Tesla CEO Elon Musk was recently interviewed by the New York Times to talk about the events of his past year. He also spoke to the toll that steering his electric vehicle company through turmoil after turmoil has taken on him.
Musk explained that his work schedule — sometimes up to 120 hours a week — and other personal life stresses have been wearing him down.
He also went into detail outlining what was running through his mind when he tweeted out the now infamous privatization message on August 7th, 2018.
To begin with, the article explains that Musk tweeted while driving to the airport on his way to visit Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Storey County, Nevada.
The tweet was an “attempt at transparency,” according to Musk.
Musk also clarified that when he said “funding secured” in the tweet, he was referring to the potential investment from the Saudi Arabian Government’s investment fund.
Musk had to break down his reasoning for the $420 USD per share price tag. He said that he wanted the valuation to be about 20 percent higher than it was at the time, which rounded up to $420.
The article also mentions that the electric car manufacturer might be looking for a deputy to help Musk run the company.
There were rumours that the company approached Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg for the job, according to the New York Times.
One person close to the deputy search told the Times that the search “had intensified in the wake of Mr. Musk’s tweets.”
Another possible reason for finding a second-in-command for Musk is his use of Ambien to fall asleep. It’s often a choice of Ambien or no sleep, Musk told the New York Times.
There are some board members that worry the Ambien isn’t putting Musk to sleep, but rather fuelling late night Twitter sessions.
It’s worth noting that many of the issues raised by Musk seem to be well within his power to control.
For instance, Musk told a heart-wrenching tale about only being able to appear at his brothers wedding for a few hours — and he was the best man — since he was too busy with work.
In my opinion, however, Musk is well aware that both he and Tesla are being closely scrutinized, so he used this story as an opportunity to try and win back some of the public’s favour following his now infamous tweet storm.
Source: The New York Times
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