It's Time for Tesla to Replace Elon Musk
The saga of Tesla, the cash-burning electric car producer and its mercurial CEO, Elon Musk, has taken a new, potentially disastrous twist. No longer content deflecting questions about embarrassing execution shortfalls with preposterous new "initiatives" (like colonizing Mars, Hyperloop, electric semi-trucks, a six-lane underground freeway, a joke proposal for a candy company, flamethrowers, etc.), Elon has lately become, well, unpredictable and very nasty, causing investors and the media to wonder about his health. As well they should, if they value their investment in the company.
Elon Musk is an undeniable genius, and a typical founder-CEO. That is, he is the inventor, the believer, the dreamer-passionate to a fault, dismissive and intolerant of "lesser" mortals. But such people generally do not do well at more mundane tasks, like actually running a successful operation. That's why "founder/dreamers" usually have to be moved aside at some point in a company's growth.
In light of Musk's confessed overworked state, inability to sleep, and quixotic behavior, it would be prudent for the Tesla board of directors to consider elevating him to an even-higher position. Perhaps "Honorary Chairman" or even "Supreme Advisor." Give him a budget and a group of like-minded engineers so he can run "Alien Dreadnaught" programs. But entrust the steering wheel of what is, in reality, just another automobile company, to a seasoned, successful automotive professional.
With potential fines and lawsuits that could add up to countless dollars as a result of Elon's intemperate remarks about having "funding secured" to take the company private, Teslas's survival is possibly at stake. Whether or not Tesla board members trust and love Elon, or feel a family bond, or are grateful for what he has achieved, their fiduciary duty, rooted in the laws of corporate governance, demands that they protect the broad shareholder base. Corporate boards are not there to prop up and support CEOs. Their duty is to the investors, large and small. Failure to observe this can lead to civil and even criminal action against the board.
Thus, whether we view the problem as legal or operational, the conclusion is the same: Elon Musk, the mad genius, the serial disruptor, the visionary, the putative colonizer of Mars, is, to say the least, temporarily out of service. Failure to delegate, lack of sharing an enormous workload, fascination with minutae that compelled him to sleep on the assembly plant floor, medicating for sleep deprivation-offset by alleged use of recreational drugs-have perhaps burned him out. His formidable battery fully discharged, Elon Musk might need a long rest. Meanwhile, Tesla, heading for the iceberg at flank speed, needs a new skipper. And fast.
Bob Lutz has been The Man at several car companies. His column, Ask Bob, can be found every month in Road & Track Magazine.
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