Hubris made him think he was the real Tony Stark, genius playboy philanthropist bullshit, but as talented as he is in some areas, his flaws are clearly visible.
But at the end of the day, I think that if Tesla was making valuable cars, it would not matter that much. The thing is that those cars also have many flaws, and a lot of undelivered promises around self-driving...
Maybe it was the time Tony Stark praised his ideas.
It does not take much business acumen that taking a political stance is going to anger someone. Best keep your mouth shut unless you are prepared for the consequences.
I doubt Elon’s personal views are much different from any other billionaire CEO. Yet the majority of them are not in the spotlight and drawing attention to themselves.
Or - and this is amply documented now - perhaps the "truth" is he's doing way too many drugs (WSJ), making horrible decisions (Supercharger), and per the deeply persuasive data in the linked thread, is killing the company?
Like, huh? What?
Despite that, I know people who have ruled out owning a Tesla because they believe the brand mirrors Elon Musk's public persona. They flat-out reject any Tesla product because the brand's visible face is someone they believe doesn't represent their values.
I'm unsure he understood the implications of becoming such a polarizing figure. It was totally unnecessary, yet that was his choice.