Musk has never been a covid denier. He understood that covid wasn't as dangerous as many claimed, especially for younger and healthier people. The only thing close to covid denialism that I can find is Musk's decision to resume production at Tesla's Fremont plant in defiance of Alameda county lockdown orders. This was in May of 2020 after months of failed negotiations with government officials. It's important to note that unlike Bachman, Musk had skin in the game. He asked that if the government sent cops to shut down the factory, only he be arrested.[1] The factory resumed production and nobody was arrested. A week or so later, Alameda county changed its rules to allow the factory to operate legally.

1. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1259945593805221891 "Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."

Here's a selection of tweets for you, by a celebrity many still trust and consider a "scientific genius":

@elonmusk Mar 6, 2020

The coronavirus panic is dumb

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528

@elonmusk Mar 19, 2020

Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1240754657263144960

@elonmusk Mar 19, 2020

Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable. Family gatherings with close contact between kids & grandparents probably most risky.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1240758710646878208

@elonmusk Jun 29, 2020

There are a ridiculous number of false positive C19 tests, in some cases ~50%. False positives scale linearly with # of tests. This is a big part of why C19 positive tests are going up while hospitalizations & mortality are declining. Anyone who tests positive should retest.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1277507826529660928

The only screw-up I see is his prediction that the US would conquer the spread by the end of April. All the other info is pretty accurate, especially considering how little we knew back in March. Compared to most authorities and experts, he did a pretty good job. Remember two weeks to flatten the curve? Remember when the official line was that masks don't work?[1][2][3] Remember when the WHO said that travel bans are a bad idea?[4]

Musk was calling the panic dumb at the same time as the WHO was saying, "Our greatest enemy right now is not the coronavirus itself. It’s fear, rumours and stigma."[5] If we judge him by the same standards as every major institution (media, governments, NGOs), Musk is far less deserving of criticism. And unlike those institutions, Musk never claimed to be an expert on the topic.

1. https://twitter.com/WHOWPRO/status/1243171683067777024

2. https://twitter.com/UNGeneva/status/1244661916535930886

3. https://web.archive.org/web/20200312104152if_/https://twitte...

4. https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1224734993966096387

5. https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1233418231261646849

> They think Tesla is massively overvalued

> fraudulent corporate behaviour.

These two things have nothing to do with each other.

> and should be held accountable for

Holding a company accountable should go through the courts, not personal profit.

I'd be happy if short selling weren't an option. If you believe something is overvalued, stay out. You're not wanted.

If you believe a company did something wrong, file a lawsuit.

You haven't made an argument against short selling.

Pessimism is counterproductive to the long-term development of humanity and rapid deployment of electric vehicles and clean energy. Armchair pessimists don't deserve a place in the stock market. If you think Tesla is doing something wrong, either (a) go work there and fix it or (b) start your own Tesla competitor. Short selling isn't constructive.

What's wrong with short selling? The only reason why people like Elon Musk don't like short selling is because they know that their companies are massively overvalued.

The problem is profiting from spreading misinformation. Tesla short-sellers run large operations that fabricate and spread lies. It's usually easier to spread misinformation than to debunk it.

And Tesla will happily release misinformation too.

One of the last fatalities, Tesla was more than happy to push out a press release based on telemetry, saying "Autopilot wasn't at fault, the driver was inattentive - the vehicle even told him to put his hands on the steering wheel!".

They somehow neglected to mention that the steering wheel alert was triggered, ONCE, and FOURTEEN MINUTES before the crash.

Misinformation is not a good thing. But lets not pretend that Tesla is some downtrodden underdog just trying to make our lives better.

Also, if you have an accident in your Tesla, you'll have a lot of fun trying to get any telemetry information from them, even if Tesla isn't a named party and you're just dealing with the other involved person. You'll need multiple subpoenas and expect them to resist releasing any data as "proprietary".

But should your telemetry from an accident be able to be spun (correctly or otherwise) into a Get out of Jail Free card for Tesla, expect it to be released to the media without your consent or authorization (I'm sure it's buried in Section 48, Subsection 24, Paragraph 14c iii that you consent, but still).

And the companies don't spread misinformation? Not saying it's right in either case but companies, Tesla included aren't shining beacons of morality and truthfulness.

It's not in their interest to lie in the long term. Those companies who lie are scams and they're spotted pretty quickly (e.g. Theranos, Nikola). Elon has made some mishaps, such as 'funding secured @420' tweet, which he was punished for. Public companies have to be pretty careful in their communications. Making promises with too optimistic schedules is not lying, it's just an error in forecasting, and is common in technology.

That couldn't be further from the truth. Theranos survived for 15 years. Wirecard 22 years. Enron 10+ years. Fraud gives you a massive competitive advantage.

Not too along ago I thought of Musk as a misunderstood genius, now I'm pretty certain he knows exactly what he is doing (for the most part). If you look at all the oddities surrounding Tesla, there are clear patterns emerging.

Plainsite has a good summary [1].

[1] https://www.plainsite.org/realitycheck/tsla.pdf

That report is a bunch of horseshit. Lot of words without any substance. He even cherry-picked some data to "prove" that Tesla's sales are declining. Everyone can see the actual progress that Tesla and SpaceX has made. Their cars are winning awards and they're innovating and building new factories as fast as they can. Who cares if they miss a couple of estimates. SpaceX can deliver payload to orbit with much lower cost than competitors.

True though that those companies survived for too long.

I don't know what world you've experienced, but lying in business is incredibly common. I've seen it personally, and there are plenty of cases of Tobacco companies, DOW, Alcohol companies, and many many more knowingly lying.

Of course they do, it's in their best interest to lie. To think that companies will only tell the truth "because it's in their best interest" is childish, and not at all historically accurate.