How Can Elon Musk Save Tesla?

Elon Musk shocked the world when he recently denounced President Trump and exposed him.  The big blowout between the special government employee and the President of the United States occurred last week.  During the blowout, Musk tweeted a series of rapid fire statements about Trump. The most jaw-dropping of them all was the tweet that said: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election.”  It’s clear that Elon believes that his resources and presence while on the campaign was the reason for his win.  Is Musk solely alluding to the money given to the Trump campaign or is he actually alluding to helping him win through other means?  

This is a feud that no one saw coming. The two shared what appeared to be an extremely close relationship; one that could even be compared to a father and son bond.  Last month, it had been announced that Musk would be stepping down from his position as senior advisor to resume focus on his companies.  Right before the online feud, Musk appeared at a White house press conference with the President and explained that his work was completed and he thanked him for the opportunity to cut government spending.  The South African tech tycoon’s recent online brawl was a result of his dislike for Trump’s new spending bill which was recently passed in the House of Representatives.  Elon discussed his issues with the bill he labelled as “a disgusting abomination,” essentially stating that it would undermine the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency.  The bill will also stop tax breaks for individuals who purchase electric vehicles.

Since Musk assumed his position as head of DOGE, his businesses have suffered.  Through out Musk’s brief position at the White house, Tesla’s market capitalization has decreased.  The “Tesla Takedown” movement grew to exponential heights during his tenure as chief of DOGE.  

Leaders of the movement and celebrities encouraged Americans and people all over the world to sell their Tesla cars and company stock.  No longer a trillion dollar company, various Tesla locations endured riots, fires, protests and vandalism due to his involvement and actions at the Department of Government Efficiency.  

In April, the company reported a 20% drop in car sales.  After Musk’s tweet war, Trump responded by suggesting cutting the tech tycoon’s government contracts. It seems as if this startled Musk as he has since backed down and admitted regret over his ferocious tweets towards Trump.

During Musk’s brief tenure, his personal life also became fodder for news publications and journalists as the mother of his 13th child exposed their secret relationship and initiated a paternity and custody lawsuit against him. 

How can Elon Musk recover from these issues and save his company Tesla from folding?  If Elon desires to restore the public’s interest and admiration for Tesla, he is going to have to start with these actions:

1.) Become a Green activist and make the environment the key focus and backbone of Tesla- It’s no secret that Musk doesn’t have much to say these days about environmental issues such as climate change.  His perspectives on the issue has shifted and he thinks that the climate crisis is not an urgent matter.  It is an urgent matter and his influence as the CEO of a wildly popular and successful electric vehicle company is huge.  Some climate deniers have used statements made by Musk to spread misinformation.  Contributing to environmental policy and publicly backing climate crisis solutions will be a win win for a company like Tesla.  If Tesla were to make environmental issues the main priority of the company, tremendous growth will happen.  Tesla fans that have recently become opposed to the company will likely return as they see the company’s focus shift to the greater good of the people and planet.

2.) Stay out of politics- Politics is not the right field for a businessman like Elon Musk.  Hey--someone needs to tell him! His short stint within American politics revealed this and though he tried to make sound efforts to decrease the budget of the government it did not resonate well with the public.  No one can be good at everything.  Musk should stick to the fields where his intelligence and talent for innovation can shine.  Politics tends to bring out the worst in folks and people will always have disagreements about the way the country is run.  Some people are just not meant to be in politics.  Leave politics to the Obamas and Kennedys of the world Elon!

3.) Value commitment, integrity and traditional family values- When you think of "baby mama drama," the word “billionaire” doesn’t really mesh with the phrase.  Now perhaps he is in the wrong party because the Republican party generally honors traditional family values and marriage. Musk should be more cautious about the women he chooses and learn to stay committed.  Children need stability (not simply financial) and present parents. There are a number of issues with the “baby mama” movement that has evaded modern society. Men who are attracted to a lifestyle of multiple baby mothers are attracted to chaos. Why would one want to have to shift focus between and juggle multiple women while creating multiple external families that do not have a present father? 

While it may be quite the ego trip to certain men to be able to have so many children with multiple women, it’s not fair to the children who are forced to grow up without an active father in the home and whom also do not get to know all their siblings.  It’s almost impossible to give valuable time and attention to a child when there are 10 others.  Having multiple baby mothers is not helpful to the businessman. If one is unable to commit to the people who matter most then they'll probably also lack the set of ethics needed to be able to commit to a business and do right by the customers that they serve.  People are more likely to align with leaders who value integrity, loyalty and a morally sound character.  The mothers of Musk’s children have not had such great things to say about him and have called him out on numerous occasions about his parenting or the lack of time spent with his children.  

4.) Quit the public online outbursts- After Musk’s denouncement of Trump, Tesla shares fell 14%. The shares may have fell as some shareholders likely believed Musk’s partnership with Trump would help his company.  A month ago, the President was seen promoting Tesla outside of the oval office and encouraged Americans to buy cars from the company.  

Though he may have good reasons for falling out with the President, the mode in which it was done was a bit childish.  Musk needs to learn how to be more private when it comes to such matters. If he can't help himself but to have such outbursts, do them in private.  He’s a powerful man and every action that he makes is seen on a microscopic level by the world over.  Perhaps calling the President in private would have been a better move.  Those who originally criticized the relationship may now see Elon as a person who is disloyal. Having the president of the United States as an ally is an amazing move for any business.

5.) Sober up- The New York Times published a concerning article about Elon's drug use two weeks ago. The authors expressed that he indulges in intense drug use, most specifically with drugs such as ketamine, ecstasy and psychedelics.  There's not much that needs to be said here as it is imperative for a business person to practice a life of sobriety to be in a better position to run a company and make rational decisions for the company.  Yesterday, Elon denied the allegations in the New York Times article and published his urinary drug test results with a one word tweet, "lol."  The article was published two weeks ago and it did state that he takes ketamine every two weeks. Did Elon make a move to sober up or did he take the test between use.  Though the public will never know, at least he understands the importance of being sober as he went to the extent of making his personal test results public.