What if Lockdown Was a Mistake?
The majority of billionaires and Silicon Valley power players are keeping their heads down in quarantine, donating a bit, and retweeting government advice, but Elon Musk is not into that life. He can’t see the logic in lockdown. “He’s joined the rebels! He’s lost his mind!”
There’s always a motivation, always a self-interest. Tesla has one vehicle-assembly plant in Fremont right now and Elon Musk needs it open. He needs to deliver cars to fuel his stock market story because that’s where he gets the money to keep going.
There’s no way flashy car companies will escape serious injury this year, but this one managed to print a miraculous, well-rounded record profit in last night’s earnings call. Analysts were dumbfounded, keen to hear about liquidity in the crisis, but Elon’s mind was somewhere else.
He spent the conference call vexing about the lockdown, “freedom, corrupt politicians” and all that. Beneath his bluster was an argument.
The economic damage is disproportionate to the medical damage. Musk believes this is just a bad seasonal flu. The media will be feeding off it for years, with each case into a unit of political currency for world leaders to win elections. Now we’re all waiting at home for some germs to die, and though it’s off the record, the global business community can’t believe it.
Elon Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Elon Musk. The public won’t forget his taboo musings in a hurry, especially when it comes time to make a new car purchase. There’s sure to be brand damage, so the cult-bears and cult-bulls are standing off like never before. They can’t both be right in the end, that’s investing!
