(IBT) While Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s genius is universally praised as an innovator in transport, infrastructure, and space, London based market strategist Bill Blain in his Morning Porridge column attacked Musk as a “billionaire bully.”
Blain also writes, “Musk is a product of our age. Entitled, arrogant, unbelievably rich and powerful’ and has the feeling “normal rules don’t apply to him.”
Blain was rattled by the ruling that let off Musk last week over a lawsuit filed by a British cave diver and rescuer Vernon Unsworth for calling him a “pedo.”
The analyst said he was forced to comment on the matter after watching Musk's “faith in humanity was restored” comment.
The billionaire bully term against Musk was initially used by the cave diver’s lawyer in the court.
Blain says it is ok for Musk to tweet untruths about a British spell dunker and mislead the market about his company going private, the volumes of cars being produced, or crack April Fool’s shocker joke that the company is bankrupt. But he has lost respect and trust in such leaders.
Needs to relook controversial companies
Blain also calls for changing the way “we look and value these companies” based on such episodes and leaders, reports Market Watch. His observations held out a bearish view of the Tesla stock.
He also invoked a comparison of Musk episode with Adam Neumann of WeWork – and noted the latter’s fall.
Blain dismisses the claim of Musk pedo remark meant “creepy old man” as argued. Blain holds the view that the word is sheer expletive and an insult accusing a man as a child molester or a pedophile.
The investor said he checked the meaning with several South African friends, and nobody said paedo meant any “innocuous term” and the word was indeed loaded with malice and defamation.
Not a man to invest the pension fund
Blain also sought to couple the incident in a market context and said: “it may be fine for a US billionaire to brand another man a pedophile" and asserted Musk is not a man “you want to invest your pension in.”
The strategists said he is not bothered by Musk’s glamour as a visionary, engineer, or whatever charm he claims. In simple terms, “such a man is not fit to run a major firm and is not deserving of our respect.”
Blasting the trial that let go Musk after the pedo remark, the analyst said the trial on the case put another nail in the American justice.
Blasts American justice system
Taking exception to jurors finding no proof of Musk’s tweets about the guy as a pedophile; he says it is nonsense. Allowing Musk to go free despite the most malicious insult, Blain says it was an exercise of “Rich justice.”
Musk attacked the British Caver when he said Tesla’s claim of extending help to the soccer team stuck in the Thailand cave was a PR stunt.
In the court, Musk argued his coinage only meant “creepy old man” and never intended Unsworth as a pedophile.
The British professional’s attorney Lin Wood demanded Musk must pay $190 million in damages for the defamation.
Although the attorney called Musk a “billionaire bully” in his closing argument the jury was not swayed.
