Musk, Trump, And The Second Gilded Age

I’ve long admired Elon Musk as a technological visionary. But I worry about his sense of responsibility to the public.

Last week Musk announced on Twitter that he intended to turn Telsa, the electric-car maker he founded, into a private company. He said the funding was “secured” – a claim that sent Telsa stock skyrocketing – yet he produced no evidence that the funding was nailed down.

There are laws against corporate officials making these sorts of untethered claims because if untrue they could hurt lots of innocent bystanders – including unwary investors and employees.  

Does Musk’s behavior remind you of any other powerful person who also makes unfounded claims on Twitter that send heads spinning?

Donald Trump is no Elon Musk. Musk seems to genuinely care about the future of humanity.

But, like Trump, Musk loves to upend the status quo by breaking norms and maybe even some laws.

He also seems to share Trump’s unrelenting combativeness and penchant for hitting back. A few weeks ago, after a British diver involved in the Thailand cave rescue termed Musk’s offer of a submarine a publicity stunt, Musk called him a pedophile.

Musk has little patience for the media. At a recent quarterly earnings conference, he refused to answer what he termed “boring” or “bonehead” questions.

Musk and Trump aren’t the only notable people in modern America exhibiting these tendencies.

Think of Travis Kalanick, the pugnacious founder of Uber. Or Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

Which raises the question: Is it necessary for true innovators to break norms and rules?

Some years ago the most fashionable buzzword in business was “disruption.” Real entrepreneurs, it was said, disrupt the status quo. They shake up conventional ways of doing things and upturn hidebound institutions.

Trump loyalists think that’s exactly what he’s doing in Washington.