After everything Elon has said about funding secured, robotaxis, cave divers, journalists, whistleblowers, specs, FSD, Covid, ... I find it puzzling people take everything he says at face value. Yes, he is an incredibly smart and visionary guy, who also has a track record of saying things he doesn't mean.

Those are not contradiction. He is the CEO of tesla because he feel like he has to otherwise tesla will die.

He's OCD. If he could find somebody else willing to consistently put in 100 hour weeks and drive the ship the way Elon wants, I think he'd let go of the reigns.

There is no evidence that putting in long hours translates to increased productivity or success.

But plenty of evidence that it has a lot of negative consequences.

Elon's MO is that his supervision and continual input is vital to the success of his companies as they try to execute on his vision. His companies may only exist because of his sheer force of will and his willingness to sacrifice health, wealth and relationships to succeed.