Eccentric Billionaire Unleashes His Inner Trump

[Ajidica]

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk launched a bitter attack on the press via series of tweets on Wednesday.

Mr Musk said he planned to launch a website to assess the credibility of news stories and sources.

The idea appeared to be motivated by recent news reports about Tesla that he felt were unfair.

The firm has been the subject of investigative stories about working conditions at its plants and concerns over the brakes on its electric cars.
There have also been several reports of crashes involving Tesla vehicles, something Mr Musk said he felt was unwarranted given the large number of road collisions involving other cars.

"Problem is journos are under constant pressure to get max clicks & earn advertising dollars or get fired," Mr Musk tweeted.

"Tricky situation, as Tesla doesn’t advertise, but fossil fuel companies & gas/diesel car companies are among world’s biggest advertisers."

Reveal, the investigative journalism outfit that recently covered criticisms surrounding safety at Tesla's huge car production plant, is a non-profit organisation based in Berkeley, California.

Tesla had previously referred to the organisation, which is not funded by advertising, as "extremists".

Mr Musk described the Reveal team as "just some rich kids in Berkeley who took their political science prof too seriously". Forbes currently estimates Mr Musk's wealth to be $19bn.

Mr Musk, who initially made his fortune by co-founding payments service PayPal, said he would launch a website that would be used to rank credibility in the media. He will also prevent bots from manipulating the system, he added.

He said he would call it Pravda - the name given to the state newspaper published by the former Soviet Union.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44233811

Thought you’d say that. Anytime anyone criticizes the media, the media shrieks “You’re just like Trump!” Why do you think he got elected in the first place? Because no ones believes you any more. You lost your credibility a long time ago.

Problem is journos are under constant pressure to get max clicks & earn advertising dollars or get fired. Tricky situation, as Tesla doesn’t advertise, but fossil fuel companies & gas/diesel car companies are among world’s biggest advertisers.

Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication. Thinking of calling it Pravda …

Perhaps the media will stop fetishizing eccentric billionaires with delusions of grandeur. We have already seen them finally do some halfway honest reporting on Facebook and treating Mark Zuckerberg as a CEO of a major business accused of some very shady and possibly illegal activities instead of a dorky college kid who is too nerdy to see the Unfortunate Implications of his business.

 

[Lexicus]

He said he would call it Pravda - the name given to the state newspaper published by the former Soviet Union.

Is he serious?

 

[Zkribbler]

Why call him eccentric? Unlike Trump, his enterprises always seem to make money.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Is he serious?

Apparently......

Why call him eccentric? Unlike Trump, his enterprises always seem to make money.

Howard Hughes was also considered "Eccentric"

 

[Berzerker]

Thought you’d say that. Anytime anyone criticizes the media, the media shrieks “You’re just like Trump!” Why do you think he got elected in the first place? Because no ones believes you any more. You lost your credibility a long time ago.

cant argue with that

I like Democracy Now though

Amy Goodman

 

[Lexicus]

Why call him eccentric? Unlike Trump, his enterprises always seem to make money.

I mean, he's kind of a weirdo - not that this is a bad thing. Either way though he's a ruthless capitalist swine.

 

[Bootstoots]

Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication. Thinking of calling it Pravda …

I'm sure each journalist's and paper's credibility score rating on Pravda will serve as a reliable measure of how accurate their stories are, and not just as a measure of how much people agree or disagree with their content. Further, given Musk's talent, I'm sure he will design it so that there will be no way to game the system, either. And, if it becomes widely used, it will surely not cause any kind of chilling effect on unpopular-but-true news stories.

I stand in awe at Musk's genius.

 

[Zkribbler]

Apparently......

Howard Hughes was also considered "Eccentric"

Howard Hughes was a recluse who never cut his hair or trimmed his fingernails.

 

[Berzerker]

he was preparing for his role in Big Trouble in Little China

 

[Zkribbler]

... he's a ruthless capitalist swine.

Ruthless?
I don't recall him ever having set up a monopoly, like Microsoft or Facebook.
I see no predatory conduct by him or his companies.
The employees at Tesla are paid standard industry wages PLUS are granted an equity stake in the company.
Injury rates at Tesla are higher than at other car manufacturers. However, there are adequate safety policies in place; they are just not being followed. To me, this indicates a lower- or middle-management problem, not an upper management problem.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Injury rates at Tesla are higher than at other car manufacturers. However, there are adequate safety policies in place; they are just not being followed. To me, this indicates a lower- or middle-management problem, not an upper management problem.

Ultimately upper management is responsible for those beneath them (in some way, certainly not full responsibility). There could be unrealistic productivity expectations from upper management that can only be met with by taking 'shortcuts', which sometimes are indeed more dangerous. There could be no pressure from upper management on the lower levels of management to make sure their workers are working safe/reducing injuries (policies are ignored at all levels).

On the other hand sometimes there are safety rules that don't make any sense, because some idiot somewhere wasn't paying attention and got hurt. Driving backwards more than 10 feet is one example. If I got a full load, sure, my vision is blocked and I shouldn't go backwards. But with no load so I have no problem seeing, why can't I? There have been some rules that seem like "ok, maybe there is a 1 in a 10 million chance something could go wrong if I break this rule, but if I do get hurt it's not going to be a serious injury" (something that could be fatal you don't ever want to risk it no matter how small the chance, like lockout/tagout of equipment so you aren't tangled up in a machine). And yes, sometimes, workers themselves do take dangerous shortcuts to save time (increase production, 'it's easier', give them more time to talk, get done earlier, etc.), despite management reminding them everyday not to.

 

[Lexicus]

I see no predatory conduct by him or his companies.

*cracks knuckles* Well now let's see....this just means you aren't paying attention...

First, largely for flavor:
http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-email-tesla-employee-2015-5

Elon Musk reportedly scolded a Tesla employee for missing a work event to witness the birth of his child

(note: Musk claims this wasn't true, but it's not credible as he made threats to suppress union organizing at Tesla and then lied claiming he hadn't)

Musk engaged in such blatant union-busting tactics at Tesla that the NLRB actually charged him with violations:

Happy Labor Day to everyone but Elon Musk!
The National Labor Relations Board has issued formal charges to Musk’s Tesla corporation for waging a union-busting campaign at its factories.

Then of course there was the whole "PayPal was only profitable by taking people's money" thing, which ended up with a class action lawsuit settlement where PayPal had to pay $4 million:

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-approves-4m-deal-closed-paypal-accounts/

The employees at Tesla are paid standard industry wages PLUS are granted an equity stake in the company.

Not what I heard:

https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-responds-to-claims-of-low-pay-injuries-and-a-1792190512

The working conditions described by Moran include “excessive mandatory overtime” which is both draining but necessary to offset the astronomical cost of living in the Bay Area. Tesla workers, according to Moran, make between $17 and $21 hourly, a far cry from the $25.58 he cites as average in the auto industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the average hourly pay for motor vehicle manufacturing in December 2016 as $29.53.

Frequent, preventable injuries are also a hallmark of the Fremont plant, Moran claims. “A few months ago, six out of eight people in my work team were out on medical leave at the same time due to various work-related injuries,” though he alleges that many employees don’t speak up about more minor physical ailments to avoid repercussions, real or imagined.

Moran also claims that there were attempts to silence employees and keep them from organizing:

"Many of us have been talking about unionizing, and have reached out to the United Auto Workers for support... But at the same time, management actions are feeding workers’ fears about speaking out. Recently, every worker was required to sign a confidentiality policy that threatens consequences if we exercise our right to speak out about wages and working conditions."

Interesting to note that apparently they only started getting stock because Musk wanted to head off the union campaign last year. I'm working on an organizing campaign with a company right now that is engaging in multiple illegal suppression tactics and run by people who are ruthless capitalist swine, they also gave raises to their workers to head off our campaign - ergo, that raise came from us, from the union, not from the company.

Injury rates at Tesla are higher than at other car manufacturers. However, there are adequate safety policies in place; they are just not being followed. To me, this indicates a lower- or middle-management problem, not an upper management problem.

And that's just nonsense. If the policies aren't being followed, whose fault is it for not enforcing them? Middle management's? Nope.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Ruthless?
I don't recall him ever having set up a monopoly, like Microsoft or Facebook.
I see no predatory conduct by him or his companies.
The employees at Tesla are paid standard industry wages PLUS are granted an equity stake in the company.
Injury rates at Tesla are higher than at other car manufacturers. However, there are adequate safety policies in place; they are just not being followed. To me, this indicates a lower- or middle-management problem, not an upper management problem.

Let me share a story with you of my time at SpaceX.

I was paid well below market rate for the work I did even before taking overtime into account. The stock options I was awarded were nice but you could only sell them when the company decided to buy them back which is infrequent. Even when accounting for the stock awards, I was still paid under market rate and we were encouraged to sell our stock to enhance our quality of life. In other words trade future returns for current standard of living.

Overtime was mandatory with 50 hour weeks the 'normal' standard and there was a mandatory Saturday rotation. Of course, that's just the baseline and I usually worked 55-60 hours and many weekends.

By the end I worked 28 days straight just to keep up with my scope of work. I remember sitting at my desk on a Sunday while I had a cold and having a major breakdown. The stress finally broke me, I sat and balled my eyes out for a good 20 minutes. I cleaned out my desk of personal items, went home and began looking for a new job. In large part, SpaceX was the reason why I got a GED and went to college but in the end I just couldn't make the sacrifices that were demanded of me.

My story is not unique. I also doubt Tesla employees are actually paid 'standard' wages but I can't say that for sure. SpaceX does not, even before you account for the mandatory, uncompensated overtime.

 

[warpus]

You're comparing him to Trump because they both have money?

That's like comparing me to Shakespeare because we both owned pens

Overtime was mandatory with 50 hour weeks the 'normal' standard and there was a mandatory Saturday rotation. Of course, that's just the baseline and I usually worked 55-60 hours and many weekends.

Yeah, I could never do that. Isn't Musk upfront aout what's required of employees, though? In the end I'm glad you got to have the experience, but I'm also glad you didn't go crazy and now have a more relaxing job! (I hope)

I thought 40 weeks was the cutoff for overtime too? Does this differ from state to state?

 

[Lohrenswald]

You're comparing him to Trump because they both have money?

that in addition to both being grandiose paranoids on twitter

 

[warpus]

It's twitter, the lowest form of communication we have on the planet, where the filth of our civilization ends up, what do you expect?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I can trust random YouTubers over major news sources because they have a better track record of honesty.
I can trust random YouTubers over employees at several major corporations because they have a better track record of honesty, as in they are not already proven to be actively dishonest.

Random YouTubers are not all that trustworthy in a vacuum.

Hmm.

 

[Lohrenswald]

It's twitter, the lowest form of communication we have on the planet, where the filth of our civilization ends up, what do you expect?

You're just trying to be "contrarian" or something for some odd reason, and continously shifting how you're talking about this.

I honestly think you don't have a point to make, and are just upset this event has come to pass (though I don't know why you feel this way, for clarity's sake).

It's pretty obvious you're going to fundamentally disagree with this, but I doubt you can do anything to change my mind.

 

[warpus]

I just don't see why we have to drag Trump into everything. He's just some random moron

 

[Broken_Erika]

I wonder what kind of tweets Howard Hughes or Nikola Tesla would have made if twitter was around in their times........