Our friends include the usual mix of Musk worshippers - and a few skeptics. Some have asked us, "What do you guys think of Elon Musk's mental health? Is he OK?" Well, he may or may not be "OK", but we're pretty clear on his mental health. We think his mental health is probably fine. Here's what's going on. Everyone who has founded a company or run a company knows the special loneliness of knowing things that only you know. Whether that company is worth $50 or $50 billion - like Tesla - it does not matter. Most of the time, we can handle it. But there inevitably comes a time when we realize that there's an irreconcilable - an immovable object - facing us. We come to know something that frightens us. It stresses us to the core. It causes physical pain. When this time comes, we have two fundamental choices: We act to escape our pain, or we make the deliberate decision to not act to escape our pain but rather to get our organization safely to the other side of the seemingly irreconcilable situation. When we act out to escape the pain, we typically do three things:
1) We distract ourselves. Watch: Musk sells flamethrowers.
2) We medicate ourselves and act out. Watch: Musk smokes weed
3) We make non-strategic superficial bad choices: Watch: Musk tweets about taking Tesla "private".
So, what is Musk's irreconcilable movable object?
Isn't it obvious? "In early June, at Tesla’s annual meeting, Musk tried to project calm, but at times seemed close to tears. “This is like—I tell you—the most excruciatingly hellish several months that I have ever had,” Read: Hell for Elon Musk Is a midsize sedan
This is why we think and hope that his mental health is fine, and that he may not be OK.
Read: Elon Musk's mental health
Read: Elon Musk interview with the NY Times.
Watch: Tesla CEO Elon Musk smokes weed during Joe Rogan podcast interview | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC