Tesla’s leader isn’t sleeping well
The carmaker’s board and investors have been worried about Elon Musk’s erratic behavior for some time — and especially after his out-of-the-blue tweet about potentially taking the company private. In an interview with the NYT, Mr. Musk blames exhaustion:
At multiple points in an hourlong interview with The New York Times, he choked up, noting that he nearly missed his brother’s wedding this summer and spent his birthday holed up in Tesla’s offices as the company raced to meet elusive production targets on a crucial new model.
He also laid out a timeline of how he ended up sending that tweet. One tidbit: He bumped up the price tag, which he’d calculated at $419 a share, to $420 because it was more auspicious. (He added, “I was not on weed, to be clear.” But his use of Ambien and, occasionally, recreational drugs worries his board.)
The conversation isn’t letting up. Kara Swisher of NYT Opinion calls him the “id of tech,” while Jonathan Guthrie of Lex compares him to a truculent teenager.
For his part, Mr. Musk has no regrets: “Why would I?”