Elon Musk has earned a reputation as someone who isn't afraid to make controversial statements. Because he has accomplished so much in business and science – and because he is often in front of cameras and microphones – many people have studied his public statements, analyzing lessons about innovative ideas or leadership. business or financial sense. Sometimes he is impetuous, harsh or clumsy. Sometimes it is numb or inflammatory. Much less discussed, however, is Musk's particular, dry sense of humor – and how he's used different kinds of jokes over the years to both engage audiences and build his various businesses.
>Here are a few ways Musk has used his trademark ironic wit.
Reverse expectations.
At a launch event in 2016, Musk unveiled the highly anticipated $35,000 Tesla Model 3 to the world, the first Tesla that an average American family might be able to afford. After posting performance stats for an enthusiastic audience – such as that the Model 3 can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under six seconds – he asked the crowd if they wanted to see the car. There were loud roars.
Musk clasped his hands and apologized:"We don't have it for you tonight," he said with a straight face. The audience heaved a collective sigh. Then Musk announced with a smile, "Just kidding! and pulled out the car.
The cheers were even louder than before.
Deploy hearty sarcasm.
After making more than $100 million from the sale of PayPal and deciding to start a private space company, many people asked Musk why he was investing his fortune in what seemed like such an expensive venture. He answered the question on the TED stage in 2014.
“Did you hear the joke about the guy who made a small fortune in the space industry? joked Musk. "'He started with a big one,' is the punchline. So I tell people that I was trying to find the quickest way to turn a big fortune into a small one. »
Feel free to be punny.
Musk was stuck in LA traffic one morning and sent out a series of tweets complaining about it. He said he wished he could start a company that dug giant tunnels through the earth, to avoid traffic jams altogether. He jokingly stated that he would name such a company “The Boring Company”. They would dig, and it would be called boring -You understand? But what started as a joke eventually became what Musk called a "hobby business." The Boring Company dug a mile-long hole near its headquarters in Southern California and already has a contract to dig an extended tunnel under Las Vegas. All this from a simple pun.
Let the joke be the message.
During a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone writer Neil Strauss , Musk had a framed poster on his office wall. Designed as one of those inspirational posters that were ubiquitous in corporate environments, this artwork probably embodies Musk's sense of humor better than anything else. The image is of a shooting star, but underneath it reads, “When you wish upon a shooting star, your dreams can come true. Unless it really is a meteor hurtling down to Earth that will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much watered down no matter what you want. Unless it's the death of a meteorite. »
Strauss noted that the poster wasn't just a dark joke. "It's also a reminder of Musk's master plan:to create habitats for humanity on other planets and moons. »
Don't underestimate the understatement.
When Tesla finally released its Model X to the public, it was famous more than two years later than originally promised. This meant that not only were early buyers clamoring for the money they had already given to the company, but investors and analysts were concerned that Tesla was not viable as a business, whether in made of an elaborate sham. Asked in interviews or presentations about the long delays, Musk responded with flexibility.
“Well,” he would say, “I have a punctuality problem. »
As Tesla grew at the end of the last decade, Musk was asked what the company was going to do to meet the massive new demand they expected for parts and service. With a totally emotionless expression, he explained, "Well, I guess we're going to hire a lot of service people and get a lot of parts." »
Paint a picture with words.
While explaining why SpaceX, Musk's rocket company, would want to land the most expensive parts precisely and safely on Earth for reuse — as opposed to splashing in the ocean and splintering into pieces — Musk has often used the same metaphor. He said that part of the rocket costs around $30-35 million. “I tell my team to imagine that there was a silver pallet spewed into the atmosphere that would burn and shatter into small pieces,” Musk said. “Do you want to save it? Probably yes. Sounds like a good idea. »
Say it with space accessories.
When SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket, capable of carrying a large amount of cargo into space, the company needed something to demonstrate the transport capabilities. Musk decided to load up his personal red Tesla Roadster, filled with a dummy pilot in a spacesuit. In the glove compartment, Musk put a copy of his favorite novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . On the dashboard of the car was a sign referencing one of the most famous lines in the book. The sign simply read "DON'T PANIC!" »
Michael Mooney
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Michael J. Mooney is a journalist who writes for Magazine D , GQ , ESPN :The Magazine , Outside , SUCCESS and Popular Mechanics . He is co-director of the annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. His stories have appeared in multiple editions of America's Best Sports Writing and America's Best Crime Report . He lives in Dallas with his fiancee, Tara, and their retired racing greyhound.
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