But he is a conman. Devilish is your description, but conman can't be argued. I am not aware of any billionaire deities, but any who supposedly exist aren't the subject of this topic.
SpaceX rockets are not human rated, but are operating at a comparable cost to the Shuttle which was human rated. That's progress? We had a successful rocket stage retro landing demonstration 30 years prior by a different group of people. The concept isn't new and the solution isn't new. It hasn't ever been proven to be economically viable. The engines and stages are minimally "reusable" where the inspection and repair cost is about the same as manufacturing cost. Payload reduction more than offsets any supposed cost benefits (even if they could figure out how to reuse them more affordably). We were supposed to have SpaceX on Mars years ago. What happened? False hype. Where is the fun mars mission with entertainers and fine dining? False hype. Where are the multiple rocket trips per day to the other side of earth? False investment claims. They are highly subsidized, so it is impossible to make good comparisons, but it is pretty clear that they aren't saving us money, especially when the majority of their payload is their own product which us taxpayers are funding.
Why did he leave PayPal?
Why was he kicked off the board of directors at Tesla and fined $10 million?
What did he say about those fake solar roof tiles that he claimed were installed and claimed were a working product? Was that false advertising? Why did it take so long for the tiles to actually be on the market, and look so different than the advertised 'working' tiles?
What about the fake 4 minute Tesla battery swap demonstrations? Were they false advertising and stock hype?
What about the robo taxi software that was definitely coming out 4 years ago which made it "financial suicide" not to order a Tesla? Was that false advertising and stock hype?
What about the solar-powered rapid charging stations? Where are they? What kind of bump did that give to their share price?
What about the car that would smart summon across America? Was he purposely lying in order to increase share prices?
What about the full self-driving videos which employees later admitted were fake. Was that intentional fraud?
What about the hyperloop? Did he know that it was technologically impossible to do what he suggested? Did he purposely create hype for a failed 100-year-old concept just for the funding opportunity and attention? Was that hype? Where did that funding go?
What about the truck which was "this is something we can do today", years ago? Was that stock hype? It was "financial suicide" to continue to invest in rail. What happened? People pre-ordered, waited for the release 4 years late, and now the company says that they are keeping the trucks for internal company use only. Where did the pre-order money go? Who wants a truck anyway which hauls 1/4 to 1/2 as much payload, 1/4 the distance, and takes 32 times longer to "refuel" for the same distance (best case)? Where is the smart driving? Where is the convoy system? Where are all the features which would be "financial suicide" not to have? Where are the charging stations and guaranteed electric price?
The list goes on and on. Look at any presentation, see what he says, and see what the follow-through is. He never delivers. Every time the stock shoots up from hype, but the product never arrives. It can't last forever. He is a conman. The bumps in stock are getting smaller and smaller. People are catching on.
The boring company is non-competitive. Tesla is up against steep competition at a better price. The hyperloop is dead. SpaceX is struggling. And Musk is losing money like crazy after purchasing Twitter and running it into the ground. Twitter isn't a left versus right thing, unless you make it that. Fundamentally, the twitter advertiser thing is caused by a display of a mess of contradictory statements made by poor leadership (Musk), chaos, heavy-handed actions and statements which make your employees hate you and leave, and the advertisers reacting to it all by exiting because they are afraid of massive and rapid instability affecting their brand image. People want to make it a left vs right thing and say that advertisers bailed due to their political affiliations, but really the only reason left vs right is continuing to be pushed so hard is because that is the only thing keeping twitter relevant. Twitter is purposely fanning the flames.
The only hope for justice for Musk misleading people and capitalizing at people's expense, is that he loses enough power that people are no longer scared of holding him accountable. He is not someone to idolize. He is a symbol of corruption and intentional abuse. He is a villain.
I will be surprised if he doesn't eventually go to prison for securities fraud once it all comes crashing down.
