Musk Apologizes to U.K. Diver He Labeled as Pedophile
Musk says he alone is responsible for ‘pedophile’ comments.
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk apologized to British diver Vern Unsworth after the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer labeled him a pedophile earlier this week in a now-deleted Twitter post.
“My words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub,” Musk, 47, wrote on Twitter. “Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader.”
The latest controversy to cloud Musk came after Unsworth, who played a key role in organizing the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded Thai cave this month, dismissed the billionaire’s offer to provide a small submarine for the operation as a “PR stunt.” Musk retorted by calling him a pedophile, and Tesla shares declined 2.8 percent on Monday. The stock recovered on Tuesday.
Musk has a history of controversial outbursts, sparring with critics and investors betting against his company. Gene Munster, a managing partner at venture-capital firm Loup Ventures and one of Tesla’s biggest bulls, wrote in an open letter to Musk that his conduct the last six months had been concerning and was shaking investor confidence.
After Tesla shares fell 22 percent in March -- the steepest monthly drop in more than seven years -- Musk jokingly tweeted on April Fools’ Day that the company had gone bankrupt. The following week, he hung up on the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, who called to tell him the agency was booting Tesla representatives from the investigation of a fatal crash involving a Model X driver. The company had published a series of blog posts that cast blame on the deceased driver.
In May, Musk cut off analysts’ queries about Tesla’s capital requirements and orders for the Model 3 sedan during a conference call, calling them “boring, bonehead questions” and precipitating a sharp decline in the company’s stock. Earlier this month, Musk said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek that he would engage with his detractors on Twitter less often.
James Anderson, a partner and portfolio manager at Baillie Gifford & Co., last week called for “peace and execution” and urged Musk to focus on the company’s core tasks, while Munster said Musk’s behavior was “fueling an unhelpful perception” of his leadership.
“The fault is mine and mine alone,” Musk said on Wednesday, referring to his comments to the British cave diver.
--With assistance from Katerina Petroff.
To contact the reporters on this story: Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi at akotoky@bloomberg.net;Christopher Kingdon in London at ckingdon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Nagarajan at samnagarajan@bloomberg.net, ;Sonali Pathirana at spathirana@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen
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