The Beginning of Elon Musk
Elon Musk is the son of a wealthy emerald mine owner, which positioned him to achieve success throughout his life. Despite Musk’s claims of a humble past, he has admitted to receiving an allowance of over $2,000 per month in his early 20s. In the 1990s, $2,000 a month was worth significantly more than today. With access to a privileged upbringing — attending a top university, benefiting from his father’s network, and starting with considerable capital — Musk and his brother co-founded his first company.
Elon Musk in the 1990s
Zip2 was a software company that provided city guides to businesses. After the success of Zip2, Musk quickly moved on to his next venture, X.com (Musk seems to have a fondness for the letter “X”), an online payment processing company.
X.com eventually merged with Confinity, a company co-founded by Peter Thiel, in 2000. Initially, X.com and Confinity had competing products, but the merged company ultimately shifted its focus to PayPal, a product developed by Confinity. Musk wasn’t solely responsible for discarding X.com; the board believed PayPal had more potential, leading to the change in direction.
Musk served as CEO but faced internal conflicts due to his management decisions, such as his push to shift the company’s platform from Unix to Microsoft. These disagreements contributed to his removal from the CEO position by the board. He was replaced briefly by Bill Harris, a former Intuit executive, before Peter Thiel took over and led the company through its PayPal-focused transformation.
SpaceX
After the sale of PayPal to eBay in 2002, Elon Musk used part of his newfound wealth to launch SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) in the same year. Musk’s vision for SpaceX was ambitious: to drastically reduce the costs of space travel and ultimately make humanity a multi-planetary species by colonizing Mars.
The early years of SpaceX were filled with challenges. Musk invested a significant portion of his own fortune into the company and was nearly bankrupt after the first three launches of the Falcon 1 rocket failed. By 2008, SpaceX was on the verge of collapse, but the fourth Falcon 1 launch succeeded, making SpaceX the first private company to send a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit. Shortly after, NASA awarded SpaceX a crucial contract, securing its future.
Despite the success, Musk’s intense leadership style led to a high turnover of employees. Critics pointed to his relentless demands, extremely long working hours, and micromanagement as signs of a CEO pushing his company too hard. Yet, these same qualities also fueled SpaceX’s groundbreaking achievements, including the development of reusable rockets, the launch of the Falcon Heavy, and the creation of the Starship system, designed for interplanetary travel.
Musk’s growing power and control over the space industry has raised questions about the risks of relying on a single individual and company for the future of human space exploration.
Tesla
While SpaceX was finding its footing, Musk also became heavily involved in the electric vehicle industry. In 2004, he invested in Tesla Motors, a startup co-founded by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Initially, Musk was an investor, but his influence grew, and by 2008, after internal conflicts and financial difficulties, Musk became CEO of Tesla.
Under Musk’s leadership, Tesla revolutionized the electric vehicle market with the launch of the Tesla Roadster in 2008, followed by the more affordable Model S, Model X, and Model 3. Tesla’s vision was to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy, not only through electric cars but also with products like solar energy systems and energy storage solutions.
However, Musk’s aggressive timeline promises, his erratic behavior on social media, and clashes with regulators have put immense pressure on Tesla. Musk frequently makes bold claims about the company’s future, from fully autonomous vehicles to production targets that are often missed. In 2018, Musk’s erratic behavior led to him being forced to step down as Tesla’s chairman by the SEC, although he remained CEO.
Despite these controversies, Tesla has become one of the most valuable car companies in the world. But as with SpaceX, critics warn that Musk’s growing power within Tesla and his central role in its success could lead to vulnerabilities if his leadership falters.
In Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk, an unusual addiction comes to light — his compulsive use of Twitter. Unlike many top CEOs, Musk’s addiction to social media, particularly Twitter, has become a defining feature of his public persona. Musk frequently tweets about a wide range of topics, from company updates and personal thoughts to controversial opinions and political commentary. His tweets often have significant repercussions, influencing stock prices, sparking media frenzy, and generating intense public debate.
Musk’s increasing activity on Twitter has been a double-edged sword. On one hand, it has helped him build a dedicated following and maintain a high profile, contributing to a cult-like status among his supporters. On the other hand, it has caused considerable friction with general consumers and investors. Musk’s tweets have occasionally led to volatility in Tesla’s stock price and sparked backlash from various stakeholders, including regulatory scrutiny and public criticism.
In an unusual move that further exemplifies his deep-seated addiction, Musk made headlines by purchasing Twitter itself in October 2022. Despite his stated intentions to reform the platform and promote free speech, this acquisition only exacerbated his addiction. Musk’s involvement with Twitter became even more pronounced, as he continued to use the platform as a primary channel for his thoughts and announcements.
The decision to buy Twitter and his continued, often controversial, use of the platform further complicated Musk’s relationship with the public and investors. While it intensified his influence and media presence, it also led to increased scrutiny and skepticism about his leadership. As Musk became more entangled in American politics and his social media presence grew more dominant, the respect he had once commanded from general consumers and investors began to wane. His actions on Twitter, coupled with his political engagement, created a complex narrative that alienated some and alienated others.
Mask Off
After acquiring Twitter and appointing himself as CEO, Elon Musk saw this as the perfect opportunity to control the narrative, further increase his cult following, and become more accessible than ever before. However, over time, Musk has increasingly aligned himself with far-right ideologies on various issues. His bias has become evident, and many have accused him of holding Twitter (now rebranded as X) hostage to promote his political beliefs.
With the rebranding of Twitter to X, the platform has shifted even further into a politically charged environment, becoming one of the most biased and toxic social media platforms. Musk’s open engagement in political discourse has not only alienated a large portion of the user base but also eroded his once broadly admired reputation. As a result, this shift has had serious consequences for both the platform and Musk’s other businesses, especially Tesla.
X is now losing advertisers, and with declining revenue, the platform’s financial future is increasingly uncertain. The recent ban on Brazilian users, who represented a significant portion of active X users, has only worsened the situation. The ban, which stemmed from political controversies, has been more damaging for X than it has been for the Brazilian population, as it further erodes trust in the platform and alienates key international markets.
At this rate, with no signs of meaningful improvement, X’s long-term prospects look grim. Its financial instability and tarnished public image cast doubt on its ability to survive in the competitive world of social media. Beyond X, Musk’s erratic behavior and controversial stances on politics are also having negative effects on Tesla and other ventures. By putting himself in the spotlight so frequently and aligning with extreme ideologies, Musk has made himself a target for criticism, legal scrutiny, and regulatory backlash.
The myth of Elon Musk as the genius entrepreneur dedicated to saving humanity is rapidly fading. What remains is a CEO whose actions appear increasingly erratic and politically motivated. Musk’s attempts to influence U.S. elections, particularly in favor of far-right candidates, have raised concerns that he may be trying to protect himself from potential legal consequences under a more progressive administration, such as one led by Kamala Harris.
Musk’s downfall may not just be a consequence of poor leadership at X, but a deeper unraveling of his public image and legacy as a tech visionary. The damage done to his personal brand is now seeping into his business empire, threatening the future of Tesla and other ventures as investors, customers, and regulators alike grow wary of his increasingly divisive persona.