Being a Silicon Valley billionaire comes with its pitfalls, one being that everything you say will be scrutinized by the public.
Elon Musk doesn’t seem to mind though. Despite his position as the CEO of Tesla and chairman of SolarCity, Musk has noted his lack of filter and marketing skills, and the results are sometimes, well, perfect.
Here are 10 of our favorites:
1. Musk personally canceled a blogger's Tesla pre-order after receiving a "rude" letter.
Stewart Alsop, a California venture capitalist, learned that an open letter to Musk was a quick way to get his Tesla Model X order canceled.
The letter claimed that the reveal of the Tesla Motors Model X started late, was too crowded and focused too much on safety.
Musk personally responded to the blogger and canceled his order. He then went a step further to address the media.
2. He denied his cousin a family discount at Tesla, or rather, offered a family discount to everyone.
Lyndon Rive, SolarCity CEO and Musk’s cousin, made the mistake of asking for a family discount on the new Tesla.
Musk’s response? “Yeah absolutely. Go to TeslaMotor.com, buy the car online, and the price you see there is the family discount,'” Rive told Tech Insider. “Everyone gets a family discount.”
Rive wasn’t too offended. He has the Model S and his wife has the Model X. He also told Tech Insider that the response was “totally fair.”
Related: 4 Pop Culture Fixations of Elon Musk
3. He brought backseat reading lights back to the Model S because his son called it “the stupidest car in the world.”
One of Musk’s most important critics, his son, complained that he couldn’t read in the back of his dad’s car.
The Model S originally had reading lights in the back, but Tesla took them out to increase headroom in the back seat. One of Musk’s five sons thought that idea was stupid.
Musk brought the backseat reading light back to the Model S, even offering to put the lights into cars that had already been delivered -- for free.
4. When Musk was asked about his personal life, his reaction was hilarious.
Musk has joked in the past about how marriage hasn’t worked out for him, with his first marriage ending in divorce, and his second marriage also recently ending in divorce.
But when asked about his personal life, the billionaire definitely seems to know what he’s doing.
"I think the time allocated to the businesses and the kids is going fine," Musk told Bloomberg BusinessWeek. "I would like to allocate more time to dating, though. I need to find a girlfriend. How much time does a woman want a week? Maybe 10 hours?"
5. Apparently for Iron Man, getting wasted is in the job description.
Musk told Bloomberg that Robert Downey Jr., who plays Marvel's Iron Man, once showed up at the SpaceX office playing on the notion that Musk has been called the real Iron Man. Bloomberg's reporter noted that Musk didn’t seem to have the bad-boy personality Tony Stark has.
Musk replied, “Hey, I went to Haiti last Christmas and visited some pretty dangerous parts. I got wasted, too, on some drink they call the Zombie.”
6. Musk got a little off track when introducing the bioweapon defense mode on the new Tesla Model X.
As you may have heard, the Tesla Model X comes with a bioweapon defense mode.
Originally designed to protect against pollution, Musk jokes that it could also protect against other hazards.
“If there’s ever sort of an apocalyptic scenario, of some kind, hypothetically, you just press the bioweapon defense mode button,” Musk said, laughing. “This is a real button.”
7. Musk made a sexual joke on The Late Show and then laughed at it while everyone else was still processing it.
While on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Musk made a joke that even Colbert had to take a moment to think about.
After showing a video of a “snake charger” that automatically plugs into your car, Musk joked, “For the prototype at least, I would recommend not dropping anything when you’re near it.”
8. And Musk’s response to warming up the planet sounds incredibly nonchalant, but warning, it’s not.
Musk frequently talks about Mars, which he refers to as a “fixer upper” planet. He has frequently been asked about the possibility of inhabiting the planet.
The answer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert? Maybe we can just drop nuclear bombs on the north and south poles, he says casually.
Related: 7 Takeaways in the Success of Elon Musk for Young Entrepreneurs
9. Musk doesn’t recommended using the Model S as a boat, or does he?
Sure, the Model S can float, but it’s not recommended by Tesla or Musk.
After a man in Almaty, Kazakhstan, posted a video driving his Tesla through a flooded tunnel, Musk tweeted:
Sounds a bit like a recommendation.
10. He most certainly doesn’t lie about what it takes to run a business
In an interview with Limitless Stars, Musk doesn’t exactly suggest starting a business. “Starting a company is like eating glass staring into the abyss of death. Um, if that sounds appealing, go ahead.”
He sure makes it look easy though, simultaneously running two incredibly successful companies while taking care of five children.
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