Elon Musk, Moron

Good day all. Elon Musk is an entrepreneur with one heck of a Public Relations department. He came up with the Tesla and has convinced millions that electric cars are the future. He’s also pushing to go to Mars and has many other endeavors.

Most of his ideas aren’t really workable and Musk has been very good at getting funding and tax breaks from the gullible. He’s also noted for his “My way or the Highway” outlook. He also has a tendency to turn off his mental filters and run off at the mouth. He did just that last week when he insulted one of the divers that rescued the Thai teenagers that were trapped in a cave.

As the Thai navy along with experts from around the world worked to get the boys safely out of the flooding cave system, Musk announced that he would bring a submarine to go in and get them. A British caver, who knew the system and was working with the Thai government, basically called Musk an idiot. Soon after, the boys were rescued. That’s when Musk went off the deep end and called the British expert a pedophile.

To say that the man who had just risked his life to save those teenagers was insulted would be an understatement. He’s thinking about suing Musk. Here are some of the details from Yahoo! News:

A British caver who helped rescue 12 boys from a Thai cave said he may take legal action against Elon Musk after the entrepreneur called him a “pedo” in comments that sent Tesla shares tumbling. Tesla shares were down 3.01 percent in New York about 15 minutes before the closing bell after the latest odd controversy to engulf Musk.

Nice going dumb ass. I suspect the board of directors may have a few things to say to you about this.

Tesla CEO Musk launched the extraordinary tirade against Vernon Unsworth without providing any justification or explanation, after the cave expert slammed his offer of a miniature submarine to extract the footballers from the Tham Luang cave as a “PR stunt”.

Which it was. Musk is not an engineer, he has no knowledge of the cave system, and also has a very high opinion of himself as a super genius. There are hundreds of minisubs around the world, and not one of them could get into those caves. They had to use scuba systems and give the kids a basic lesson in how to use it. Even so, the Thais suffered the loss of one of their people during the rescue.

The “Wild Boars” team were rescued last week by an international team of divers through a narrow network of twisting, flooded tunnels.

Unsworth, who provided mapping knowledge of the cave to rescuers, said Musk’s prototype would have had “absolutely no chance of working”.

Which is true. Anyone with any caving experience, which I am NOT one, would know this. Just look at anything by National Geographics when they do stories on caves. You either walk in or swim in. However, Musk couldn’t take the criticism and let his mouth runneth over.

Musk responded Sunday in a bizarre series of tweets referring to Unsworth, without using his name, as “pedo guy”. “Pedo” is short for paedophile.

The entrepreneur doubled down on his claim, tweeting from his official account to more than 22 million followers: “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true”.

Someone finally reached Musk and let him know that he had just put his foot so far down his throat, he has to drop his pants to tie his shoe.

Musk later deleted the tweets and did not immediately respond to a request for comment through Tesla.

To late. What goes on the Internet, stays on the internet. Elon Musk is about to find out just how true that is.

Unsworth told AFP on Monday he had not reviewed the tweets in full and had only heard about them. But asked if he would take legal action against Musk over the allegation, Unsworth said: “If it’s what I think it is yes.” The caver said he would make a decision when he flies back to the UK this week, but added that the episode with Musk “ain’t finished”.

As to whether or not Mr. Unsworth files suit for libel and slander, I can’t say. From what I’ve been reading, he does have an excellent case in England and a pretty damn good one in the United States. Libel and slander are tough to prove in the United States due to the 1^st Amendment. However, calling someone a pedophile without any proof at all? Yeah, I think that opens the door. It also helps that Mr. Unsworth isn’t considered a public figure. Unlike Elon Musk, he didn’t seek out the spotlight.

Musk’s problems aren’t going to be with just Mr. Unsworth either. He’s managed to draw the attention of his shareholders and his board of directors. They are not happy people. Here are some details on this from another article from Yahoo! News:

Elon Musk has had a series of angry social media dust-ups with Wall Street analysts, journalists, employees and others. But his latest outburst on Twitter attacking a British rescue worker in Thailand has raised fresh concerns over the star tech entrepreneur’s stability and leadership abilities.

Musk, the South African-born innovator and billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX, found himself in hot water after insulting Vern Unsworth, a British diver who worked on the Thai soccer team rescue and who dismissed Musk’s plan to recover the trapped group.

The since-deleted weekend tweet referred to Unsworth as “pedo guy,” an apparent reference to pedophilia, faced a deluge of criticism on social media and from analysts questioning whether Musk had crossed a line on responsible conduct for a CEO.

Oh I think it’s safe to say he did. I’m not alone in thinking this either.

“This is the most brand-damaging thing Elon Musk has ever done,” said Roger Kay, analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates who follows the technology sector.

Kay said Musk appeared to be following in the footsteps of President Donald Trump in using Twitter to vent frustration and insult anyone with whom he disagrees.

“It’s totally gratuitous. It wasn’t necessary,” Kay said of the Musk insult to the Briton, who has threatened a lawsuit. “It makes him very Trump-like.”

Actually, no, it doesn’t. President Trump does have a tendency to blast people he considers to be dishonorable opponents, but he doesn’t libel them. I can’t recall President Trump accusing anyone of being a pedophile in one of his tweets. And while Donald Trump is President, he still owns a multi-billion dollar business. (Currently being run by one of his sons) That business is not publicly traded, unlike Musk’s companies.

Tesla shares skidded 2.75 percent to close at $310.10 following the latest controversy, adding to pressure on the electric automaker which has struggled to meet production targets for its Model 3, seen as crucial to its long-term viability.

Musk “is under a lot of pressure and we’re seeing pressure fractures,” Kay said.

Excuses, excuses. Musk has had a long run of good luck, but the hard facts of science, engineering and physics are showing up now.

“He’s been sleeping in his factories trying to get production up and that’s been difficult. But when he talks to investors, he has to reassure them that all that money isn’t going to fall on the floor.”

Fall on the floor? More like being set on fire.

Musk has cultivated reputation as a creative genius, with some comparisons to another technology star known for being erratic, the late Apple-co-founder Steve Jobs.

Calling Jobs erratic isn’t all that accurate. Calling him a sociopath? That might be more accurate. Jobs was notorious for not caring at all about anyone else’s feelings.

Patrick Moorhead, analyst and consultant with Moor Insights & Strategy, said there were “some similarities up to this point” between Musk and Jobs, but that the latest personal insult appeared to cross a line.

“Steve jobs didn’t take it to this extent,” Moorhead said.

To avoid long-term damage, “the first thing Musk needs to do is issue a huge apology,” Moorhead said.

And write a very big check. Musk’s accusing Mr. Unsworth of being a pedophile crossed a very big line. The one thing no one likes are adults who prey on children. That can get people killed. Musk will have to apologize publicly, dive deeply into his pockets and pretty much admit he is a moron. I don’t see him doing that.

Musk has put himself between a rock and a hard place. If Mr. Unsworth does file suit, Musk’s board of directors may have no choice but to remove him as CEO and throw him under the bus. The odds of his beating a lawsuit under these circumstances are, to be blunt, almost nonexistent. His lawyers will try to reach a settlement, but unless Musk bows down and kisses Mr. Unsworth’s shoes in abject apology, I don’t see this just going away. As they say Elon..