There are two theories about Elon Musk’s latest online poll. One says he was genuinely interested in whether Twitter users think he should step down as chief executive of the social media site. A second says he has already accepted that he’ll have to give up day-to-day management and, in usual attention-seeking style, was creating fake drama around the event. The second idea sounds more plausible.
Musk can surely see – as many shareholders of Tesla have been saying in recent weeks – that there are risks in tying his personal brand so closely to Twitter’s. The job of designing, producing and selling electric vehicles is not made easier if the public face of the car company is also at the centre of storms over who Twitter is banning or unbanning this week. “Customers don’t want their cars to be controversial. They want to be proud as hell to drive them – not embarrassed,” said Gary Black, the managing partner of Future Fund, whose biggest investment is Tesla, last week. Quite.
