Elon Musk is perhaps the most visible CEO in the world, and that hasn’t been doing him any favors. It all began in a very strange way: when a group of Thai children got stuck in a cave. The entire situation quickly spiraled, ultimately leading to investors calling for the head of their once-beloved CEO.
On June 23rd, twelve boys and their soccer coach went caving. Ordinarily, this would have been fine: these caves are a popular retreat. However, the rains in the area have been significant, and flooding closed off much of the cave. Waters rose inside of the lengthy cave, forcing the boys and their coach back into difficult terrain. Due to the flooding, they couldn’t make their way out. Once they were discovered missing, help was dispatched. Unfortunately, even the most skilled of divers were having trouble locating them.
An international rescue effort was launched, which included cave experts and expert divers. And this is where the situation began, when Elon Musk tweeted that he was developing a submarine:
“Got more great feedback from Thailand,” the tweet read. “Primary path is basically a tiny, kid-size submarine using the liquid oxygen transfer tube of Falcon rocket as hull. Light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps. Extremely robust.”
Some saw this as a heroic act. Others saw it as a publicity grab, especially after Elon Musk proceeded to take photos at the cave sight while experts attempted a rescue.
Though by all accounts it does appear that the government supported Musk’s efforts to create the submarine, experts criticized it for being impractical. Meanwhile, the children were safely removed by divers, while Elon Musk defended that he had been asked to continue the development of the submarine for one of the smaller boys.
And that’s where it all occurred. Whether it was due to hurt feelings on Musk’s part or a very human, visceral reaction to being criticized, Musk made a misstep.
To be fair, Musk didn’t send out the first blow. That honor goes to Vern Unsworth, a British ex-pat and expert cave diver. When interviewed, Unsworth — who was involved in the rescue attempts and was instrumental in finding the children — said that Elon could take his submarine and “stick it where it hurts.” Not exactly a charitable viewpoint, but Unsworth was of the belief that Elon had been showboating (showsubmarining?) the entire time.
Must responded by, inexplicably, accusing Unsworth of being a “pedo” — even going so far as to double down on the allegation and say that he bet a “signed dollar” that he was one.
The internet didn’t react fondly. In fact, if Musk had lashed out in any other way, he probably would have been the winner of the debate — but implying that any white male in Thailand was a pedophile was a step too far. This wasn’t just any allegation: Thailand has a very real problem with child prostitution.
Tesla stock did fall 4 percent, but then began to recover as investors wondered what to make of these new issues. It wasn’t that people doubted Elon Musk’s technological vision, but Musk has been in the news quite frequently. Not only was he becoming a wildcard in terms of publicity, but he has also been embroiled in debates regarding unionization attempts and poor care of his employees.
With Musk increasingly acting more volatile and agitated on Twitter, it’s no wonder that investors have been getting worried. They don’t know what direction the CEO is going to go, and pedophilia is a tremendously volatile accusation in and of itself. Another major company — Papa Johns — recently went through something similar, when it had to ditch its current CEO after he was caught making racist remarks on a company phone call.
Though many believed that Musk would stick to his guns, he did decide to issue an apology to the cave diver — after legal threats were made. Of course, as is classic to Musk’s behavior, it was half-hearted:
“As this well-written article suggests, my words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader,” Musk said.
Musk isn’t entirely wrong. The cave diver absolutely did fire the first shot. But, the cave diver isn’t the leader of one of the most well-known tech companies in the world. It remains to be seen whether Musk’s increasingly bizarre online behavior is going to take a real toll on the business, or whether it may be seen as the continued eccentricities of a mad and successful genius.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
