have to believe the board knows this"
Yes, they'd almost have to. Might be that Musk refuses to let go.
@Fourteen They have had managers in the past. Didn't work out
That Elon is a creative and entrepreneurial genius of the times should be little in doubt. However, to expect one person to be stellar at conceiving, starting and then successfully running a cutting edge technology company (or 3) is unrealistic and, in my opinion, a recipe for disaster. The two technology startups that I have worked for both brought in seasoned business leaders as CEOs to take over the helm before going public. Both founders--very smart technologists--understood the wisdom of this, to their credit. I'm hoping that Elon is wise enough to understand this as well.
10
I've always thought the fuss, and stock price, of Tesla had to be all "smoke and mirrors".
It turns-out I must have been right...
2
Meh....pot never stopped Willie or Woody. Maybe it will move things ahead.
11
Some of the comments are pretty interesting, saying Elon has to "grow up", etc., or that Tesla has to hire a "real CEO". I hate to tell you, but visionary people don't conform to traditional Wall St., big-business rules, which is why 95% of the technological innovation in the US (and much of the world) comes out of Silicon Valley, a place where the only "suits" are viewed as way down the food chain. Do people think that all the great visionaries (Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc.) came up with all those ideas without smoking a bit of week? Maybe some of the fortune 500 CEOs need a visit to Burning Man next year.
39
Jim S, Yes that is sorta true since the 1990s but before that (think IBM and ATT, etc) the big RandD tech firms had little interest in "wonderkid visionaries" as you describe them. Have to wonder if you are 30 or younger. Silicon Valley's weirdness is very much a recent phenomenon in corporate RandD.
Really ... enough with the Musk. Many, many, many other more talented, more grounded, more "sane", more insightful and more useful people to profile. Tesla shares? I don't own any. Musk erraticisms? Who cares.
The schadenfreude of a narcissist dumpster fire? Is that all this is about?
1
So many commenters are incredibly uptight about cannabis. It's 2018. There is absolutely nothing wrong like him having a puff of weed. He's an adult. There is absolutely no sensible reason to hide his behavior because he did not do anything wrong. Grow up, people.
104
Because a CEO has hours to waste while high? Don’t be CEO if a publicly traded company if you want to smoke. Get a 9-5
3
I’d question the judgment of anyone who consumes pot with tobacco mixed in.
16
So that explains his proposed "420" stock price.
2
Smoking marijuana for the first time is what's making his company's stock drop? I'd argue it's more due to his mercurialness and unpredictability in running his business and twitter account rather than smoking cannabis - which is that not much different than having a cocktail... people can still be functioning members of society (and even business leaders!) when they do so.
4
So. When your CEO appears to be having a public nervous breakdown what is an otherwise servile board member to do?
10
If you visit Tesla's management's page you can see only 3 names; Elon Musk, CFO Deepak Ahuja and CTO JB Straubel. No exec stays for a long period in Tesla. Who is going to resign next? CFO or CTO https://news.alphastreet.com/tesla-motors-cao-chief-accounting-officer-d..."
Oh my, Musk possibly toking on a joint! The horror, the horror!
Meanwhile, Trump thumbs his nose at over 2000 deaths in Puerto Rico, wages war on the environment, and constantly brings the world to the edge of utter disorder...
Which is more shocking?
298
@NYer Not a fair way to compare. Both are leaders in their field causing many people to want to put air quotes around "leaders". And both are very thin-skinned and easily fly off the handle. And it would appear that both play fast and loose with other people's money. Among other comparisons.
3
@NYer
Out of curiousity, I wonder how much you have invested with this guy. He is brilliant but he should take the company private if this is how he wants to behave.
1
@NYer - The double standard is rather offensive!
Enron II here we come...
2
This guy is falling apart.
5
That was a puff, not a hit.
Not unlike what a wine taster would do (only without the pretentious swishing and swirling).
Ain't no thang.
53
Another boy genius loses it. Shocking.
5
Elon Musk is a jewel. What other CEO of a publicly traded company acts like this. He let's you know who he is inside, a real live person with all the warts, just like the rest of us.
And he is a talented visionary to boot. We need more Elon Musk's in the world.
56
Thereby facilitating his taking the company private.
When a publicly traded company changes financial executives like people change their underwear, it's generally not a good sign. That is regardless of statements to the contrary. While the "Musk factor" worked in Tesla's favor earlier, the company now needs calming influences so it can survive the next year and do what it does well: make exceptionally good electric vehicles. Basically, Tesla needs one or two Eric Schmidt-like executives to balance Elon Musk. I guess that search continues.
101
The difference is that Brin and Page were wise enough to realize that they needed someone like Schmidt. Musk may be brilliant and super smart (which he is). But wisdom is not a quality I would attribute to him.
1
@Pete in Downtown
If you know of someone please refer.
Otherwise, get your own poney up and running.
if you can...................
In August, it is currently forecasted that Tesla sold more Model 3s than all BMW models.
If Tesla really is in “crisis” as the click bait articles want you to believe, then what does that make BMW?
I am just appalled at the traditional auto industry and medias over reach on a real talented person.
This guy is smart and believe me the shares going down is good so he has his money to take it indoors then.
If you remember another smart guy , how he helped Dell become great again.
26
Tesla owners and those who want too are buying an image of themselves and what they believe a car should be. Virtue signaling? It is a good car and an expensive car. Other auto makers can produce better electric cars but they can't compete with the quirkiness built into his cars.
Joe Rogan a comedian making a living on YouTube does a good job of interviewing his guest. He's smart, neither right or left and although not an intellectual fair to most of his guest. His problem is when he goes on like a hippie about marijuana and tripping. He set up Alex Jones with weed and whiskey not that Jones needed much help. Was that his intent here? Musk once again didn't come off as being to smart.
18
@JoeG
Some of the stats raise the question of how well built these vehicles are. The proof will be in the experience of The Model 3 buyers. Many of these will be purchased as only cars where reliability is paramount. The more expensive vehicles were being bought by fanboys and fangirls who were prepared to accept the quirks and who probably had multiple vehicles at their disposal.
@JoeG Rogan has great, long-form conversations with interesting people. But he propogrates a lot of stupid, conspiracy theories, enables and normalizes dangerous people like Alex Jones (whom he models a lot of his sale items on like his nutrients), and leans right on a lot of issues.
I know lots of young people who didn't vote in the recent presidential election, or voted from Trump, because people like Rogan and Jones create this sense that there really isn't truth - everything is a far-out conspiracy. And that is a dangerous place to be.
“...He appeared at ease, sipping whiskey...”
Marijuana, a legal intoxicant, is enough to drive the stock down.
Whiskey, a legal intoxicant with tragic outcomes for many people, is simply an acceptable way to relax.
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@Charlie B
Neither should be done on camera during an interview. On his own time he can do what he wants. As long as he presents himself as the second coming, he has to do a lot better than just not break the law.
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Sounds like Morton found out he was way over his head. And a lot of the negative publicity is fueled by the oil/gas industry which is still trying to get their last buck out of fossil fuels.
BTW, prohibition is over. Recreational marijuana is legal in California and adding to much of the state revenue while cutting down on crime.
BTW, in California, Tesla's are everywhere. We love them.
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@Richard
Too fanboy for me. A man who runs a public company with investor money cannot simply do anything he pleases. He owns a fiduciary duty to shareholders. It already looks like he may spend the bulk of his life dealing with the litigation that will flow from his behavior over the past few months.
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Buy a Tesla at your own risk. And by the way, recharging a Tesla requires electricity. Electricity requires a power plant using fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use produces pollution. So get off your high horses, Tesla owners.
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"Electricity requires a power plant using fossil fuels."?
No so. More and more electricity is generated from solar and wind power. And more would be if not for the irresponsible actions of Trump, McConnell, Manchin and Big Coal lobbying.
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@paul: Good point. Anyone concerned about CO2 pollution needs to make their electricity supply non-fossil before they buy an EV. Otherwise they would do more good by buying a hybrid.
@paul
First, charging a Tesla does not require a fossil-fueled power plant. It only requires electricity which can come from hydroelectric or anywhere. Where I live, many people charge there cars with solar power.
Second, even if a Tesla is being charged from electricity produced with fossil fuel, they are about 5 times more efficient than a gasoline vehicle. It is far less polluting to burn gasoline to make electricity to run an electric car than it is to directly burn gasoline in a normal car.
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Who goes first, Musk or Trump?
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Sometimes people just crash and burn. It happens -- even to the smartest of people.
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@historyprof Nikola Tesla had trouble getting funding so he lived in Hotels. I gaurentee Elon Musk will still go in the history books.
Cue outrage by Baby Boomers who watched "Reefer Madness" as teenagers and still view marijuana ("that devil weed") as more perilous than heroin. Perhaps U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will use the Boomers' furor over this trivial incident as a pretext to crackdown on pot.
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@Sándor Umm, err...It's the Boomers who tuned in, turned on, and dropped out. "Reefer Madness" toured college campuses in the 60s as a joke.
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@Sándor "Cue outrage by Baby Boomers who watched "Reefer Madness" as teenagers and still view marijuana ("that devil weed") as more perilous than heroin."
Are you for real? Boomers used to watch Reefer Madness for laughs. I know because I was one of them. Weed was very cheap back then. We also dropped acid, had unprotected sex and did more cocaine than you can ever imagine and I must say it was a good time back in the day. Too bad you were (obviously) born late and missed out on the fun. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
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@Bill Benzon Nope. That is a popular myth.
Most Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) were far too young to be Hippies. Based on research data collected by social scientist Lewis Yablonsky in 1968, it has been estimated that “the percentage of Baby Boomers who participated in the Nineteen-sixties counterculture would be only 1.17% (400,000/34.13 million = .0117).” Yes, that’s right, one percent according to scholars.
Furthermore, the Hippie generation who "tuned in, turned out, and dropped out" were predominantly born in the 1930s and the early 1940s. Go on Wikipedia and look at the birth years of famous hippies. Most hippies were either Silent Generation and War Babies.
Also, contrary to the popular myth that Boomer women were universally bra-burning second-wave feminists, the second-wave feminists were from earlier generations: Betty Friedan (b. 1921), Shirley Chisholm (b. 1924), Mary Daly (b. 1928), Jill Johnston (b. 1929), Susan Sontag (b. 1933), Gloria Steinem (b. 1934), Ann London Scott, (b. 1933), Audre Lord (b. 1934), Germaine Greer (b. 1939), Letty Cottin Pogrebin (b. 1939), Dorothy Pitman Hughes (b. 1938), etc. Many key activists were from the Silent Generation. Also, as Friedan often noted, the first modern U.S. generational cohort to reject brassieres and undergarments were the Jazz Age women of the 1920s.
“Mr. Musk responded, ‘It’s legal, right?’ and then proceeded to take a puff. Marijuana is legal for medical and recreational use in California, where the interview was recorded.”
There’s a time and a place for trolls, and that time is when hapless wanderers are passing over bridges in fantasy stories.
Elon Musk would do well to take a step back from the public spotlight for a minute or two.
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Musk is worried. Tesla is in a squeeze. As competitors ramp up EV production, manufacturing costs will fall. With commoditization. product differentiation will become more crucial. Major manufacturers can field product lines and provide service to appeal to a very broad market. As investors wake up to this reality, Tesla's capex constraints will fate it to be a perpetual niche player. (Disclaimer: not a Tesla investor)
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I'm hoping the next few quarters of shipment data bring the stock back up so I can afford to buy a Model 3. The extra stock I got in Aug at 353, expecting a 420 sell was not good karma.
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Hang in there. It's worth the wait.
To those who have worked with him closely, weed is the least of the things he does...
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Mr. Musk is a troubled soul that needs help as he's being crushed under tremendous pressure of his ambitions and relentless public doubt. Rather than pile more on him, we should be offering words of encouragement and support. It would be a huge loss should Mr. Musk behavior spiral completely out of control and he become a danger to himself.
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Do you really think smoking pot signals “spiraling out of control”? What if he was “caught” sipping some Bourbon? Stop sipping Anslinger’s poison! It’s almost 100 years past expiration date. Spoiled and rotten.
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@massybird
I give him some encouragement to hire a competent to run the business and move himself to a purely creative role.
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The amount of criticism Elon is getting for this is simply outrageous. If you actually watch the full interview, you see a sincere, honest and vulnerable human smoking a little weed, and talking about how the world needs more love. The people criticizing him for this could use a good hit of the old ganja themselves.
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@Nathanael Agreed. The interview is fascinating. Musk came across as shy, thoughtful, and sincere. Rogan was Rogan, but was a bit over the top with his Musk-worship.
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@Nathanael This is exactly what I came here to write, but you've already said it perfectly. It was a great interview and you learn something about the character of a very interesting and important person. He took only 1 hit of weed, and even said its not his preference to indulge in it. He's a man who wants to do good for the world, so let's save our outrage for those who are bringing us down. Let's support Elon, as his goals benefit us if achieved.
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@Nathanael: Calling a diver a Pedo because he criticized your unwanted efforts is not loving. I agree he's troubled and needs help, but it's up to him (and his board) to recognize that.
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Upset by someone using cannabis in 2018. Really???
California and Nevada (two of the big Tesla sites) are both legal at the state level. Feds have decided not to pursue individual users (despite Jeff Sessions' withdrawal of the Cole memo).
Whether Tesla is being run well has nothing to do with cannabis.
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@RS
People investing there hard earned savings in a company might take exception to this. Frankly, I don’t care what he does on his own time but as the head of a public company he has an obligation to appear sober and in control. He succeeds in doing neither. He is violating his fiduciary duty to his shareholders.
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Sadly it seems one of the smartest people in the room is getting emotionally overwhelmed with the task of creating from genius and insight into everyday reality. That old saying, one part inspiration, the rest perspiration. People who are smart and not humble seem to always overplay their hand. A genius is not the master of the universe.
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Musk is starting to demonstrate a few Trumpian characteristics. Makes you wonder if being rich isn't some kind of mental illness.
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The world can only handle one Twitter narcissist making bad decisions publicly at a time. Mr. Musk, you need to wait until POTUS leaves office before you can proceed on your current course.
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The real question is, how is work on his Iron Man suit progressing? When will we see Musk fly?
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Ever since he barged into the delicate rescue operations of the Thai divers and attempted to impose his 'help' (without asking if it was wanted or needed) and then calling a diver a Pedo, I have zero respect for this man. I don't care how smart he is. His arrogance is off-putting.
Many men seem to love him. Like he's some real-life super-hero. He builds cool cars and rockets! He has five kids but dates young attractive women! He's really smart! Someone actually said, "He can eat glass!"
Ugh. Just ugh.
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@Anne
The board should really consider replacing him, just as the board of Groupon fired its CEO, Andrew Mason, in 2013, for eerily similar gaffes and accounting tumult. He has become a liability, no matter what the fanboys say. And remember, Musk did not found this company, a fact that seems to get lost. Mason did found Groupon, but its board had the guts to recognize that he was not the guy to steer the ship anymore.
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@Sundevilpeg, Tesla would be doomed with anyone else steering the ship.
Musk was indeed the company’s co-founder, and the driving force behind the first commerical electric car for sale in 80 years - one that broke records for speed and distance. One that, with oil companies sitting on the patents for large-format lithium ion batteries, was powered by 6,300 cellphone batteries wired together.
Facts that seem to get lost.
@Anne
"...but dates young attractive women!"
He is a billionaire. Billionaires and even most mere millionaires tend to date young attractive women. You would suggest he date a Bella Abzug or Margaret Thatcher look-a-like? What does that have to do with his ability to run a company?
The rest of your post I largely agree with. Particularly the arrogance being off-putting. We all get a daily dose of an arrogant billionaire and his beautiful younger woman.
Does the SEC have Jordan Rules?
Too much smoking would certainly explain a lot of Musk's recent erratic behavior ….
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@Boltarus Did you even watch the joe rogan interview in its entirety? He hardly took a full single puff even after asserting that he rarely smokes. Honestly, he drank more whiskey than he smoked, both equally legal in the state of california by the way.
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@Boltarus
Not really. Cannabis doesn't make people erratic or unpredictable. If anything, it's the opposite.
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@Benjamin Hinkley
Yes, that’s why when I need an operation I go to the surgeon who is committed to smoking pot during the procedure.
To quote that film, Musk is behaving as if stupidity were a virtue.
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If Tesla is to survive as a credible business, perhaps even flourish someday, it needs to hire a CEO who's a grown-up.
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@Dotconnector, good point. I think that same sentiment could also apply to voting for politicians.
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It's a shame. So far, the Tesla has been the gold standard for electric vehicles, despite the relative infancy of the industry. And yet, because of the infant-like behavior of Musk, electric cars in general may end up going the way of the Edsel.
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Doesn't smoking marijuana still contravene federal, if not state, laws?
If so, even though he's unlikely to face prosecution, it doesn't seem a smart move for the CEO of such a prominent company to do this in public.
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@Henry What is so bad about coming out of the closet?
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@Henry
I guess this may come as a surprise to you but cannabis is actually legal for recreational use in many states.
Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Washington, D.C.
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@Henry Sure, federally by the DEA it is still classed as Schedule 1(Along with Meth and Heroin) but 10th Amendment and State Rights. I go with the latter.
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Up in smoke? Sure feels like they'll need more than an electric battery to keep this company running.
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Is it possible Elon wants to bring the price way down so he can buy the outstanding stock to go private?
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