Advertisement

Updated August 18th, 2018 at 18:41 IST

“It was excruciating.” Musk sums up Tesla's condition in the past year

Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks about the past year and how 'excruciating' it was for the company

Reported by: Anirudh Sunilkumar
| Image:self
Advertisement

Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an interview with New York times has cleared the fog about its EV company going private. 

The CEO which has garnered a lot of attention lately has come to the forefront to say that Tesla's worst is 'over'. It was also reported that the company was putting serious thought into hiring a second-in-command that would take the load off Musk and that it had approached Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg about the position a couple of years ago. However, when asked, Musk clearly declined the reports. 

"If you have anyone who can do a better job, please let me know. They can have the job. Is there someone who can do the job better? They can have the reins right now," Musk told New York Times

Musk, in the interview talked about how the latest developments of Tesla and the controversies it slipped into, affected his personal life. "There were times when I didn't leave the factory for three or four days -- days when I didn't go outside," Musk told New York Times. "This has really come at the expense of seeing my kids. And seeing friends."

Earlier Musk found himself in a questionable position after reports about Tesla employees claiming that he was on recreational drugs surfaced. However, Musk steered clear off the talks that he was inebriated while tweeting his decision about taking Tesla private and that he was traveling to the airport when he decided to announce it. 

READ  | Tesla Board Will Evaluate Musk's Proposal To Take The Company Private

"But I was not on weed, to be clear. Weed is not helpful for productivity. There's a reason for the word 'stoned.' You just sit there like a stone on weed." Musk told New York Times

The conversation comes a few days after Musk in an official release revealed that he was approached by the Saudi Arabian Sovereign Wealth Fund nearly two years ago. 

READ | Trump Administration Suffers Kickback From Automakers After New Fuel Efficiency Proposal 

"They first met with me at the beginning of 2017 to express this interest because of the important need to diversify away from oil. They then held several additional meetings with me over the next year to reiterate this interest and to try to move forward with a going private transaction. Obviously, the Saudi sovereign fund has more than enough capital needed to execute on such a transaction." he said in a statement.

Advertisement

Published August 18th, 2018 at 16:11 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo