Investors Ignore Musk Drug Charges

Investing

Published: January 9, 2024 7:05 am

The Wall Street Journal had a lengthy expose about Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s drug use. He denied the report almost immediately. The article also said some board members of both Tesla and SpaceX, the rocket company Musk runs, were aware of the issue and it troubled them. The day after the accusations by the paper, Tesla stock rose over 1% to $240. No one cared about what the newspaper had to say.

What happened? There is regular news about Musk’s behavior. He sometimes sleeps under his desk. He says he has bipolar disorder. His purchase of Twitter, now named X, was incredibly irresponsible financially—for now. However, year after year, his largest companies post strong results. His behavior is an investor’s sideshow.

So What?

Tesla is a case in point about how little Musk’s activities affect results. Last year, Tesla’s deliveries rose 38% to 1.81 million vehicles. Tesla holds over 50% of the U.S. electric vehicle market. Musk has strategically cut prices on some models to take market share from smaller rivals. Investors have applauded the move. At $746 billion in market cap, Tesla is worth 16 times more than General Motors. Tesla’s market cap is also ninth among all companies traded on U.S. exchanges, just behind Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

SpaceX currently dominates the commercial rocket industry. NASA and many private companies pay for its reusable rockets. It has elbowed out traditional suppliers like Boeing. The private company was recently valued at $180 billion.

Musk has also created Starlink, an internet delivery system that uses 12,000 low-orbit satellites, a figure that may grow to 42,000. Starlink’s strategy is to deliver internet service anywhere in the world. This has been impossible using traditional infrastructure. (See 10 amazing things Elon Musk invented.)

News about Elon Musk’s drug use was ignored because almost no one thinks it affects his ability to run his companies or his innovative thinking.

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