Entrepreneurs: Does the Emperor have Clothes?
by Miki Saxon
Elon Musk is everywhere these days; played up by the media as a guru and role model.
But is he?
Malcolm Berko, a financial writer who’s not afraid to say when the emperor has no clothes and with no ties to anyone but himself shares a different take on Musk in response to a reader’s question.
I understand your enthusiasm for SolarCity, founded in 2006 by the Rive brothers in collaboration with Musk. But you’re ascribing extraordinary powers to this Musk chap, who, with Peter Thiel, founded PayPal in 1998. In 2002, PayPal was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion after Musk was contentiously removed as CEO by its board of directors. Musk is kind of a geeky, spacey guy who, in late 2001, designed the project “Mars Oasis.” He intended to land miniature greenhouses on Mars, containing food crops growing on Martian regolith. But Musk put his Mars Oasis on hold when he realized that current rocket technology would not allow humans to become “true spacefaring” people. Hello! He sought to address this problem by founding SpaceX, which so far is flying in the red and running up debts. His Tesla Motors, founded in 2010 and financed with four partners, hasn’t made a dime, either, but the company has a ridiculous market cap of $18 billion. In late 2011, this wacky genius spent millions researching a new form of transportation between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and in August 2013, he unveiled his “Hyperloop,” a subsonic air travel machine relying completely on solar energy that would permit commuters to travel the 350 miles between the two cities in 30 minutes. As long as Musk has billions in the bank, he’ll be a genius, but take away his money and people will call him a fool. Meanwhile, Madison Avenue’s marketing has done a splendid job of promoting his name and reputation.
But very few things he touches turn to gold; Musk is a geek without management skills, and investors should realize this.
I have no idea how accurate Berko’s analysis vs. the media in general, but I do know that no matter who says what it’s wise to check out both sides of any story.
Not only to check it out, but to do so with an open mind.
Because even if 99 out of 100 have the same opinion that doesn’t prove that the one dissenting opinion is wrong.
It may just prove that the emperor really doesn’t have any clothes.
Flickr image credit: Huw
