Elon Musk: "It was the most painful year of my career"

Elon Musk: "It was the most painful year of my career"

PALO ALTO. Tesla boss Elon Musk was unusually open in an interview with The New York Times.

There are times when Tesla boss Elon enjoys Musk's role as the new superstar in Silicon Valley – as the true successor to the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. But nowadays it shows clear signs of catching up in the troubled production of the new Tesla Model 3.

"This last year was the most difficult and painful year of my career", he said in an unusual open-minded Interview with The New York Times. "It was unbearable." He almost missed the marriage of his brother and spent his entire birthday at the factory.

Since 2001, when he was bedridden for a while with malaria, he had not taken more than a week off. He works 120 hours a week. "There were times when I did not leave the factory for three or four days-days when I did not go out," he said. "That was really at the expense of my children." He could hardly have seen friends either.

Health status "not great"

His health was "not great," said Musk, who is also leading space company "Space X". His friends are also worried about that. Sometimes he can only find peace with the sleeper Ambien. "It is often the alternative: no sleep or Ambien", the newspaper quoted the Tesla boss.

Because of the current situation on the board of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, alarm bells sound. The board is urgently looking for a top manager to relieve Musk, reports the newspaper. Musk does not know. However, "people familiar with the matter", the New York Times said that the search was even intensified after Musk's recent tweets.

Just like with the American President Donald Trump, Musk uses Twitter again and again. to announce announcements in disagreement or offend critics. For example, Musk called a helper in the cave drama in Thailand a pedophile because he had rejected the submarine that Musk had made available for the rescue of the trapped boys as a "PR joke". Later Musk apologized for his tirades against the rescue diver and stuck out the tweet.

But Musk does not want to distance himself from another controversial tweet. "Why would I?" He said. On 7 August, the CEO of Tesla shocked the financial world via Twitter with a brainteaser about taking Tesla from the stock market for $ 420 (€ 369) per share.

views Tesla as private for $ 420. Financing secured.

– Elon Musk (@ononmusk) 7. August 2018

In the interview with the "New York Times" Musk also explains how he came up with the buyback price. In fact, he wanted to offer a 20 percent premium on the current price, which would have been $ 419. But he made it 420, "because 420 has better karma than 419." In the scene 420 stands for the regular use of marijuana. "But I was not stoned to make that clear," Musk said. "Marijuana is not conducive to productivity, there is a reason for the word" stoned. "You sit there like a stone on grass."

Market consideration examines

However, Musk must take into account consequences: especially his comment that The financing for the deal is currently being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and may also trigger investors' actions. The problem is now confirmed by some board members, in the opinion that Musk should remove the Twitter app from his smartphone to focus on building cars and sending missiles into space.

An example of a relief for the CEO of Tesla would be the Internet giants Google and Facebook. Google founders Larry Page and Sergej Brin joined the experienced senior manager Eric Schmidt in 2001 to manage the enormous growth of Google. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg 2007 Sheryl Sandberg received the right hand, which had previously led Google's worldwide online sales. Musk said the Tesla board tried to recruit Sandberg on Facebook two years ago. But then nothing came of it.

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