NASDAQ title Tesla share: Tesla boss Elon Musk voted the most overvalued CEO

• Elon Musk known for Tesla, SpaceX & Co
• Most overrated CEO
• Autopilot, Mars mission and city planning in view

Tesla, SpaceX & Co.: These are Elon Musk’s companies

Elon Musk is not only known as the CEO of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, but also has a hand in the space company SpaceX, the short message service and Twitter successor X, the neurotechnology company Neuralink, the tunnel builder The Boring Company and, most recently, the AI ​​startup xAI. As ambitious as the jack-of-all-trades may seem, he is also controversial. Not only has Musk repeatedly moved the prices of Tesla shares, Bitcoin and Dogecoin with his polarizing statements in the past, verbal attacks against anyone who stands up to him are also not uncommon.

No CEO is as overrated as Musk

Well-known CEOs of other companies also seem to agree that not everything that glitters is gold. A survey of thousands of executives, companies, directors and industry analysts by the US business magazine “Fortune” identified not only the most admired companies, but also the CEOs who are considered overrated. Undefeated in first place with 399 votes: Elon Musk. However, this placement is not a first for the Tesla boss; after all, the group manager defended the “top” position from the previous year.

BYD & Co.: Threat from China

While no reasons for the rating were given in the survey, Fortune suspects that Musk’s crowning as the most overrated CEO is due to his leadership of Tesla, among other things. The electric car pioneer has recently been struggling with competition from China; after all, NIO, Xpeng and, above all, BYD are securing more and more market share, which was also reflected in the disappointing results at the end of January. In the subsequent earnings call, Musk admitted to journalists and analysts that Chinese rivals were a serious threat to Tesla’s success. “They are extremely good,” said the Tesla CEO. “If there are no trade barriers, they will pretty much destroy most other car companies in the world.”

Waiting for Tesla’s autopilot

However, another point of criticism of Musk’s Tesla leadership is not due to the competition with other providers, but lies with Musk himself. Years ago, the visionary announced that Tesla vehicles would be completely autonomous and could be used automatically as taxis , which allows their owners to earn some extra money on the side. Although some of the “Autopilot” functions have already been activated, the concept is currently still a long way from autonomous driving. Accidents where the driver assistance system was activated are also bad press for the software upgrade.

A 2022 study by Kareem Othman of the University of Toronto, cited by Fortune, found that autonomous driving brings a variety of benefits, including more efficient mobility and lower emissions. “However, laws and regulations are not yet prepared for this change, and the legal sector is following the development of autonomous vehicles rather than taking the lead,” he said. The launch of the latest addition to the Tesla product portfolio, the Cybertruck, also showed that Musk is often a little hasty with his announcements. The electric pickup was presented in November 2019 and was originally scheduled to appear at the end of 2021. However, it took until the end of 2023 for the first Cybertruck to actually be delivered. The company also subsequently corrected the price for the futuristic vehicle upwards, even though numerous Tesla fans had already placed pre-orders.

How realistic are Musk’s Mars plans?

But Musk’s ambitions go far beyond Tesla. The businessman wants to quickly colonize Mars with his space company SpaceX. But these plans are also viewed critically by experts such as Titans Space CEO Neil Lachman. “SpaceX had 10 failures and 65 attempts before they succeeded – and that was on Earth. No rocket has ever landed people on Earth. Yet Musk promises to land thousands of spacecraft on Mars – with people,” said Lachman in a post on LinkedIn.

“Musk City”? Criticism of urban planning

Another project that Musk wants to tackle, according to the Wall Street Journal, is building his own city outside of Austin, Texas, where his company’s employees can live. This plan also met with criticism, as “Smart Cities Dive” reported. “When I hear the word ‘company town’, I’m always a little suspicious, because historically these were very controlled cities and very top-controlled institutions,” said Ángela Vergara, professor of history at California State University concerned with protecting human rights and democracy. And traffic expert Jarrett Walker also shared his views on the “dangers of elite projection” on his blog. He also wrote on Twitter/X: “@elonmusk’s hatred of sharing space with strangers is a luxury (or pathology) that only the rich can afford. Letting him design cities is the epitome of Elite projection.”

You’re an idiot

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2017

To this criticism, Musk only responded that Walker was an “idiot.”

Messiah complex?

All in all, Fortune said, Musk’s promises, which often come to nothing, as well as his recent failures at Tesla, may have left him with less than the best reputation among his fellow CEOs. It wasn’t until the end of 2023 that John Oliver, host of the satirical news program “Last Week Tonight”, also commented on the entrepreneur: “Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, who has both worked with Musk and clashed with him, said that Elon really wanted to that the world will be saved. But only if he can be the one to save it.”

In second place among the most overrated corporate leaders is Disney boss Bob Iger with 302 votes, according to the magazine. Apple is currently in first place among the most admired companies, followed by Microsoft and Amazon. Disney is in twelfth place here.

Editorial team finanzen.net

Selected leveraged products on BYD

With knock-outs, speculative investors can participate disproportionately in price movements. Simply select the lever you want and we will show you suitable open-end products on BYD

The leverage must be between 2 and 20

Advertising