Why Elon Musk Thinks His Vacations Are Cursed
Elon Musk didn’t become a billionaire, and one of the most well-regarded entrepreneurs of our time, by slacking off.
But, because of his relentless attitude toward work (Musk has been quoted as saying he works 100 hours a week), his personal life is suffering, and that includes his vacations.
In 2015, the Tesla founder said he’d only taken two vacations since founding SpaceX a dozen years earlier. And really, you can’t blame him when you consider what happened each time he tried to get away.
Related: The 20 Most Influential Travelers of 2017
As Inc pointed out, while Musk was on his first vacation at PayPal, the board replaced him with Peter Thiel.
On his next vacation to Brazil, Musk contracted malaria and almost died.
And, Inc reported, during his first vacation after founding SpaceX, one of the company’s rockets exploded.
“The first time I took a week off, the Orbital Sciences rocket exploded and Richard Branson’s rocket exploded,” Musk told reporters at the time. “In that same week, the second time I took a week off, my rocket exploded. The lesson here is don’t take a week off.”
These brushes with unfortunate timing certainly sucked, however, Musk, who could soon become the richest man in the world, may have been exaggerating his fear of taking time off, since he has been spotted on vacations since.
You see, Musk went on at least two official vacations in 2017 alone, and both times he was accompanied by on again, off again girlfriend Amber Heard, who may or may not be the reason he decided to take a little “me” time.
The first trip took place in May when Heard, Musk, and his children took some much needed time off together in Australia.
The second happened just as the year came to a close, when Heard and Musk (who may or may not still be together) were spotted with friends in Chile in December.
Following the trip, Heard jetted off to Rio for New Year’s Eve, though there's been no word on whether or not Musk joined her.
Of course, Musk travels more often than just these two trips, often sharing business destinations like Turkey, China, and more with his social media following.
And really, Musk’s two vacations a year (plus business travel that likely come with at least a little bit of entertainment on the side) are nothing he should be shedding a tear over, because he’s actually taking way more time off than the average joe.
According to Business Insider, the average American worker gets just eight vacation days a year, and even worse, people rarely actually take those few precious days to go anywhere. In reality, Musk’s two public vacations last year account for nearly double what’s afforded to the average American.
So yeah, OK, Musk has had bad luck with vacations in the past. But it looks like he’s coming around to the idea that vacations are good for you. Now, maybe he should allow his employees to take time off without the fear of being fired.
Elon Musk didn’t become a billionaire, and one of the most well-regarded entrepreneurs of our time, by slacking off.
But, because of his relentless attitude toward work (Musk has been quoted as saying he works 100 hours a week), his personal life is suffering, and that includes his vacations.
In 2015, the Tesla founder said he’d only taken two vacations since founding SpaceX a dozen years earlier. And really, you can’t blame him when you consider what happened each time he tried to get away.
Related: The 20 Most Influential Travelers of 2017
As Inc pointed out, while Musk was on his first vacation at PayPal, the board replaced him with Peter Thiel.
On his next vacation to Brazil, Musk contracted malaria and almost died.
And, Inc reported, during his first vacation after founding SpaceX, one of the company’s rockets exploded.
“The first time I took a week off, the Orbital Sciences rocket exploded and Richard Branson’s rocket exploded,” Musk told reporters at the time. “In that same week, the second time I took a week off, my rocket exploded. The lesson here is don’t take a week off.”
These brushes with unfortunate timing certainly sucked, however, Musk, who could soon become the richest man in the world, may have been exaggerating his fear of taking time off, since he has been spotted on vacations since.
You see, Musk went on at least two official vacations in 2017 alone, and both times he was accompanied by on again, off again girlfriend Amber Heard, who may or may not be the reason he decided to take a little “me” time.
The first trip took place in May when Heard, Musk, and his children took some much needed time off together in Australia.
Piggyback rides around the Opera House
A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on May 29, 2017 at 10:23pm PDT
The second happened just as the year came to a close, when Heard and Musk (who may or may not still be together) were spotted with friends in Chile in December.
A post shared by El Taringa (@eltaringa) on Dec 29, 2017 at 7:28pm PST
Following the trip, Heard jetted off to Rio for New Year’s Eve, though there's been no word on whether or not Musk joined her.
Of course, Musk travels more often than just these two trips, often sharing business destinations like Turkey, China, and more with his social media following.
A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Nov 8, 2017 at 9:45am PST
And really, Musk’s two vacations a year (plus business travel that likely come with at least a little bit of entertainment on the side) are nothing he should be shedding a tear over, because he’s actually taking way more time off than the average joe.
According to Business Insider, the average American worker gets just eight vacation days a year, and even worse, people rarely actually take those few precious days to go anywhere. In reality, Musk’s two public vacations last year account for nearly double what’s afforded to the average American.
So yeah, OK, Musk has had bad luck with vacations in the past. But it looks like he’s coming around to the idea that vacations are good for you. Now, maybe he should allow his employees to take time off without the fear of being fired.
