'Passed out & Bankwupt’: Here's the story behind Elon Musk's 'iconic photo of the decade'

A three-year-old viral photo of Elon Musk passed out against a Tesla Model 3, holding a sign declaring him “bankwupt”, has resurfaced on social media. The picture has been dubbed as an "iconic photo of the decade" and it has been shared by Twitter account called ‘Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley’. The post has even received an amused response from the billionaire entrepreneur himself. Musk dropped two laughing face emojis within the feedback part. 

The image was originally tweeted by Musk back in 2018 as an April Fool’s Day prank. In a series of hilarious tweets, Musk had announced that Tesla had gone bankrupt and that its CEO had been found “passed out against Tesla Model 3”. “Tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheek,” the billionaire had said. 

In another tweet, Musk wrote, “Tesla Goes Bankrupt. Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it”. 

In a subsequent post, he added, “There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*, including Chapter 14 and a half (the worst one)”. 

Musk’s tweet in 2018 had come amid a time when investors were worried about the startup’s ability to deliver on its first mass-market car, the Model 3, which has been plagued by manufacturing woes. Even though 2018 was a tough time for Tesla, that is, however, not the case anymore as the company’s meteoric rise briefly made Musk the richest person in the world. Tesla is also building a new factory in Austin, Texas where it plans to hire over 10,000 people. 

On Wednesday Musk even shared a post by ‘Tesla Owners of Austin’, which referred to the company’s hiring plans. It is worth noting that Giga Texas or Gigafactory in texas is an automotive manufacturing facility near Austin that is under construction by Tesla. According to Tech Republic, the company is hoping to complete the construction of the $1.1 billion plant by the end of 2021.

Netizens call Musk 'hard-working CEO'

Meanwhile, Friday’s post by ‘Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley’ has garnered thousands of likes and comments. While one user noted that Musk’s reply has gotten more likes than the post, another wrote, “very hard working CEO”. A third user jokingly wrote, “I start thinking that this Tesla company, Musk etc is a beginning of some sort new religion. It doesn’t looks heathy to me”. “Imagine if an employee was passed out. It would have been his last image before firing lol,” added fourth. 

(Image: AP)