The companies led by the boob-obsessed billionaire have faced a number of sexual harassment lawsuits. Why do his cult-like followers still consider him a genius?
The man could be a convicted rapist, murderer and genocidaire and he’d still be a genius. We would then judge him on those disparate parts as well. But it really is true that he’s a total wonder at this business thing.
Yes, we can even argue over what it is that he’s so good at. PR? Subsidy guzzling? What?
But he really is damn, damn, good at it.
*Subs write the subheads, not the journalist.
They’re trying to take down Trump, now there’s a concerted effort by the left to take down Elon Musk too.
Does this pile of ordure that is in partnership with the Black Broadcasting Company avoid tax by using begging as its business model? I note that the BBC are allowed to ignore IR35 when it comes to Lineker, so I have a feeling that the “march through the institutions” may bring the Graun safely into the tax evasion tent. Just a thought…
Unfortunately, those who are deep in the culture war don’t leave much room for a more nuanced view – has he got to be either a genius or a complete moron?
Not that Musk helps himself much. He keeps implying that he personally invented/built every successful part of the companies he runs, and massively over promises what he can deliver. It increasingly looks like the engineering community has had enough of those claims and the shift in the economy is pushing him towards one or more “put up or shut up” moments.
Nothing to do with left or right, or culture wars – there’s simply only so long people are willing to wait for the promised $25,000 car, full self driving, Mars colonies and all the rest.
Well I must concede that I admire women’s boobs. And, of course, the other parts of their anatomy as well.
So I suppose I sympathise with Elon here.
I don’t understand why liking women’s breasts is misogyny.
Not that it matters; this hackette was asked to do a hatchet job to coincide with his massive bonus win and she delivered. It’s just boilerplate lefty whining, based on 10 mins google research.
@AndyT
Spot on!
Musk is brilliant, no question, and in his own way is a genius.
But what he is NOT is some reincarnation of Edison, of Brunel, of Lord Armstrong, Henry Ford, Marconi, Tesla…….
or any of the other bona fide brilliant innovators and inventors of the modern industrial age.
He appears to believe his own deluded self image that he is, and has an actual cult following (who likely will always believe him).
This bubble will burst because there is nothing fundamentally underpinning it.
A list of companies that have not faced several sexual harassment lawsuits would be very short.
Um…
nope cant find any so far.
and just for a laugh:
“The publisher of the Guardian and Observer newspapers has finally apologised to a former journalist who first complained five years ago of being sexually harassed by a star columnist.
Guardian News & Media (GNM) sent an email to Lucy Siegle in which the company said: “We want to apologise for your experience of sexual harassment by an Observer member of staff, and for the way your complaint was handled.”
Boganboy:
“Well I must concede that I admire women’s boobs. And, of course, the other parts of their anatomy as well.
So I suppose I sympathise with Elon here.”
Yes, the vast majority of us heterosexual men do. We’d talk about it, too, if we had Musk’s fortune and power to lift us above the danger-zone created by sourpuss feminists and nazi jobsworths.
If you look at the trillions of dollars worth of product cleavages have sold, maybe he knows what he’s doing, no?
‘This bubble will burst because there is nothing fundamentally underpinning it.’
I am not really sure this is the case (maybe it is for twitter/x), Tesla is producing huge numbers of cars that are good. Maybe not brilliant, but compared to the competition they are extremely good value.
Starlink is groundbreaking and only just starting.
SpaceX – is now responsible for more mass to orbit globally at a lower cost than anyone else. I don’t think anyone can argue this.
When did Elton give up playing the piano and swap to the virtue-signalling biz?
BiS, @ 10.03, on the flip side, I seem to recall “Hello Boys” being cited as the cause of a number of road traffic accidents.
Can anyone recall any guardian articles criticising “boob obsessed” blokes who want to be called Louise?
They’re probably stunning and brave.
Communists, socialists, progressives and Guardian subs (but I repeat myself) will never forgive Elon Musk for buying Twitter and turning it into X… For more avenues for free speech rather than fewer.
And, given that they are communists, socialists, progressives and Guardian Subs, they will never forgive Elon Musk for his accomplishments, as being a productive individual is against everything they stand for. Envy is a powerful motivator, but not enough of one to cause them to accomplish anything themselves.
BiS, @ 10.03, on the flip side, I seem to recall “Hello Boys” being cited as the cause of a number of road traffic accidents.
Flip side? What flip side? Think of the business for repair shops!
“Tesla is producing huge numbers of cars that are good. Maybe not brilliant, but compared to the competition they are extremely good value.”
On what planet is this the case? Maybe true years ago, when purchase included a lifetime’s free ‘fuel’, but compare a Tesla to a BYD and (apart from badge envy) there’s nothing going for it.
“On what planet is this the case? Maybe true years ago, when purchase included a lifetime’s free ‘fuel’, but compare a Tesla to a BYD and (apart from badge envy) there’s nothing going for it.”
Having driven both, the BYD Seal and Tesla model 3 are pretty much the same size/spec wise and also about the same price wise (in the UK).
Big difference in build/material quality and ease of use though with the Tesla feeling more mature and far less complicated to use.
I think the BYD cars are brilliant though, but wouldn’t put the equivalent one above the equivalent Tesla.
Tesla definitely do need something to compete with the smaller (much) cheaper ones though.
I was lucky to spend useful time driving a very wide selection of EVs before settling on one to own which admittedly is a Tesla Y. If money was no object I would have taken the higher end Audi or Merc but these were coming in at >£60k more expensive than the Tesla but were only marginally better as cars.
It is surprising how many Tesla owners say they are happy with their purchase /sark
(For is it not a rule of nature that few car owners are disparaging of the
penis enhancement devicevehicle they currently own?)Tesla drivers are the same as the peeps who insist on owning products from a certain fruity firm.
And you could copy-paste every argument ever made about fruity stuff to Tesla.
And has the Fruity Fad crashed and burned? ummm… nope…
Tired of people making the comparison with Apple – different industry, different economies and different opportunities for innovation. The only similarity is that both companies have been run by people with a reputation for being difficult to work with.
Apple have maintained their market share through incredibly reliable hardware and very frequent product refresh cycles with significant upgrades. The Model 3 was introduced seven years ago, we’re still waiting on a Model Y refresh and both sit pretty much at the bottom of the reliability charts. The Cybertruck is a disaster zone and the Semi has been criticised for using consumer car parts on a commercial vehicle.
If I’d spent £100,000 on a pickup, I’d be justifying the expense to anyone who’d listen – but maybe not planning to buy another one in the near future. Especially given the depreciation Teslas are suffering from. The brand loyalty is interesting, but not something you can rely on without constant work by the brand itself. Now that Musk has made it clear he wants to pivot to taxis, it’s not obvious he’s actually interested in putting in that work. I’d not bet against him, but doubt we’re going to see significant growth for the company in the near future.
A copywriter once told me that big ticket advertising, especially cars, was aimed at buyer’s remorse and reinforcing their purchase decision. As said above, you really don’t want peeps buying your very expensive product then regretting the decision publicly.
I would argue that the cult isn’t his followers, but his haters.
Haven’t seen any thing to suggest that the Model 3 or Model Y sit at the bottom of reliability charts and certainly my experience so far in comparison to several other EVs I have driven over extended periods would suggest they are better.
Time will tell but I think it is still one of the best EVs out there and better than similarly priced petrol cars.
I’m generally sceptical about most brands but think Tesla have been pretty groundbreaking as haveMusks other companies/ventures.