The Myth Of Elon Musk
The Silicon Valley legend may be over the top, but he definitely reaches for the stars.
Hardly a day goes by in the tech press without news from the world of Elon Musk. The South African-born SpaceX and Tesla founder has staked a reputation as a man intent on transforming transportation both in space and on earth. His tech clout comes from his early success founding the company that would become the founder of PayPal, a career achievement which also left him one of the richest men in Silicon Valley.
The Man, The Legend
For close observers of the Valley, Elon Musk is more than just a successful man, he’s also a legend and myth and role model, all at once. As the Telegraph wrote in a profile of the billionaire “Already wealthier than most of us will ever dream of being, he netted close to $180 million from PayPal’s sale to eBay, enough to retire at the age of 32, or to set up a venture capital fund and invest in hungry young entrepreneurs such as he once was – the conventional path for made men in California’s Silicon Valley. But this is not what Musk did.”
Indeed, by taking his hard-earned tech money and founding two businesses that some might call “preposterous and doomed to fail,” Musk has come to embody what many people celebrate about The Valley. He’s ambitious, innovative, subversive, and willing to take risks on projects that are not sure bets. He is motivated not by money or pleasing investors but by changing the way we do things. There is no doubt that young entrepreneurs all over the world have been inspired by Musk’s willingness to break boundaries and not rest on his laurels.
Too Ambitious?
However, not everyone is convinced. While Musk may be the master of hype, the tech press doesn’t always view his pronouncements favorably. In mid-October, Tesla delayed the announcement of an “unexpected product reveal,” leading a lot of journalists to lay down the critique that Musk has a tendency to bite off more than he can chew. As the Telegraph reported, “Consumer Reports said Tesla’s autopilot upgrades were “too much, too soon,” and “the German government asked the company to stop using the term autopilot, saying that it gives drivers too much confidence, and makes them think the car is more capable than it really is.”
Purely Driven
Musk’s rather contentious relationship with the tech press works the other way too. He recently made headlines for chastising journalists for their negative coverage of self driving vehicles, a market which Tesla is a leader in. In a phone call with the press, Musk said “One of the things I should mention that frankly has been quite disturbing to me is the degree of media coverage of Autopilot crashes, which are basically almost none relative to the media coverage of the 1.2 million people that die every year in manual crashes. It’s something that I think does not reflect well upon the media. It really doesn’t. Because — and you need to think carefully about this — because if, in writing some article that’s negative, you effectively dissuade people from using an autonomous vehicle, you’re killing people.”
While accusing journalists of killing people isn’t perhaps the best way to get the press to be sympathetic to your views, Musk is of a mindset where he doesn’t seem to care. This may help his mythmaking, as it evokes a devil-may-care attitude of a brave visionary. Alternatively, though it could hinder it. After all, any successful company is usually aided in some way by widespread coverage, most of it favorable something which Musk puts at risk with statements like this.
Ultimately, there’s no doubt that we will always remember Musk’s name when we look back at this era of Silicon Valley’s history. What we don’t know is just how future generations will view him.