Having trouble keeping up with the current state of the Elon Musk empire now that Twitter might — or might not — be part of the mix? A quick refresher on the holdings of America's most renowned serial entrepreneur puts it in perspective.
Everyone knows Musk is chief executive at electric-car maker Tesla. Tesla stock touched $1 trillion in value last year, putting the company in elite territory. Tesla also includes not-so-small Tesla Energy, the former SolarCity.
There's also his SpaceX, which now carries astronauts to and from the international space station and owns and operates the Starlink satellite internet network. Also, don't forget about underground tunnel maker the Boring Co. Further, Musk runs Neuralink, which seeks to tie human brains to computers.
With all that going on, Musk watchers say he may be overextending himself with his plans to buy Twitter. A number of incidents have called Musk's behavior into question, including last week's report that he wants to cut Tesla's workforce because he has a "super bad feeling" about the economy. Tesla stock plunged more than 9% on the news.
And Musk hit the news again Monday, reiterating his demand for data on fake Twitter accounts from the social media giant. Musk threatened to pull out of the deal if Twitter doesn't provide the data.
"As to whether he's spread too thin or not, there is some indication of that," said Eric Flamholtz, president of Management Systems Consulting and professor emeritus at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. But Flamholtz acknowledges that Musk is no ordinary CEO.
"Based on what I've seen, Musk is a brilliant genius," Flamholtz told Investor's Business Daily. "He's an order of magnitude more creative and brighter than other CEOs and has done things many people thought impossible."
Putting Elon Musk Twitter Deal In Perspective
If the deal for acquiring all outstanding shares of Twitter stock for $44 billion is approved — and the concern over fake accounts is resolved — Musk would run five companies, each worth more than $1 billion. Tesla is worth more than $790 billion. Twitter's value stands at $30 billion. The estimated value of privately held SpaceX is $127 billion.
Musk is in an exclusive club. It's tough enough to be named CEO of any billion-dollar company, but to hold the top job at five simultaneously?
Jack Dorsey helmed Twitter and Square-parent Block for a while until November 2021. He remains CEO of Block.
And the late Steve Jobs, considered one of the best CEOs of all time, is also on a very short list of leaders that ran two multibillion-dollar tech companies at once. Jobs captained Apple and Pixar — now part of Walt Disney Co. — but for only one year.
After that experience, Jobs was quoted as saying: "It was really rough, the worst time in my life."
Musk has been CEO of Tesla and SpaceX for about 14 years, and Neuralink and Boring Co. the last six years. Tesla stock has struggled of late. The question is, can Musk handle the load by adding Twitter to the mix?
How will he divide his time? Will he crack under pressure?
Elon Musk Vs. Critics
Long before the Elon Musk Twitter deal surfaced, the Tesla chief drew attention for lashing out at critics and saying things that put him in hot water.
He recently praised Chinese workers for "burning the 3 a.m. oil, whereas in America people are trying to avoid going to work at all." Musk said this in a recent online interview with the Financial Times.
In February, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Tesla over racism and harassment toward African-American employees at Tesla's plant in Fremont, Calif.
The lawsuit follows three years of investigation into Tesla. It alleges African-American employees at the company's Fremont plant get "segregated to the lowest levels" and face harsher treatment than white employees. Numerous other lawsuits by former and current employees allege harassment based on gender and race.
Tesla responded to the lawsuit in a blog post, calling the agency's efforts "misguided."
Past Talk Of Taking Tesla Stock Private
Musk was also charged with violating Securities and Exchange Commission rules when he tweeted about having the "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share in August 2018.
But the funding was far from locked up. Musk and Tesla each had to pay a $20 million fine, distributed to "harmed investors" under a court-approved process. Musk also had to relinquish his role as chairman of Tesla. He accused the SEC of "harassment."
Musk got in hot water with the SEC again in 2019 over a tweet he sent discussing Tesla's car production. It was deemed inaccurate.
"CEOs don't like to be challenged, and Musk has a large ego," said Flamholtz.
On Thursday, it was reported that Musk put a freeze on hiring at Tesla and was considering a 10% reduction in staff. Musk cited a "super bad feeling" about the economy in an email, Reuters said.
Still, others heap much praise on Musk. On Wednesday, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess was quoted as saying that Tesla and Musk move "twice as fast as the rest of the industry." But Diess also hopes to eclipse Tesla in EV sales by 2025.
Musk did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
Unusual Skills, Bad Decisions
Tesla stock and the CEO himself have many fans. But could Elon Musk be considered mercurial?
"He has some very important and highly unusual skills," said David Logan, a bestselling author, faculty member and senior lecturer at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.
Still, Logan says Musk also has shown signs of pressure that can lead to bad decision-making. That includes the time he smoked marijuana and drank whiskey during an interview on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast in 2018.
That antic was particularly disturbing to NASA, due to SpaceX's role as a contractor. The federal space agency paid SpaceX $5 million to conduct a "workplace culture" review, partly to make sure SpaceX employees "are following strict guidelines for federal contractors barring illegal drug use."
"He needs to be more careful," said Logan.
The Elon Musk Twitter deal stands as another example where he has ruffled a few feathers by going back and forth on whether to proceed with the transaction over fake accounts.
The Pitfalls Of Micromanaging
But one of the most reckless mistakes a leader can make is to micromanage, relying too much on themselves, he adds. The mistake is explained in a few words: "I'm great and you're not," Logan said.
"They get to be right all the time, and that story never ends well," he added.
It also can lead to bad decision-making because the CEO isn't listening to the advice they need to hear, Logan says. That can lead to enormous blind spots. Moreover, the CEO is not nurturing other executives to do the best they can do. Micromanaging is harmful to employees and can drive them away.
"They surround themselves with people that will not tell them the truth," said Logan. "You see it in sports, business, entertainment and politics."
Though it's not entirely clear if Musk is a micromanager, his bid for Twitter has caused analysts to worry if Musk will be pulled in too many directions. They also voice concern that Musk spends too much time tweeting thoughts completely disconnected from his roles as chief executive. By some counts, Musk will sometimes send 20 tweets in one day.
Musk's sometimes bizarre behavior surfaced four years ago during a quarterly Tesla earnings conference call that one Tesla stock analyst described as "the most unusual call that I have experienced in 20 years."
According to the transcript, Musk called the analysts' questions "boring" and "boneheaded." Musk was also expected to take just one question from a person on YouTube. Instead, he stayed with the inquisitor for more than 20 minutes.
The Elon Musk Resume
Musk's career pattern shows wild and rapid changes. A native of Pretoria, South Africa, Musk got degrees in economics and physics from the University of Pennsylvania.
His first company was Zip2, a web software company that he started with his brother Kimbal in the mid-1990s. Former computer maker Compaq acquired the company in 1999 for $307 million.
Then Musk founded online bank X.com in 2000. That eventually became PayPal, which was bought by eBay for about $1.5 billion and later spun off.
In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, which has designs on putting humans on Mars. Then came Tesla, where he joined in 2004, and worked as chairman and product architect before becoming CEO in 2008. Tesla stock came public in June 2010.
During his tenure, Musk helped create SolarCity in 2006. Tesla then bought the solar energy and storage firm for $2.6 billion and renamed it Tesla Energy.
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Ventures Before Elon Musk Twitter Stock Deal
It didn't stop there. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, a nonprofit research venture specializing in artificial intelligence. He doesn't run the outfit anymore.
The next year Musk co-founded Neuralink, which is developing implants that would interface with the brain.
He also founded the Boring Co. in 2016 with the aim of building high-speed underground transportation. In April, Boring received $675 million in venture capital, valuing the company at $5.7 billion.
Further, Boring in October received initial approval to build a transportation system that would shuttle passengers in Tesla vehicles via a network of tunnels under Las Vegas.
In 2019 Musk started Starlink, his satellite constellation. It now provides internet access to 32 countries, with more than 1,000 small satellites in orbit, and more to come.
Despite his critics and the numerous lawsuits, there's no question of Musk's success.
The all-electric Tesla got the entire auto industry to follow its lead. With a market cap at more than $790 billion, Tesla stock's value now is worth more than the next 10 carmakers combined.
Musk's Mission To Mars
And his SpaceX now shuttles astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Musk built SpaceX from the ground up, using the $100 million he earned when he and his partners founded and sold PayPal to EBay.
But perhaps Musk's single most important goal, based on numerous interviews and articles, is to build a colony on Mars and make humans "a space-faring civilization." Musk has been working on this idea for more than 20 years.
He has big plans for SpaceX, developing enormous rockets intended to land a fleet of humans on the Red Planet. He also developed super-high-capacity batteries and solar panels at Tesla, intended to help colonize the planet.
Whether the Elon Musk Twitter deal will come to fruition remains unclear. Twitter stock fell about 22% since the first revelations of Musk acquiring about 9% of shares in early April. But Twitter stock has rebounded 11% since Musk announced plans on May 25 to raise the money he is fronting in his bid to acquire Twitter to $33.5 billion, up from $27.25 billion.
Watching Musk are not just the many holders of Tesla stock but also his 92 million followers on Twitter. Many of them have cheered Musk every step of the way. But another large chorus of followers have sharply criticized his antics.
At one point, Musk took a considerable amount of heat for suggesting that bots created a larger percentage of Twitter traffic than originally thought. He suggested he might pull out of the deal, but apparently recanted by upping the front money for Twitter stock.
Will Musk Close Acquisition Of Twitter Stock?
"Elon Musk is himself a product. It's the cult of Elon Musk, " said Flamholtz. Musk gets enormous free publicity, and thus needs little to no advertising for Tesla vehicles, he adds.
So, is the Elon Musk Twitter deal setting the CEO up for failure? Musk has told reporters that he works about 90 hours a week, sometimes more, and gets about six hours of sleep per night.
"He's had extraordinary success, but who knows when his Waterloo will come," said Framholtz, referring to the final, crushing defeat suffered by Napoleon in 1815. "Like Napoleon, he's taking on tremendous risks."
Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.
