What would make it worthwhile was if they could turn around and give it to British Diver Guy.
Finland tries… how about speeding tickets based on income?
Hell, even if you fined him $10 billion it wouldn’t have a noticeable effect on his lifestyle.
Exactly. According to people who’ve had to deal with him, this genius couldn’t even grasp how to “neck down” a fuel tank, and why it’s done a certain way, fer chrissakes.
I can just hear it now … “You’re discriminating against job creators” or something.
You think you’re joking, don’t you?
From Wired: " The Case Against Elon Musk will hurt Innovation."
Short summary: everyone knows Elon tweets weird stuff, so it couldn’t really have affected the markets, so just let the man be a genius without tripping him with your petty rules designed for non-geniuses!
I’m pretty forgiving of weird people - the dude who founded McAfee is fucking weird. There are other crazy genius billionaires who were weird.
Musk is a dick. It’s harder to forgive that. Hell, Steve Jobs was a dick, but he was a dick for a good cause. He built beautiful products and he really knew his shit. Jobs was the guy who demanded that the impossible be done, not to satisfy his ego, but to satisfy his imagination.
The author’s argument isn’t very convincing even on his own points:
Musk has a long legacy of inflated statements verging on untruths. In 2009, he assured Tesla investors that the company was about to begin receiving funds from a Department of Energy loan program before the company had been granted a loan. He has routinely guaranteed profitability and production numbers at Tesla that have been so far off the mark that they could only represent aspirations rather than real projections. And while SpaceX has achieved more in terms of functional rockets and payloads than most thought possible, his promise of a first payload to Mars in 2022 is deeply detached from the company’s progress.
The argument, such as it is, is that we need people who break laws and lie to investors in order to spur on innovation and keeping people excited, which is kind of like saying we need the Mafia so Martin Scorsese can make good movies.
Stranger
Oh, agreed. Boils down to “the law shouldn’t apply to smart guys who are making money!”
Figured I’d wake up this zombie thread to post this:
Elon Musk launches into expletive-laden rant, calling quarantine measures ‘fascist’
He really is an asshole, isn’t he?
So will this finally result in him being fired by the board of directors?
Jesus Christ, I hope he pays for that. He’s fucking insane.
I’d be happy if some of his fanboys and fangirls finally realize that he’s not a good guy.
They don’t care. Some of them, like the author of that Wired article, actually idolize him because he is such a massive prick, and don’t care that he regularly makes claims and promises that do not come to pass on anything like the timeline he claims.
At this point, despite his infantile and self-destructive behavior, habit of flatly lying and claiming credit for the work of others, and skirting securities fraud and labor regulations while SLAPP suing people for supposed industrial espionage or breach of contact, he is still enough of a PR draw that the Tesla board will keep him on until the SEC forces him out or he starts speaking in tongues during a press conference.
Stranger
I have mixed feelings about Elon Musk. It hasn’t historically been a very popular opinion, but I think that Tesla’s technology is great, and in fact has been held back by Elon Musk’s desire for fame. That is, Elon has been great for the stock price. Yet I really wonder if he’s actually good for the company as a whole. He strikes me straight up as, well, basically Silicon Valley Trump. The wild over-promises, the shady business dealings, the constant focus on hype out of proportion to performance, and the less-than-stellar level of transparency is very concerning. Moreover, there’s a big question of why Musk is spending so much time on new projects and self-aggrandizement when Tesla, obviously, has an awful lot of work on its plate right now.
Additionally, the kind volatility and price-to-earnings for Tesla looks very questionable in terms of long-term sustainability. None of this makes sense to me - mediocre financial news is turned into massive stock gains, and somehow there’s never bad news even when there really should be. This is on top of some very dishonest decisions and actions on his part, like splendiforously announcing products that are completely dead in the water.
I thought smoking pot made people really chill and easy going. Maybe he’s doing it wrong.
Very Stable Genius Elon Musk is in full meltdown on Twitter. Here’s what he’s posting, I’m not joking:
Tesla stock price is too high imo
Now give people back their FREEDOM
I am selling almost all my physical possessions. Will own no house.
Just one stipulation on sale: I own Gene Wilder’s old house. It cannot be torn down or lose any its soul.
My gf @grimezsz is mad at me
Thank fucking god this nut cannot be President of the United States.
I think he’s going to be calling trump his father figure before this is all over.
Well, until they pass the 28th Amendment counting South Africans as native-born American citizens and mandating that all crops are irrigated with electrolyte-enhanced sports drinks.
I’m morally certain Trump would prefer to adopt him and pass the mantle to him rather than Don, Jr. and Eric.
Stranger
~I will be your father figure
(Oh baby)
Put your tiny hand in mine
(I’d love to)~
If the lyrics fit, they must submit!