Where is Elon Musk?
The CEO of Tesla (TSLA) has disappeared from social media since June 21, the date of his last tweets. This date also marks his last recorded presence on social networks.
Normally two events could have caught his attention if we rely on his recent history on social media.
Musk has just taken an important step on Twitter, his favorite communication channel. In fact, the Tech tycoon now has 100 million followers, which makes him the sixth most influential and followed personality in the world on the microblogging website. He is also the only CEO to have so many followers.
One Interview Since June 21
The five people in front of him are former President Barack Obama, musicians Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Rihanna and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. It's a safe bet that Musk will continue his ascent in this ranking.
If his fans and admirers celebrate this achievement, Musk, who turned 51 on June 28, remains silent.
The other event is the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24. Roe v. Wade has been the landmark case for abortion rights since 1973, when the court ruled on a 7-2 vote that women had the constitutional right to an abortion.
Musk has accustomed us in recent months to intervening on all subjects with the idea of expanding his influence beyond the sole circles of tech and business. He took sides in the ultra polarizing debate on gun control. He did not hesitate to let it be known that his candidate for the 2024 presidential election would be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
So far Musk hasn't said anything on abortion yet. But it is important to mention that in recent months the CEO of Tesla has encouraged people to have children as a response to the reduction in the world's population, "the biggest single threat to civilization right now," according to him.
Since his June 21 tweets, the Tesla CEO seems to have decided to finally become a normal or classic boss. He gave an interview last Saturday to CleanTechnica‘s Johnna Crider at the company’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. It's for Crider’s podcast, Getting Stoned, according to posts posted by the podcaster who promises to broadcast this exchange "soon."
Musk Fatigue?
Apart from this interview, Musk seems to have disappeared. But this intended or undesired disappearance came as people begin to express a "Musk fatigue."
Employees of his rocket company SpaceX recently wrote an open letter in which they denounced his media omnipresence. They were then fired. This decision has somewhat damaged the image of defender of free speech that Musk claims and that he put forward as one of the arguments for which he wants to acquire Twitter as TheStreet's Rob Lenihan reported.
"Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the employees wrote. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.”
A few days later, it was revealed by celebrity news site TheBlast that one of his seven children, who has become transgender, wanted to change their name to cut all ties with their father.
"I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form," Musk's transgender daughter said in a petition. Born Xavier Alexander Musk, she asks to be called Vivian Jenna Wilson so that her name matches her gender
Wilson is the maiden name of her mother, divorced from Elon Musk in 2008.
The request was filed in April in a court in Santa Monica, Calif.
The billionaire has in the past written posts on Twitter criticizing the fact that transgender or non-binary people ask to be identified by specific pronouns, including this tweet dating from December 2020:
"I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare."
And DeSantis, his favorite candidate for 2024, recently signed legislation, known by Don't Say Gay law, to restrict discussions of homosexuality and trans issues in Florida's public schools.
The richest man in the world had a total of eight children: six with Justine Musk, born Wilson in the 2000s, one of whom died a few weeks after birth, and, more recently, two with musician Grimes.
