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- James clayton
- Technology Editor – North America
published photo, Getty Images
Tesla does not have a press office, which CEO Elon Musk says does not need.
Instead, much like Donald Trump, Musk uses Twitter to communicate.
And Friday was perfect for Twitter, from Elon Musk, who wrote a comment on the release of a new book about him and Tesla.
The book is titled “Power Play: Tesla” by Tim Higgins, a Wall Street Journal reporter.
A story in the book says that in 2016 – when Tesla was in trouble – Musk contacted Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, who thought he might want to buy the company.
The story goes that Elon Musk insisted on becoming CEO of Apple as part of the deal, but Tim Cook refused.
Without a press office to comment on the story, I asked Musk on Twitter if this was true.
He replied that he had never spoken or written to Cook.
He noted that at one point he asked to meet with Cook, to talk to him about the possibility of Apple buying Tesla, but the latter declined the interview.
“I don’t want to be CEO of anything,” Musk added.
Musk said something similar last month during his testimony in court.
Speaking of being the CEO of Tesla, he said, “I hate it a bit, and much prefer spending my time designing and designing.”
He also gave a reason for continuing to lead Tesla: “I have to do this, or frankly, Tesla will be finished.”
Investors are worried
Musk repeatedly says he doesn’t want to be a CEO worries some investors. Love him or hate him, Musk’s vision and strength of character are the driving force behind Tesla’s incredible success.
Tesla is by far the most valued automaker in the world.
However, it is remarkable that running this business is not enough for Musk.
He’s the head of SpaceX – which in April got a contract from NASA to send people to the moon.
He also founded The Boring Company in 2016, which aims to revolutionize travel by developing tunnel technology. It may seem obvious that he is not the CEO.
Musk makes it look like he’s the trapped man. He’s clearly passionate about ideas, innovation, and engineering – the exciting part of any startup.
But moving from a startup to a large corporation turns the CEO role into something completely different.
Steve Jobs at Apple, Larry Page at Google, and Sergey Brin and Bill Gates at Microsoft were all considered dreamers.
But the current CEOs of these companies are completely different people.
Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella are more than distinguished leaders. But few would qualify them as “revolutionaries”.
On the other hand, Elon Musk presents the image of an arrogant businessman. We have the impression that the managerial process of running a business often does not excite him.
Besides the explosive growth, the boss of Tesla has caused all kinds of headaches for the company’s shareholders.
He is currently being sued by shareholders, who allege the automaker’s money was lost on the purchase of SolarCity, which they claim was on the verge of bankruptcy.
At the time of the transaction, Musk held a 22% stake in Tesla and SolarCity.
In 2018, he agreed to step down as Tesla’s presidency, after tweeting that he was considering taking the company off the stock market and becoming privately owned.
Musk may be the second richest person on the planet, but oddly enough, he doesn’t feel free to do whatever he wants.
It’s living proof that you’re not that rich, that you can easily quit a job you don’t like.
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