Thursday, April 13, 2023

Elon Musk

Not my favorite guy, however many amazing things he does. The problem, I think, is that he acts like laws and principals don't apply to him: he's so smart he can do whatever the fuck he wants to do. He can be CEO of multiple companies, have children with employees, otherwise be an asshole to them, etc.

Of course, to a certain extent I used to be like that and with much less to show for it than he has, so in some sense he had demonstrated that he in fact can disregard the general rules that apply to others. But history has showed that he will be able to play this game until he can't. Something will likely bring him low somewhere along the way. Listening to a book in the car about Jack Welch and GE right now. Welch is one of those figures who redefined the rules of the game until finally he got to big for his britches. Now GE is a shadow of its former self. Maurice Greenberg did the same thing at AIG.

It is very difficult to believe that Musk is building up a strong cadre of lieutenants who will come behind him and continue his work. I don't think he has a Tim Cook back there to keep the flywheel spinning. More likely, the flywheels will come off.

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