# Elon Musk **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 29, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765 "2018-01-29T23:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/141 "2018-07-16T14:55:34Z")
I’ve hated Musk’s fanboys for a while, but generally thought the man, himself, was OK. His borrowing ‘FAKE NEWS!’ from Trump made me reassess him, but, hey, that was criticizing people who criticized him (for his anti-union stance), maybe he wasn’t all bad, just kind of a dumbass who’s a bit over-privileged. But…yeah, no, my opinion of him has pretty close to bottomed out, now… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/142 "2018-07-16T15:11:50Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …if there was any doubt that Elon Musk was a gigantic arsehole then the next few tweets should clear that up. > > Quoted in full in case he deletes. Here is talking about Vern Unsworth, one of the British Divers who took part in the Thai Cave rescues. Vern criticised Elon yesterday. Today Elon calls Vern “pedo guy” who “lives in Thailand (sus)”. > > [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1018494440648859648](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1018494440648859648) > > What a wanker. Yep, another twit on twitter, disappointing to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/143 "2018-07-16T17:53:48Z")
Wouldn’t any other CEO be fired for this kind of behavior? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/144 "2018-07-16T19:06:54Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Wouldn’t any other CEO be fired for this kind of behavior? He’s founder or co-founder of the companies he runs. I doubt he has anyone above him who could fire him. The diver whom he labeled a “pedo” says he may sue him. > **[Elon Musk could face lawsuit for calling cave rescuer a “pedo guy”](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/07/elon-musk-could-face-lawsuit-for-calling-cave-rescuer-a-pedo-guy/?amp=1)** > > Musk lobs baseless charge at rescuer who said his submarine idea was "PR stunt." ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/145 "2018-07-16T19:32:07Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > He’s founder or co-founder of the companies he runs. I doubt he has anyone above him who could fire him. The board of directors in theory could fire him, but in reality, Tesla’s board is not as independent as you would expect from similar corporations. The was a very minor shareholder revolt at the recent annual meeting that attempted to move out Elon’s close associates from the board to bring on more independent directors, but that effort got crushed. ---
**Author:** ![Warm\_blood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Warm\_blood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Warm_blood)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/146 "2018-07-16T22:53:29Z")
It amazes me that it never occurred to him that calling someone a pedophile on a public platform as large as Twitter would come back to bite him in the ass big time. Equally amazing is seeing people rationalise his actions by pointing out that some white Western men do travel to Thailand for sex tourism. Because, you know, that totally justifies generalising every single white male who steps foot on Thai soil as a pedophile. Elon Musk didn’t say what he said out of concern for the sexual exploitation of Thai children, ffs. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/147 "2018-07-16T23:19:34Z")
Especially considering that he, himself, is a white man who set foot on Thai soil. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/148 "2018-07-16T23:40:43Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > He’s founder or co-founder of the companies he runs. I doubt he has anyone above him who could fire him. Musk did not found either Paypal nor Tesla. Paypal was formed by a merger of Confinity, which was a company which originally based on the PalmPilot platform for encrypted payments, with [X.com](http://X.com), a company founded by Musk that was originally an online bank. After a restructuring (in which Musk was forced out because of his abrasiveness with other board members and resistance to many of the business strategies which made PayPal successful) the company reorganized as what is now known as PayPal and developed the essential tools for its implementation as an online payment system. Tesla was founded by Martain Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning; Musk only came on later with the Series A VC financiing, later getting into a legal dispute with Eberhard over purported libel and forcing both founders into advisory positions and later out of the company entirely. Musk did found SpaceX (he has a literal obsession wth the letter “X”, and reportedly originally wanted to name the company “X-Space” but financers thought that it sounded like a porn company) and in original publicity often claimed personal responsibility for many of the enabling technologies even though the original Falcon engine was heavily based on the TRW Low Cost Pintle Engine and VP of Propulsion Tom Mueller (who had worked on various pintle engine designs prior to the acquisition of TRW by Northrop Grumman) was hired specifically to develop the engine for the Falcon 1 and Falcon 5 vehicles. The personal bravado was somewhat toned down after three successive failures of the Falcon 1 vehicle prior to a successful orbital flight, after which the vehicle was retired along with the Falcon 5 because someone finally took a look at the costs and realized that it would not be profitable enough for a return on investment. This is entirely in character for Musk, who has a reputation for being a capricious and bombastic executive and prone to firing people on a whim, traits that many seem to feel is necessary and beneficial in entrepreneurship. Perhaps that is the case (although I am not convinced) but I’ll point out that as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs relied heavily on Sheryl Sandberg and Joanna Hoffman to keep their respective companies on an even keel in correction for the tempestuous impulses of these supposed geniuses, and Gwynne Shotwell appears to fill the same role at SpaceX, whereas Musk does not appear to have anyone in a comparable position at Tesla or SolarCity. At any rate, Musk had neither the detailed expertise necessary to provide assistance to the professional rescuers nor the presence of mind to quietly offer financial or technical assistance as requested, instead publically imposing himself on the rescue process as the Great White Hope. I hope the rescuer subject to his accusations does pursue legal remedy for libel and defamation if for no other reason than to wipe the persistently smug look off of Elon Musk’s face. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/149 "2018-07-17T00:07:00Z")
At least Howard Hughes had the good grace to withdraw into hermetic seclusion as he started to lose his fucking marbles Twitter isn’t doing the genius giants of technology any favors. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/150 "2018-07-17T00:18:55Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > At least Howard Hughes had the good grace to withdraw into hermetic seclusion as he started to lose his fucking marbles > > Twitter isn’t doing the genius giants of technology any favors. I feel like there’s a chance out there to rewrite _Atlas Shrugged_ in the age of Twitter, and have the entire world laughing at John Galt as he spams that speech in roughly 640 tweets. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/151 "2018-07-17T01:19:07Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I feel like there’s a chance out there to rewrite _Atlas Shrugged_ in the age of Twitter, and have the entire world laughing at John Galt as he spams that speech in roughly 640 tweets. Really? It seemed longer in the original… ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/152 "2018-07-17T01:29:02Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I’m reasonably sure that, a couple decades from now, his intellect will continue to be researched… He is not particulary bright. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/153 "2018-07-17T01:39:18Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Really? It seemed longer in the original… It’s a rough estimate, assuming a 60-page author filibuster containing roughly 3,000 characters a page and the new Twitter limit of 280 characters. So, 180,000/280 is roughly 643 tweets, but would actually increase as characters were wasted to keep the idiotic tweetstorm roughly in line. It’d probably inch up closer to 700. I figured 640 tweets ought to be enough for anybody. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/154 "2018-07-17T03:43:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Especially considering that he, himself, is a white man who set foot on Thai soil. Who went there for the specific purpose of finding teenage boys. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/155 "2018-07-18T09:17:10Z")
…still a wanker. > > [@](#): > > As this well-written article suggests, my words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader. > > Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone. The “well-written article” Musk is referring too is a biased, anonymous gish gallop on fucking quora. Musk’s apology includes a bit where he insists on calling Unsworth a liar. And predictably the twitter thread is filling up with people keen to defend him. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/156 "2018-07-18T09:44:14Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Who went there for the specific purpose of finding teenage boys. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/157 "2018-07-18T10:04:01Z")
They both sound like douchebags. ---
**Author:** ![Batano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@Batano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batano)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/158 "2018-07-18T10:06:14Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I figured 640 tweets ought to be enough for anybody. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/159 "2018-07-18T10:10:16Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …still a wanker. > > [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1019471467304513537](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1019471467304513537) > > The “well-written article” Musk is referring too is a biased, anonymous gish gallop on fucking quora. Musk’s apology includes a bit where he insists on calling Unsworth a liar. > > And predictably the twitter thread is filling up with people keen to defend him. It’s interesting that he takes a suggestion to stick the minisub up his ass to mean a sexual act. I thought that was what you were supposed to do with something shaped like a suppository. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765/160 "2018-07-21T15:23:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Especially considering that he, himself, is a white man who set foot on Thai soil. I guess that makes him a pedo too? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk/807765.md?page=9)