Elon Musk, the whimsical and charismatic CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, knew how to build his own image and that of his many companies.
He wears many hats in his various companies, of which he is often the face and the main ambassador. He promotes the products and services developed by Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, Neuralink and The Boring Company. The billionaire uses his name and his platform to extoll the merits of his companies.
"People still don’t understand the implications of FSD," the billionaire said on Apr. 25, referring to Full Self Driving, the driving assistance system developed by Tesla (TSLA), the aim of which is to make the group's cars autonomous in the future.
FSD is under investigation by US regulators for its involvement in several incidents.
Musk And Twitter
In April, it was the tech mogul himself who announced a technical bug concerning Starlink, the satellite internet access service developed by SpaceX, his satellite and rocket company. Starlink helped Musk gain global status when he provided the service to Russia-invaded Ukraine in 2022.
"Sorry, slight glitch with @SpaceX Starlink," he posted on Apr. 7. "Coming back online now."
Musk is the best PR person for his brand and his companies. A message which he also sent by disbanding Tesla's communication department and that of Twitter. Today, the social network sends a poop emoji to requests from journalists. Tesla just isn't responding.
He relies on his charisma and the direct link he has forged with his fans on Twitter, in particular to get people talking about him. The billionaire also controls his communication or makes people talk about him by making thunderous declarations or by launching attacks against institutions or personalities most often appreciated by the progressives.
His rocky acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion last year, followed by the platform's transformation into a conservative stronghold, has scared away advertisers who don't want their ads associated with hateful tweets and posts on the platform. In fact, Musk has removed the safeguards put in place by Twitter 1.0 against misinformation and discrimination. Now, anything can be said on Twitter as long as it doesn't violate the law.
This laissez-faire approach and the growing politicization of Twitter has caused a rift between Musk and the progressives, who make up Tesla's customer base. The billionaire has also become a divisive personality with his determination to defeat the "woke mind virus."
This expression brings together diversity, gender equality, the fight against racism, anti-Semitism, the defense of the environment, which are all values defended by progressives. But Musk believes that they come with intolerance and the dictatorship of thought and eventually lead to cancel culture.
'Witchcraft And Propaganda'
These fights ended up tarnishing the reputation of the billionaire, who sees himself as a world leader and wants to leave his mark in history as one of the greatest innovators of our era. The valuation of Twitter also suffered significantly. Twitter 2.0 is currently valued at $14.41 billion by shareholder Fidelity -- less than half its value when it was acquired by Musk.
It is in this context that one must interpret a job opening that Musk has just posted on Twitter.
"Looking to hire a VP of Witchcraft & Propaganda," the billionaire said on Twitter on Jun. 11.
By "witchcraft" and "propaganda" he means someone in charge of public relations. Basically, someone who could fix his image and that of some of his companies, like Twitter. In April, Musk had already hinted that he needed someone to take care of public relations.
"We need a VP of Propaganda … errr I mean Public Relations!" he said on Apr. 10.
Musk did not give more details on the qualifications he is looking for or on the responsibilities that will fall on this person. He also didn’t say whether the role is for Twitter, Tesla or for him personally. In any case, he gave an idea of what the person might do.
"A lot of people on the left don’t seem to realize that the US is living in a post-truth, post-reason, post-ethics world," said one Twitter user. "Reality doesn’t matter anymore, right and wrong don’t matter, facts are no longer a thing. It’s all gone. Act accordingly."
Musk then commented:
"That’s why I’m looking for a VP of Propaganda (and Witchcraft)!" the tech tycoon said.
In view of many comments on Twitter, he should receive many applications, despite the fact that the job description remains unclear.
Research from a public relations executive suggests that the billionaire recognizes that he needs help polishing his image.
