Tesla CEO Elon Musk insists that he be allowed to say what he wants to say, regardless of its impact on Tesla or the bottom line of Twitter. In an interview with by CNBC David Faber, Musk invokes his right to free speech, but instead of criticizing the consequences of saying whatever he wants to have had on Tesla and the profits of Twitter, Musk thinks he doesn’t care.
Musk doesn’t care whether what he tweets or says drives future or current Tesla owners away. He also doesn’t care if the big advertisers on Twitter object to his remarks. The billionaire and self-proclaimed free-speech autocrat even compared saying what he wants to Inigo Montoya (of Prince Bride) the quest for revenge, cannot be swayed or bribed. Each CNBC:
FABER: […] I mean, you know, do your tweets hurt the company? Has any Tesla owner said that I disagree with his political views because and I know it because he shares a lot about it. Or there are advertisers on Twitter that Linda Yaccarino will come and say, you have to stop or, you know, I can’t get these ads because of some of the things you tweet.
MUSK: You know, I remember a scene from “The Princess Bride.” Good movie.
FABER: Great movie.
MUSK: Where you confront the man who killed your father. And he said, “Give me the money. Give me strength. I don’t care.”
FABER: So you don’t care. Want to share what you have to say?
MUSK: I’ll say what I mean and if the consequence of that is to lose money, so be it.
Former Twitter CEO’s comment on saying what he wants comes later musk tweeted that George Soros reminded him of the X-Men supervillain, Magneto. Musk received some criticism for his tweet about his views on Soros, which Faber pressed on him, suggesting that some things don’t belong in the public discourse:
FABER: Okay but why share it? Why specifically share it, I mean, why share it when Teslas buyers might disagree with you, Twitter advertisers might disagree with you. Why not just say, hey, I think this. You can tell me, we can talk about it over there. And you can tell your friends, but why share it widely?
MUSK: I mean, there’s freedom of speech. I’m allowed to say what I want—
It seems that Soros has annoyed Musk enough to provoke a public reaction on the Twitter that Musk owns. The inflammatory remarks often get Musk into trouble with regulators in the United States (and beyond) and have even had direct consequences for Tesla.
Musks comments and tweets also had a direct impact on Twitter, causing Twitter to lose a large portion of its revenue from advertisers after Musk became CEO. Several major advertisers have begun withdrawing from the platform following changes enacted by Musk, as well as after being stymied by his outspoken nature.
While Musk will no longer be the CEO of Twitter when Linda Yaccarino takes the lead, Musk remains committed to speaking out what he wants. He told CNBC he will be able to focus back on Tesla and SpaceX more, but it’s unclear if his decision to step down is related to Twitter’s loss of ad revenue under his leadership. it or not. But even if that happens, Musk doesn’t seem to care.
