Musk and the Media
Elon Musk appointed his pet dog Floki, a Shiba Inu , as the new CEO of Twitter
Most journalists would be annoyed if offered a routine profile interview after working hours with 30 minutes notice. But for the BBC TV North America technology reporter James Clayton it was the highlight of his career.
An interview with Elon Musk is such a rare opportunity that not even the last minute decision to share the interview with Twitter’s TV channel was enough to put Clayton off.
Elon Musk is one of the few senior businessmen to handle his own media relations, allowing him to speak without advice from others. As the major shareholder in all of his companies, he is, to a great extent, the message. He doesn’t face internal criticism for his comments or for failing to get his key messages across. But despite his ability to create headlines around the world, there is no evidence that he has ever undertaken media training, and this means his media appearances are not always good news for his fellow shareholders.
During the recent BBC interview when Clayton broached the sensitive topic of redundancies at Twitter following the acquisition was typically robust. “It’s been quite painful. But I think, at the end of the day, it should have been done. Were there many mistakes made along the way? Of course. But all’s well that ends well.”
He is also not worried about giving his opinions on sensitive geopolitical issues where most business spokespeople wisely fear to tread. He launched his own Ukraine peace plan in a poll on Twitter and suggested that Crimea, which Russia invaded in 2014 and later annexed, should stay part of Russia. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy retaliated by asking his Twitter followers: ‘Which Elon Musk do you like more, the one who supports Ukraine or the one who supports Russia?’ Over 78% chose the former.
Most company spokespeople are careful not to openly criticise the journalist conducting the interview, but not Musk. “You said you see more hateful content (on Twitter since Musk took over), but you can’t even name a single one,” he said. “You just lied!”
He also spoke candidly to the BBC about his own controversial tweets saying: "Have I shot myself in the foot with tweets multiple times? Yes.” "I think I should not tweet after 3am," he added.
Musk clearly understands how to create media coverage and a cursory check of the follow up coverage from rival media outlets following the BBC interview shows an insatiable appetite to follow his every word.
And his rare interviews are media box office, not surprisingly given his comment “I keep telling you, I’m not the CEO of Twitter. My dog is the CEO of Twitter.” This must have come as a surprise to Twitter’s biggest advertisers.
Elon Musk is a corporate CEO who commands widespread media coverage and controversy. Whether this is good for shareholders, customers and his employees is another matter. The market remains out on the wisdom of Musk’s infrequent but always gripping media appearances.
