Much of this "painful year" are a direct result of his own words. It's easy to have seen this coming for a while now.
Elon seems eager to play the press and for some reason the media loves following his every move like he's a celebrity. There are plenty of others who work harder than he does who don't manipulate the media nearly to the same extent.
He would do well to step his ego out of his public interactions so these things can slide right off. That, and also stop making claims upon which are impossible to fulfill.
>Musk continues to have an unhealthy obsession with short sellers of Tesla's stock. He told the Times that he is expecting "at least a few months of extreme torture from the short-sellers, who are desperately pushing a narrative that will possibly result in Tesla’s destruction."
> It's unclear how a short-driven narrative could destroy Tesla. Ultimately, Tesla's success or failure will be determined by whether Tesla can produce cars for less than customers pay for them—and whether customers are satisfied with the cars. If Tesla executes well, no amount of bad press—short-seller driven or otherwise—should pose a significant threat to the company.
I'm glad somebody has finally made this clear. The cheerleading against short-sellers (For a stock that the founder has at times claimed to be overpriced) is baffling. If Tesla is a solid business, it shouldn't be concerned about its day-to-day stock price.
> It's unclear how a short-driven narrative could destroy Tesla. Ultimately, Tesla's success or failure will be determined by whether Tesla can produce cars for less than customers pay for them—and whether customers are satisfied with the cars.
No distain here, in fact I look up to Elon for what he's done with SpaceX. But at the same time I dont feel bad for him, he could easily work less and start living the good life.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17780092