Over the years, Elon Musk’s rather frenetic lifestyle has led to some sleepless nights and Ambien-infused Twitter sessions.

As a result, he has said some weird sh** over the years, in interviews and online.

That whole “pedo” and “child rapist” fiasco, for example, wasn’t his finest moment.

While most CEOs tend to choose their words carefully. Elon has made it clear that he’s not most CEOs, choosing to talk now and deal with the consequences later.

Unfortunately, how he handles himself over the next while could make or break his companies, as they move from being upstarts to established players in highly competitive industries, reports Business Insider.

In the interim, let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of his stranger moments, organised into categories:

ELON ON ALIENS

In 2015 Elon took to Twitter to point out how strange it is that people haven’t seen aliens.

“Seems like an opportune moment to bring up the Fermi Paradox, aka ‘where are the aliens?’ Really odd that we see no sign of them.”

He later said that the pyramids were not evidence of aliens visiting earth. He was very emphatic about this:

“Btw, please don’t mention the pyramids. Stacking stone blocks is not evidence of an advanced civilisation,” he said. “The ancient Egyptians were amazing, but if aliens built the pyramids, they would’ve left behind a computer or something.”

In 2016, he also had this to say on Twitter:

“I’m not an alien…but I used to be one”

Sure – makes you think that time he smoked weed with Joe Rogan wasn’t a once-off.

ELON ON CYBORGS AND AI

In a 2018 documentary, Elon expressed his concerns about artificial intelligence.

“At least when there’s an evil dictator, that human is going to die. But for an AI, there will be no death — it would live forever. And then you would have an immortal dictator from which we could never escape.”

Cool. I’m never sleeping again. Thanks, Elon. Also this:

“Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon.”

And in case you were wondering:

“You’re already a cyborg. Most people don’t realise you’re already a cyborg.”

He dropped that bomb in that interview with Joe Rogan, suggesting that mobile phones and the wealth of information accessible through them turns people into cyborgs.

ELON ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND HORRIBLE PEOPLE

Former Tesla employee Martin Tripp filed a whistleblowing tip with the SEC in July. Amongst other things, he claimed that Tesla used batteries with puncture holes in them in vehicles meant for consumers. Elon had this to say about it in an email:

“You’re a horrible human being.”

Elon had the following to say about public transport:

“I think public transport is painful,” he reportedly said. “It sucks. Why do you want to get on something with a lot of other people, that doesn’t leave where you want it to leave, doesn’t start where you want it to start, doesn’t end where you want it to end?”

When public transit consultant Jarrett Walker tweeted a response in which he pointed out that Elon was being very bourgeois about the whole public transport thing, Elon simply responded:

“You’re an idiot”

Short and to the point, if a little misguided.

ELON ON FAMILY AND DATING

Former Tesla employee Ryan Popple told Vance that Musk said this during Tesla’s early years after employees complained that their jobs were too demanding:

“I would tell those people they will get to see their families a lot when we go bankrupt.”

Elon actually has a pretty impressive family. Elon also believes that his rocket-building and space exploration company, SpaceX, has created enemies that may want to hurt him:

“My family fears that the Russians will assassinate me.”

When it comes to dating, Musk also has some interesting ideas:

“I would like to allocate more time to dating, though. I need to find a girlfriend. That’s why I need to carve out just a little more time. I think maybe even another five to 10 — how much time does a woman want a week? Maybe 10 hours? That’s kind of the minimum? I don’t know.”

That’s one for the dating profile.

Finally…

ELON ON ELON

“My mentality is that of a samurai. I would rather commit seppuku than fail.”

Elon claims that he didn’t say the above. Evidence suggests otherwise. It wouldn’t be out of character.

[source:businessinsider]