New York (AFP)
He promises a trip to Mars in 2022, is digging tunnels to connect major cities in record time and has accelerated the adoption of electric cars around the world. This latest adventure is crowned by a stock market boom from his company Tesla.
At the age of 48, Elon Musk, of South African origin, has established himself as a “visionary”, who shakes up and rewrites in his own way the codes of conduct of business owners and has added a legion of fans.
In just five months, Tesla, the electric car maker it took over in 2008 after being an early investor, saw its value on Wall Street jump from around 40 billion to 160 billion Tuesday night , more than General Motors, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, Renault and PSA Peugeot combined.
This rise is due, according to experts, to the personality of Mr. Musk, who became a billionaire after reselling the company Paypal, co-created with another terrible child of “tech”, Peter Thiel.
– Visionary –
“Tesla has a highly charismatic leader, who has managed to portray an image of himself and the company as visionaries; who break down barriers and accomplish what another automaker has never accomplished,” says Karl Brauer. , from Kelley Blue Book.
If he didn’t create Tesla, Elon Musk built the company with promises, not always kept, and thanks to marketing.
Tesla is, according to him, a technological company, ahead of electric and autonomous technologies, considered as the modes of transport of tomorrow.
Buying or driving in a Tesla car therefore amounts to being “cool” and protecting and saving the environment since we reduce our carbon footprint and we are in line with new environmental laws around the world, especially in Europe and China.
“Tesla is not a carmaker just wanting to sell so many cars a year, but a movement to save the planet,” said Jessica Caldwell, an expert at Edmunds.com.
Young generations, including the famous Millennials, and celebrities love it.
On a technical level, Tesla is developing the lithium-ion battery and making it the central part of the car, assuming that the needs of potential customers will evolve over time.
“It’s the electric battery first and the car itself then, while for the other manufacturers, it’s the car first, then the engine,” says Jessica Caldwell.
– Disneyland –
Then there is the Musk style: a mixture of anti-system and brawler fiercely against his detractors.
The boss of the aerospace company SpaceX breaks away from classic business communication, adopts Twitter social network on which he communicates directly with Tesla customers without filter.
Word games, mockery, shouting, emojis: his account on the social network concentrates the panoply of recipes making the success of “influencers”. And the revolution continues.
During the traditional presentation of the company’s results, priority is given to questions from “fans” in defiance of financial analysts, whose opinions are nevertheless considered gospel words by the markets.
Musk, who did not hesitate to smoke a joint and drink alcohol in front of the camera, transformed the launch of Tesla products into a world show, including failures, as was the case recently with the futuristic pickup Cybertruck , are applauded.
“It works because he appears authentic, sincere and also because he is seen as someone who does something extraordinary,” says Jessica Caldwell.
Charles Elson, a professor at the University of Delaware, recognizes that Mr. Musk is “visionary, creative and innovative” but he believes that this “magic” is both a blessing and a curse for Tesla.
“The danger of betting everything on an individual rather than on a concept is that no individual is perfect,” says this professor at the University of Delaware, describing the “craze for personality” as the craze around M. Musk.
In 2018, Mr. Musk’s missteps had cost shareholders billions of dollars, the manager having engaged in a new showdown with the SEC, the policeman of the American Stock Exchange, who accused him of having asserted, without financial guarantee, being able to withdraw the Californian group Tesla from the stock market.
“If Mary Barra (GM) or Jim Hackett (Ford) had made half of Mr. Musk’s promises and had not kept them, they would have already been sacked,” added Karl Brauer.
Elon Musk had promised in 2015 an autonomous Tesla car for 2017. Four years later, there is still no vehicle that can drive alone and safely.
“Tesla is a bit like Disneyland,” said Brauer. “He does not need to convince the whole world that he is a unique group but just a group of people.”
© 2020 AFP
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