Yes, this "tech geek" and the chief "Iron Man" among contemporary innovative entrepreneurs is on to something big.
As of March 13, Tesla’s stock price was $235 (JPMorgan Chase even expected the stock price to be lowered to $120!). On February 10th, it was only $220. Just three months ago, Tesla's stock price was as high as $479. In one quarter, it was cut in half, which can be called an avalanche. During this period, its market value evaporated by as much as 800 billion US dollars = Poland's annual GDP = the entire EU's defense and reconstruction military expenditure!
Is someone maliciously shorting Tesla in the capital market? Our familiar conspiracy theory scripts always go like this. However, this is not the case - unless the whole world joins forces to short-sell. Because the avalanche is far more than just the capital market.
Tesla's recent sales in Europe have dropped by 60%, with sales in Germany plummeting by 70%. In Australia it even fell by 85%. It also fell by 50% in the United States. Moreover, many of Musk's compatriots gathered in front of Tesla stores to protest, and many Tesla owners also began to sell urgently.
If you thought it was global users and investors expressing dissatisfaction with Tesla’s FSD autopilot system, you wouldn’t have the following information:
The Italian government is planning to cancel Starlink service orders of up to 1.5 billion euros, and Italy is one of the few European countries recognized to be friendly to Musk's "owner" Trump. Other European countries naturally followed suit. The Polish Foreign Minister even publicly criticized Musk over the US$50 million per year Starlink service, and did not hesitate to claim to find another company. It is not ruled out that the following scenario will appear in the next few years: 30,000 to 40,000 Starlink satellites, wandering around in the sky like vagrants because there is nothing to do.
On March 6, Musk’s SpaceX Starship launched for the eighth time and failed completely. Just now, Musk's X social platform also suffered a large-scale attack and was temporarily paralyzed.
"Iron Man" began to tremble.
Duan Yongping, the Chinese investor who invested in Tesla with a keen eye, made a lot of money after clearing his stock, but said: After meeting Musk himself, he realized that this investment was a "very handsome mistake."
Obviously, there is a problem not with the trams, nor with the satellites, but with their boss Musk; not with the Mars immigrants, not with the brain-computer interface, but with the depths of the soul of human nature.
My judgment is: we have lost that "Musk" forever. He's alive, but he's finished! ——Even if Tesla’s stock price rebounds again.
Why do I say that? Because Musk's "death" is not just a temporary fall in the capital market or product market, but the fall of his mental world.
Judging from how drastically the global attitude towards Musk has taken a turn for the worse, you can imagine how unreasonable Musk's recent words and deeds are.
At that time, he opposed Trump and supported Ukraine. He once left a powerful sentence to Putin: "You try to send out your nuclear bomb? My Starlink can return the gift you sent back to Moscow." At that time, Musk, as an Iron Man, was so emotional. Then, his rocket can return to a pair of "chopsticks" on the ground as steadily as a sausage. At that time, Musk was so incredible as an innovator.
However, with "chopsticks" as a turning point, Musk, who was considered "omnipotent" amidst global applause and screams, has "fully" turned to the completely opposite "unbelievable"... and there is a high probability that he will be doomed.
Because he, a high-tech entrepreneur, turned his back on politics.
He turned to flattering Trump disgustingly, he openly spent money to bribe him, he suddenly hated Zelensky, he brazenly interrupted Starlink and "stabbed" him, he actually interfered in the German election, he actually encouraged the dissolution of NATO, he publicly humiliated European officials, he He scolded his own congressmen online, he personally took charge of the government's layoffs, and he taunted the Secretary of State in front of the White House... until the stock price halved, sales plummeted, orders were wiped out, the persona collapsed, and the rocket disintegrated...then he sighed.
Musk is not the only one shaking his head and sighing. More about me and all of us. For him, he is also an entrepreneur.
Musk's rapid "blackening" is not necessarily due to the sudden "subversion" of his "standards of right and wrong" in middle age, but rather the sudden "alienation" of his "life goals". His IQ is always online, but his soul is out of body.
This quickly made a cold-sweat inference clear in my mind—entrepreneurs and scientists are neither inevitable nor even suitable to be politicians.
Because great entrepreneurs care more about the supreme "efficiency" (profit), while great scientists care more about the supreme "self" (fame). What great politicians need to care about is the overall "balance" (An) and the "cost" (Fu) of society. The underlying logic is quite different. If we simply cross the boundary and apply it directly, it will inevitably lead to a situation that is not suitable for the local environment, and may even be counterproductive. Therefore, a person who can become a great entrepreneur or a great scientist may not necessarily or even hardly become a great politician. Or to analyze it deeper: a great entrepreneur and a great scientist in his own right will inevitably be "not great" and will not do much harm to society. And once it gets involved in politics, its "not greatness" is likely to cause disaster for many people.
Such as the present moment.
According to my observation, if "Boss" Trump has always been "arrogant" and "Deputy" Vance has always been "shallow", then today's "Minister" Musk can be said to be almost "insidious".
If my guess is correct, no matter whether Musk "only does the dirty work of the "axe man" in front of him "for one year" as he recently revealed, he will definitely use the power of technology to "enable" the Republican Party to still control Congress in the U.S. midterm elections two years later; and he will definitely He will use the power of science and technology to "fulfill" Trump's "chance" to be re-elected through democratic procedures in four years; and in another four years, as he is still young and powerful, he will definitely use the power of science and technology to "fulfill" himself through democratic procedures to "qualify" to become the new owner of the Oval Office. As the saying goes, it takes ten years to sharpen a sword.
In a word, Musk's current craziness and flattery are all for future ambition and conquest.
In other words, after Musk got involved in politics, he must have suddenly discovered a goal that made him even more crazy than "entering" Mars: to stay on Earth and gain supreme "power."
So vulgar!
Yes, even if you are a "great man", a "madman", or a "superman", you are still a "big vulgar".
But if we understand that "great men" such as Newton and Edison, these geniuses with the highest ceilings, after repeatedly reaching brilliant peaks for the progress of human civilization in the first half of their lives, turned around and fell into "the common people" in their later years and were not safe in their later years - it is not surprising to predict Musk's fall into the dust.
Newton cow? The first scientist of mankind, unparalleled. But this great man who discovered the three major laws of mechanics and laid the foundation for modern mathematics, physics and astronomy in one fell swoop was actually as keen on getting involved in politics as Musk in his later years and fell into madness. "Scientist" Newton served as the Director of the Royal Mint, which controlled the country's financial lifeline for 31 years until his death, and then served as the President of the Royal Society, which controlled the National Academy of Sciences for 24 years. Yes, he refused to leave office until his death - even when he was obsessed with theological studies in his later years.
And more importantly, what is the political style and performance of Newton Factory/President? Put it this way, he was in charge of the Royal Mint and determined that 20% of counterfeit coins were circulating in the market, just like Musk's "minister" now believes that taxpayers' money was being wasted by the government; he was in charge of the Royal Society for the second longest term, but these 24 years were also the most bleak period in the history of the society, without any innovation or talent. The only important job he will be remembered for is destroying all traces of his predecessor Hook's achievements, even including preventing future generations from knowing what Hook looked like! ——Will this also be the future of Musk’s “minister”?
So what about Edison, another "great man" in human science and technology and the first inventor, in his later years? Because of the invention of the incandescent lamp, Edison not only illuminated the world, but also illuminated his own business empire: from selling light bulbs to building power grids. As a result, he founded his own Edison Electric Company at the age of 64, transforming from an "inventor" of 60 years into an "entrepreneur" of 20 years.
And more importantly, what is the outcome of this transformation? Let’s put it this way, this great inventor has never made any major achievements in invention and innovation after becoming the boss of an electric power company. It is also doubtful whether “Minister” Musk will put his soul back into “Tesla” and let “chopsticks” become the end of his innovation. Not only that, because Edison's power company relied on direct current technology, so when the latecomer alternating current technology began to appear, "entrepreneur" Edison began to oppose it crazily. He used his prestige to speak and lobby everywhere, insisting that alternating current was useless and could only be used to kill people by electrocution! In fact, he and his assistants did publicly electrocute many small animals with their own hands. But in the end, facts speak louder than words, and the efficiency of alternating current cannot be erased by Edison's electric chair. The finale is that "Edison Electric Company" was shamefully renamed by its own board of directors to the later more famous "General Electric Company" - could this also be the future of Musk's "minister"?
Why? Why? Why both?
Because of narrow-mindedness, because of jealousy, because of self-respect, because there is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and because there is no grass growing under the big trees. In essence, it is all due to human greed, human vanity, and the expansion of human evil.
This was true for Newton, and so was Edison. Musk is like that.
The more successful a person is, or even the more great a person is, the more he should always be vigilant about his life, whether he will get carried away at the peak and inadvertently go towards the opposite of his "life value" in the first half of his life without knowing it, and it will be too late to turn back.
The way to avoid this fateful and tragic curve of life going up and down again may be to constantly think about and be alert to the boundaries of your life while constantly challenging and breaking through career boundaries. The former requires innovation and moving forward; the latter requires self-control and knowing where to stop. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial spirit, while moving forward vertically, also have horizontal boundaries. Awe can never be lost.
Because, "In the end, they are all little people" - this was the inspiration that Jack Ma gave me instantly when he performed the ups and downs curve five years ago. Now, it was his then neighbor's turn. Yes, the self-righteousness that seems to shake the world and swallow up mountains and rivers is just because - it's not the "end" yet.
What a pity, another genius, alas...
Text: Yang Guang, President and Editor-in-Chief of China and Foreign Management Media