Because today's leaders are judged only on this quarters returns for shareholders. Companies are seen only as investment vehicles for the most part. This is especially true in companies that have large minority stake holders that like to make noise. Leaders like Musk can still declare that they are going to run at a loss for the next few years as they ramp up but he is in a unique position where he controls the majority of the shares. If Musk was not the majority shareholder at Tesla there is a large chance he could have been asked to step down a while ago. Tesla is doing great now but for a while it was very touch and go. Large investment firms want year over year positive growth, they don't care about mission statements or the fact that the company owes pensions to lifelong employees. Its profits over people now.