Elon Musk: Tech Genius! Green Warrior! Biz King! Good Oligarch?

[Bastian]

I propose to discuss about the feud between Trump and Musk in a dedicated thread, rather than commenting here or on the thread about Trump.

 

[axj]

Musk published a negative drug test dated June 11th. Not sure how long those drugs are detectable if he stopped using them a week or two before:

Musk publishes drug test results

A recent New York Times article accused the billionaire of using a “cocktail of substances,” including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and ketamine

www.rt.com

 

[Oxajil]

I'm seeing less political content on X for a couple of days now. It looks like X changed its algorithm. I guess too many people were starting to see the truth. Here's what Grok says:

A post on X from June 26, 2025, indicates the algorithm was tweaked to focus on "positive, informational, and entertaining content" to reduce negativity and enhance user experience, with smaller accounts gaining more visibility to diversify voices. Additionally, a January 2025 article from Social Media Today reported an upcoming algorithm update emphasizing "informational/entertaining" content. However, a Wall Street Journal experiment from October 2024 noted that political content still dominated feeds for new users, even when they preferred non-political topics like cooking and crafts, suggesting the shift may not be fully effective or uniformly applied.

I asked if there was a way to disable that, and it said:

There is no direct setting on X to disable the algorithm entirely or specifically prioritize political content, as the platform's feed is primarily driven by algorithmic recommendations. However, you can take steps to curate your feed to see more political content:

Switch to the Following Tab: Instead of the default "For You" tab, which is algorithmically curated, switch to the "Following" tab to see posts only from accounts you follow. This can help if you follow political accounts, but it won't guarantee more political content if the algorithm still influences visibility.

Engage with Political Content: Like, comment, or repost political content you want to see more of. The algorithm prioritizes content based on user interactions, so engaging with political posts can signal to X to show you more of it.

Follow Political Accounts: Actively follow accounts that post political content, such as news outlets, political commentators, or activists. This increases the likelihood of seeing political posts in your feed.

Mute Non-Political Keywords: Mute keywords related to animal or nature content (e.g., "cute animals," "nature," "wildlife") to reduce their prominence in your feed. Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Mute and Block > Muted Words to add these terms.

Adjust Content Preferences: Check Settings > Content Preferences > Manage Topics and adjust "Current Affairs" or similar topics to "See More" if available. This may not directly increase political content but can influence topic prioritization.

Use a Plugin or Script: Some users suggest using browser extensions or JavaScript to disable the "For You" algorithm and rely solely on your timeline or curated lists, though this requires technical know-how and may not be officially supported.

Note that X's algorithm changes are not fully transparent, and even with these steps, political content may still be filtered to some extent due to platform-wide priorities.

 

[Ca.]

Elon is on the move, having recently relinquished his position with Tesla (buyout) and X as a board member to pursue his quest with SpaceX, OpenAI robotics, and Neuralink.

He has a quota to fill if he expects his trillion-dollar buyout to be paid in 10-year installments.

Who will make a $40—$70 purchase while possibly risking their health via EMF due to the current economic instability?

And since Europe is one of Tesla's larger markets, along with Canada, the US, and Saudi Arabia, Tesla might reach its goal of doubling its production to 2 million from the current 1 million for the foreseeable future

If there ever was a time when his Gordon Gekko moment had arrived in his career, this might be the pinnacle of his stormy ride to the top.

Elon Musk Needs $1 Trillion in ‘Motivation,’ Says Tesla Board. The Stock Rises
Tesla TSLA+3.64% Barron's
Stock jumped on Friday as the company’s board laid out plans to “motivate” CEO Elon Musk. Its proposal includes an unprecedented amount of motivation, but investors appeared not to mind.

Fortune

'Yes, you read that correctly': Tesla pay committee pitches $1 trillion pact to keep Elon Musk as CEO for long term

Musk had a $56 billion pay package thrown out twice in 2024, so Tesla’s board has proposed a deal worth $1 trillion.

fortune.com

When Tesla’s board unveiled its latest executive compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk on Friday, it wasn’t just another line in a proxy filing. It was an act of theater—and defiance. After two previous pay deals for Musk—the world’s richest man, worth hundreds of billions—had been alternately dismantled under legal and shareholder pressure, and then heavily criticized, the company is once again pushing the boundaries of corporate governance with a headline-grabbing target: Musk will earn only if Tesla’s valuation surges by at least a factor of eight over the next decade.

Tesla told shareholders in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Musk’s most recent pay package worth $29 billion was accompanied by the statement that “work was ongoing” by the special committee evaluating Musk’s compensation. The board—with Elon and his brother, Kimbal, recusing themselves from the process—unanimously recommended a “longer-term CEO compensation strategy” that could reach $1 trillion.

The special committee then confirmed what Fortune’s Amanda Gerut reported: that the $29 billion package was not directly linked to performance, and that this was quite the opposite. “Yes, you read that correctly,” the committee told shareholders. “In 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.” The committee also said that this award “uniquely challenges” Musk to guide Tesla through a new phase of unprecedented growth, while keeping him in leadership for many years to come.

Musk’s pay-package past​

Elon Musk’s relationship with pay packages has always been outlandish by conventional corporate measures. Unlike the cash-heavy salaries and bonuses that structure most CEO contracts, Musk has repeatedly tied his fortune to Tesla’s ability to smash through aggressive milestones.

Back in 2012, Tesla’s board offered him a deal based on production and stock price hurdles. At the time, it looked audacious; Tesla was still a niche manufacturer producing a few tens of thousands of cars. When those goals were eventually met, the pay package delivered Musk tens of millions of dollars in options—at once a win for him and a vindication for Tesla shareholders who had seen their stock multiply.

Then came 2018: a plan with a $56 billion potential jackpot contingent on a suite of operational metrics and stratospheric valuation targets. Skeptics scoffed, yet Musk hit many of those goals, pushing Tesla past the trillion-dollar valuation threshold in 2021. To admirers, it proved Musk’s visionary drive. To critics, it was governance gone awry—a board in thrall to its CEO.

Indeed, in January 2024, a Delaware judge struck down that $56 billion arrangement, citing conflicts of interest on the board (including his brother, Kimbal) and lack of adequate oversight. The ruling landed as a symbolic rebuke of Musk’s sway over Tesla, and a warning about the excesses of Silicon Valley’s cult-of-founder ethos. A second attempt at revising the package—“Plan B,” as it was informally known—was again quashed by a Delaware judge nearly a year later. Throughout the year, a furious Musk decamped from his incorporation in Delaware.

In Friday’s proxy, the committee said it had explored numerous alternatives, but ultimately decided to build upon the controversial 2018 package. Musk’s new goals include adjusted Ebitda targets (up to 28x higher than the 2018 milestone, per the committee) and new product rollouts, including 1 million robotaxis in commercial operation and delivery of 1 million AI bots.

Backlash, loyalty, and the Musk dilemma​

Tesla’s board has found itself trapped in a predicament: Musk is simultaneously Tesla’s greatest asset and its greatest risk. The company’s extraordinary rise from an upstart carmaker to a global force in sustainable energy and transport has been fueled by his relentless ambition and uncanny ability to attract capital. He embodies the Tesla brand so thoroughly that investors and customers alike conflate the company’s trajectory with his own.

But that strength comes with fragility. Musk’s long list of side ventures—SpaceX, X, Neuralink, the recently launched xAI—leads critics to charge that Tesla risks becoming a neglected child. Meanwhile, his mercurial style and public controversies, from social media firestorms to clashes with regulators, have brought volatility to Tesla’s stock and reputation.

Underlying the trillion-dollar plan is a quieter, more existential question: Can Tesla truly outgrow Musk? For over a decade, it has been his vision, his risk appetite, and his brash style that defined the company. Yet most corporate giants eventually mature beyond their founding personalities, shifting power toward institutional structures and professional management.

Once again, Tesla’s board has sided with continuity, betting that the upside of locking Musk in outweighs the turbulence of pushing him aside. Still, the allure of Tesla has always rested in its improbable odds. A company dismissed in its infancy now shapes the future of global transportation. A CEO once thought reckless has become one of the richest men alive. And a pay package once unimaginable is back in play—only now, the number is no longer billions, but a trillion.

Why the AI bubble in the stock market might still have long to run

Also: A live Q&A to answer your real-estate questions. Plus: One way to become a trillionaire.

www.marketwatch.com

These Are Europe's Best-Selling Car Brands So Far In 2025 | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Rivian Is Laying Off Workers. The EV Pain Is Coming.

 

[Sindy-S.R]

The latest from Elon Musk:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1973444966476349872

Musk Doubles Down On ‘Cancel Netflix’ Calls Over Trans Character And Director’s Charlie Kirk Post​

BySiladitya Ray,

Forbes Staff.
Siladitya Ray is a New Delhi-based Forbes news team reporter.

Oct 01, 2025, 02:54pm EDT

Topline​

X owner Elon Musk made repeated calls Wednesday for Netflix subscribers to cancel their memberships over comments Hamish Steele, director of a canceled Netflix animated series, made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, with Musk also taking aim at the streaming service’s LGBTQ programming and diversity commitments.

X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk boosted a right-wing social media push to cancel Netflix.
Getty Images

Key Facts​

“Cancel Netflix,” Musk wrote in a Wednesday afternoon post on X, quoting another post made by the right-wing Libs of TikTok account, which shared screenshots of a company report in which Netflix said it had increased the number of non-white directors and lead actors on its programs.
In an earlier post on X on Tuesday, Musk reshared a post from another user who said they are canceling their Netflix subscription because the company employed “someone who celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk and makes content that pushes pro-trans content on my kids,” and wrote: “Same.”
The calls for cancellation appear to stem from an apparent post made by Steele criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s tweet mourning Kirk’s death.
According to a screenshot of Steele’s alleged post, which was shared on X by Libs of TikTok, the animated show’s director purportedly wrote: “Why the f— are you even commenting on this, d—head…a random nazi gets shot and it’s a public statement.”
The Libs of TikTok accounts had earlier shared clips of Steele’s animated show “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” which was canceled in January 2023, and claimed it was “pushing pro-transgender on CHILDREN.”
Musk reshared the post attacking the animated show and wrote: “This is not ok,” and later boosted another post attacking the streamer for pushing a “transgender woke agenda,” saying “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.”
Netflix shares are down 2.2% to $1,173.12 as of Wednesday afternoon.

https://www.netflix.com/it/title/80994692

Or maybe Elon M. knows something and is starting to play in advance?...

Streaming services like Netflix have been one of the few 'winners' during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the first half of 2020, Netflix added more than 26 million global subscribers - beating both Wall Street estimates and its own internal forecasts.

People have turned to at-home entertainment for comfort, stimulation and connection. The longer Covid social restrictions have been in place, the greater demand for streaming services online.

According to Ofcom, the communications regulator, adults in the UK have spent 40% of their waking hours in front of a screen over lockdown. Adobe’s 2020 Streaming Video Report found 60% of Americans subscribe for at least one streaming service.

Among all these services, Netflix is the market leader, boasting 200 million subscribers worldwide, 73 million in America alone, outperforming its competitors significantly.

During the pandemic, Netflix has consistently offered fresh content, enabling it to maintain its top position.

The California-headquartered company told shareholders in April that its large viewing library with thousands of titles, strong recommendations and member satisfaction meant Netflix could be less vulnerable to a shortage of new content caused by filming and production restrictions during Covid.

Despite the disruption Netflix has completed 50 projects since the pandemic started, and expects to release more programmes in 2021 than this year.

Its advantages don’t end there – Netflix is available in over 190 countries, using big data analytics to track the interaction of every customer and produce more original content. It also uses cloud storage in its acquisitions and in creating content. Its ease-of-use and reliability has helped it become the best-in-class streaming platform. It is even experimenting with a linear TV content channel in France with real-time scheduled programming at the time it airs.

Session 29 July 2023​

(Adobe) Okay. On that question, they often answer, and I'm thinking specifically right now of... It was asked, "is the next real pandemic possibly gonna happen in two months?" The answer was no. "Is it going to happen within two years?" "Yes." And two years passed, so somebody brought it up, and there is regularly something like that, where the Cs will answer with a time reference that we understand (like "within two years") and then, it doesn't happen. So if they know our time reference, why would they even answer that? Why wouldn't they just allude from it and say, you know, wait and see? But they say, like that last time, "within two years", and it doesn't happen within two years. I'm kind of left with "wait for the other shoe to drop." Is there something we should be learning here?

(L) Well, I don't know which specific reference you're talking about. Do you, Niall?

(Niall) Yes. We asked about the likelihood of a plague, in the sense of the Black Death. And it was sometime in the mid-teens, they said "in 18 months to two years" or something like that. Well, there has not been a Black Death in that time period.

(L) Right. I don't know! Okay. What's the answer to that?

A: Reality is open and plans change. Sometimes we give answers to prevent calamity. The PTB would not allow such a prediction to manifest as it would draw positive attention to this source and they wish to avoid that at all costs. In the case of the COVID fake pandemic it was already in motion and major plans were in place.

Q: (L) So you're saying that sometimes you tell us some things just to prevent it from happening, because you know they won't let it happen if you say it?

A: Yes

Q: (Andromeda) There have been some things that they've said that have happened in the timeframe too, right?

(L) Yeah, there have been.

(Joe) There have been cases in the internet era that got a lot of attention when someone... There haven't been many, but there have been a few over the past 20 years... where someone predicted something. It wasn't like a major event, a plane crash or so something like that. Someone predicted and it got a lot of traction on the internet after the fact. They used a timestamp and they showed that some person had actually predicted some kind of an event, you know? So I think it's true that that would be something they'd want to avoid, you know?

(L) Well, they've also said... remember that time when they said that the PTB, you know, they change plans and change everything around just to fool and throw people off.