Elon Musk, the South African-born founder of Tesla Motors and of SpaceX, and now chief adviser and agent provocateur at Mar-a-Lago, has made manifest his ambition to one day fly to Mars.
But the world's richest man, like a latter-day Icarus, may have wings of wax and fly too close to the sun.
Prior to Musk's embrace of the MAGA agenda last autumn, the price of Tesla stock had been holding steady at about $200 per share. Shortly after the election on Nov. 5, it soared, reaching $479 on Dec. 17.
But as of Feb.7, the stock had retreated to $361. This is a loss of 25% in what remains a bull market.
Why? Largely because Musk's political pontifications in this country and in Europe have been hugely controversial.
As head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has spearheaded efforts to fire untold thousands of federal employees, and to disembowel the Department of Education and USAID. These efforts appear to have no legal sanction and likely will be reversed by the courts.
In Britain, Musk has savaged the new Labour prime minister, Keir Starmer, as an "evil tyrant" who is creating a "tyrannical police state." He has publicly urged King Charles III to dismiss Starmer and to dissolve Parliament, a power that Charles may have in theory but not in practice.
In Germany, Musk has blundered his way into the upcoming federal election, insulting the Social Democratic chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and specifically endorsing the far-right alternative fur Deutschland.
He even has suggested that the country should stop atoning for its Nazi past.
All of this has caused Tesla sales in Europe to careen into a deep ditch. In January, Tesla sales in France were down 63%, although the car market as a whole was down only 6%. Similarly, Tesla declined 59% in Germany, 44% in Sweden and 42% in the Netherlands.
A bumper sticker often seen on Teslas in Europe says: "I bought this before Elon went crazy."
Musk appears to be afflicted with a severe case of hubris, arrogance and self-worship.
He should ponder the fate of William Crapo Durant, the founder of General Motors.
Beginning with his acquisition of Buick in 1904, Durant added Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and what became GMC and Pontiac to form General Motors by 1916. GM soon surpassed Ford to become the world's largest automobile manufacturer, a title it would retain for 77 years.
But the brilliant but reckless Durant lost control of the company in 1920 and failed at subsequent automotive endeavors. He ended up broke and running a bowling alley.
Elon Musk doesn't seem to understand that the customer is king. People will not buy his cars if he annoys and insults them. If they stop, he's through.
Joseph Tipler
Centralia
