© Archyde.com. “I can’t tolerate a servant more than me”… There is no second-in-command in the ‘Musk Empire’ [백수전의 ‘테슬람이 간다’]
Elon Musk Tesla (NASDAQ:) CEO leaves federal court in Manhattan following settling fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during a trial in New York in April 2019. On the left is Musk’s closest aide, Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX. Shotwell thoroughly played the role of ‘Musk’s shadow’ to the extent that he rarely appeared together with Musk in public. “I will step down as CEO of Twitter as soon as I find someone reckless to take over.”
It’s been a stormy two months for both Twitter and Tesla investors. On the 20th (local time), Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his intention to resign as Twitter CEO. He entered Twitter’s headquarters with a bathroom sink saying, “The bird has been released,” and left in two months in a shabby manner.
Although he put forward a ‘free communication space’, Musk put forward a ‘freer communication space’ as the goal of Twitter’s acquisition. His actions, however, drew strong political backlash. Musk revived former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which had been permanently suspended over allegations of incitement to the federal Capitol invasion. During his mid-term elections, he blatantly supported the Republican Party, incurring opposition from his opponents.
The accounts of reporters such as the New York Times (NYT), Washington Post (WP), and CNN, who wrote critical articles on this move, were suspended in droves, but reversed when public opinion worsened. In the end, on the 19th, a vote for and once morest ‘should I step down from the Twitter representative’ was sent to Twitter.
Even Tesla fans and investors, who had consistently supported Musk’s move, turned their backs. During this period, Tesla stock fell to $ 125.35 (closed on the 22nd), the lowest level in two years. This is a decline of over 64% this year. During the same period, the Nasdaq index fell only 32%, so the disappointment of ‘Teslam’ is bound to be great. Tesla stock trend this year / Photo = Yahoo Finance Who will be the next CEO of Twitter? It is a will to reduce political risks and not to lose the technological leadership of SNS. WP said, “Musk still wants to control Twitter.” Musk fired all of Twitter’s management and board shortly following the acquisition, leaving him as the sole director.
Who will be the next CEO to take on the ‘reckless mission’ to lead Twitter with the ‘King of Kings’ Musk? CNN cited David Sacks, former COO of PayPal, Jason Kalakanis, who served as an advisor to Musk as an IT company angel investor, and Sriram Krishnan, a former Twitter executive, as potential candidates. Elon Musk Tesla CEO / Photo = REUTERS Sacks is a member who founded PayPal with Musk. Of the three candidates, it can be seen as the closest to Musk. Carla Canis advised Musk on Twitter job cuts, and in April he publicly stated that he hoped to become Twitter CEO. At Twitter, Krishnan was responsible for a team responsible for platform features such as search and timeline. CNN evaluated him as “the most stable candidate in that he is a former Twitter executive.”
Among Tesla fans, Rex Friedman, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and who runs an IT podcast, has risen as a candidate. Friedman is an influencer who has made a name for himself in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), having interviewed Musk and former Tesla AI director Andrei Karpati. Friedman even offered Musk to take over as CEO of Twitter without pay. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researcher and IT podcast host Rex Friedman (left). His YouTube subscribers reach 2.48 million. /Photo = Rex Friedman YouTube Musk’s ‘Executive Talent’ is what Musk’s intention is. He wrote on Twitter on the 19th, “The problem is not finding a CEO, but finding a CEO who will ‘keep Twitter alive’.” On the 21st, he said, “In the past five weeks, crazy cost cutting has improved Twitter’s financial situation,” and “next year it will reach breakeven.” It is said that Twitter, which had been dying thanks to him, came to life and needed someone to succeed it.
Experts believe that Twitter will establish a management command structure like SpaceX, a private space company. SpaceX’s largest shareholder and CEO is Musk. But the actual management is handled by Gwynn Shotwell, president and chief operating officer. After Musk founded SpaceX in May 2002, he hired Shotwell as a sales executive in September of that year. After being promoted to president in 2008, Shotwell took charge of SpaceX’s management for over 10 years. SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynn Shotwell speaks during a TED Talk in Vancouver, Canada, in 2018. /Photo = TED Shotwell’s sales skills were outstanding. In the male-dominated aerospace industry, his good looks and brilliant brain attracted attention. Shotwell has worn down the thresholds of the Department of Defense, the military, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) lobby to sell a ‘Falcon 1’ rocket that hasn’t even been built yet. I went to the lobby on behalf of Musk, who was unfamiliar with negotiations with high-ranking officials. “I was well aware of the slow pace of the conservative space industry. Musk’s momentum was scary, but he eventually joined the challenge” (Eric Berger “Lift Off”)
Unlike the straightforward Musk, the soft-spoken Shotwell won the hearts of people in the industry. In 2006, he won a NASA rocket contract worth $278 million (regarding 356 billion) to save the company. This money became the same fund as the ’ember’ of Musk’s dream to go to Mars. With this level of performance, he deserved to put himself out there. Rather, he praised his boss. “Everything was done by Elon. His vision guided the company.” Even when Musk faced all sorts of lawsuits and criticism, Shotwell was always by his side. Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at a Gigafactory conference in Sparks, Nevada, USA in July 2016. On the right is JB Straubel, CTO and co-founder. ′′ don’t go to the front ′′ Most of Tesla and SpaceX executives sympathize with Musk’s vision and respect his drive. Many wanted to get close to the cranky ‘genius boss’, but feared that he might change his mind and fire them. Musk was cold when even loyal executives were challenged to disagree with his views.
JB Straubel, former chief technology officer (CTO) and co-founder of Tesla, was an aide who understood Musk’s character better than anyone else. He served as a bridge to convey messages from Tesla employees to Musk. Straubel also stayed with Shotwell as ‘Shadow of Musk’ (Ashley Barnes 《Theory Musk, Designer of the Future》).
He said in an interview with Barnes that he tries to be as out of step as possible. “I try to convince people of Elon’s goals and vision. After all, Elon is my boss. He is driving his business with blood, sweat and tears. I admire Elon’s achievements so far. Without Theory, it would never have happened.”
→Continued to Part 2
▶ ‘Teslam goes’
We will unravel the story behind Tesla, which will lead the ‘mobility revolution’ in the 2020s. Elon Musk, who is evaluated as the best ‘visionary CEO’, is also a big search target. Introducing news and issues from domestic and foreign Tesla YouTubers and Twitter users. Subscribe to the reporter page below to receive weekly articles.
Reporter Sujeon Baek jerry@hankyung.com
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