Elon Musk Says Being Tesla CEO Might Kill Him

America's most infamous tech baron has no plans to quit Tesla anytime soon, according to a recent interview. Speaking remotely as a giant dystopian figure (something he seems to love) at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk said he was committed to leading Tesla for at least the next five years. "No doubt about that at all?" the interviewer asked as he hovered above. "Well," Musk paused, "no, I'd die." The world's richest person was speaking as confusion grows regarding his official role with DOGE, and his fiduciary commitments to Tesla shareholders. To bribe the CEO into doing his job, Tesla […]

May 22, 2025 - 02:00

Elon Musk Says Being Tesla CEO Might Kill Him

Speaking remotely at an event on Tuesday, Musk said he was committed to leading Tesla for at least the next five years.

America's most infamous tech baron has no plans to quit Tesla anytime soon, according to a recent interview.

Speaking remotely as a looming, dystopian figure (something he seems to love) at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk said he was committed to leading Tesla for at least the next five years.

"No doubt about that at all?" the interviewer asked as he hovered above.

"Well," Musk paused, "no, I'd die."

The world's richest person was speaking as confusion grows regarding his official role with DOGE and his fiduciary commitments to Tesla shareholders. Tesla shareholders previously devised two pay packages worth $56 billion — both of which were rejected by Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick.

During today's interview, Musk had some choice words for the judge.

"I'm confident that whatever some activist posing as a judge in Delaware happens to do will not affect future compensation," Musk muttered. "Not the judge, the activist who is cosplaying a judge in a Halloween costume," the billionaire sneered.

Last week, the Financial Times reported that Tesla has convened a "special committee" to review Musk's hefty salary, which is primarily based on company stock options.

"Does that mean that the value of your pay doesn't have any bearing on your decision?" the interviewer asked Musk of his choice to stay, during today's event. "Uh, well, that's not really a story for discussion in this forum," the tech tycoon said. "I think obviously there should be conversation for, if there's something incredible is [sic] done, the compensation should match."

Going by that logic, Tesla’s special committee may come up empty-handed when looking for reasons to justify paying Musk at all, let alone for "something incredible."

In the first three months of 2025, Tesla's sales plummeted 13 percent compared to the same period in 2024 — the biggest drop in the company's history. Tesla is likewise terminally late on rolling out its "robotaxi" service, while its new Model Y struggles to win over buyers, and over 10,000 unsold Cybertrucks gather dust.

During the interview, Musk went on to confirm that he's pushing ahead with his lawsuit against OpenAI, the stated goal of which is to contest OpenAI's restructuring as a for-profit venture.

Reading between the lines, it's not hard to see an ulterior motive for Musk: his for-profit AI company, xAI, is in direct competition with OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Musk also stated that he plans to scale back his political spending, after dumping millions into right-wing political campaigns.

"I think I've done enough," he said.

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