It’s been a tough news week for Tesla and Elon Musk. As previously reported in Inquisitr , Tesla shares dropped 9 percent on Friday, with the company losing $5.5 billion in market value, after investors responded negatively to Musk’s New York Times interview published earlier that day.
In the interview, Elon Musk stated that this year has been “excruciating” and “the most difficult and painful year of my career.” There has been speculation around Musk’s continued ability to run the company, and federal investigators are now looking into whether a series of tweets by Musk about taking private ownership of the company have violated 14e-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In addition, Musk is now being sued by investors.
In response to the buzz around Elon Musk and his work habits, Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post , shared an open letter on Friday on her wellness website, Thrive Global , CNN reports. Huffington advised Musk to slow down and get more rest, saying that his 120-hour work weeks and sleeping in Tesla’s factories were not a good idea in the long run, for either Musk or Tesla.
“So Elon, the future of Tesla depends on you coming up with your masterpiece. It doesn’t depend on how many hours you’re awake. Tesla — and the world (not to mention you and your beautiful children) — would be better off if you regularly built in time to refuel, recharge and reconnect with your exceptional reserves of creativity and your power to innovate.”
Elon Musk took to Twitter early Sunday morning and pushed back on Huffington’s advice. At 2:32 a.m. Pacific Time, Musk tweeted, “Ford & Tesla are the only 2 American car companies to avoid bankruptcy. I just got home from the factory. You think this is an option. It is not.”
Ford & Tesla are the only 2 American car companies to avoid bankruptcy. I just got home from the factory. You think this is an option. It is not.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 19, 2018
The Associated Press reports that Tesla has provided major challenges for Musk this year, in addition to concerns around the profitability of its Model 3 sedan. Musk has continued to make projections for profits and production goals for Tesla that the company fails to meet. Musk is also the leader of Space X and at least one other company.
CNN Money reported earlier this year that Arianna Huffington now describes herself as a “sleep evangelist” and founded Thrive Global in part after her own experiences with burnout at the helm of The Huffington Post . Huffington stepped down from the eponymous company and turned her energies to Thrive Global , which publishes interviews, hosts workshops, and sells products focused on the importance of work-life balance, something that Musk seems to be struggling with publicly.
