12 pranks of Elon Musk

When you own billions and Tesla, every action and word becomes valuable. The eccentric Elon Musk has shocked the public many times, which has led to him being sued, the value of Tesla shares falling, and millions of dollars in fines. It got to the point where the tech innovator now has to coordinate all his Twitter posts with Tesla's communication policy. We've collected twelve of Elon Musk's most notorious media pranks and suggest you take a break from all the sadness and have some fun.

He thinks the coronavirus panic is stupid

On 6 March 2020, Elon Musk posted an ambiguous tweet on Twitter: "Panic over the coronavirus is stupid". This statement was made against the backdrop of the fact that on 5 March, the first death was recorded in California, where Tesla's headquarters is located, as a result of complications caused by COVID-2019. In this regard, the state has declared a state of emergency and quarantined a cruise ship on which 21 people were infected with the coronavirus.

The Tesla CEO did not comment on his words, but the tweet still needs to be explained. Especially when you consider that the coronavirus outbreak has had a direct impact on the company itself: the share price fell by 21%, and the Tesla Gigafactory, which produces batteries and Model 3 and Model Y cars, was shut down in China. However, Elon Musk recognisesThe company's management believes that if the epidemic spreads further and persists for a long period, it will have a negative impact on the supply chain and the company's operations in general.

Announced that Tesla is bankrupt

How can you make a good joke on 1 April that will make everyone shudder? Saying that a company whose shares are worth $600 each, went bankrupt . Nothing, not even a massive sale of Easter eggs, helped to remedy the situation. And now Elon Musk himself is lying unconscious next to the Tesla Model 3, surrounded by empty bottles of Tesla Tequila.

It was just an April Fool's joke, but the company's share price fell by 5% because of it.

Falsely accused a person of paedophilia

In June 2018, a children's football team disappeared in caves in Thailand: 12 teenagers and a coach. It was the season of heavy rains, so water flooded the caves and blocked the exits - the boys were saved by an air pocket in which they were sitting without food and water. They were found only after 9 days, but could not be reached immediately because the way to them was difficult even for experienced divers. The whole world was watching the rescue operation. Elon Musk decided not to stand aside and also offered to help.

Together with his team, the entrepreneur developed a mini-submarine made from a Falcon 9 rocket body, designed for one person. It had to overcome difficult cave passages and gradually rescue all the children from captivity.

The microsubmarine was delivered to the scene, but it was on this day that the rescuers pulled several children out of the cave on their own. When the head of the rescue operation, British caver Vern Unsworth, saw this invention, he immediately refused to use it and criticised the submarine, saying that it was absolutely pointless, as it would not be able to pass through the narrow underground passages that divers struggle to overcome. The experienced rescuer called it another PR stunt by the businessman.

"There was no way it was going to work. He [Musk] had no idea what the cave passages were like. The submarine, as I understand it, was about 1.7 metres long and rigid, so it would not have been able to go around corners or any obstacles. It was just a PR stunt."

In response to the criticism, Elon Musk said that the rescuers managed to get the children out of the cave only because the water level dropped. Otherwise, his submarine would have coped without any problems. He added his words with another loud tweet in which he called Unsworth a paedophile:

"If it's not true, I personally challenge him to provide the latest recording of the rescue of the schoolchildren. And, you know, there is no need for any video, one of our submarines will go all the way to Cave 5 without any problems. Sorry, faggot boy, but you made me do it."

Because of this insult, Unsworth sued Musk and requested monetary compensation. In response, the entrepreneur hired a detective to find evidence of the diver's paedophilia (he did not) and wrote in a response to the lawsuit that the word "pedoguy" does not mean "paedophile", as one might think, but "ugly old man". He noted that this is how they say it in South Africa, where Musk was born.

The outcome of the story: Elon Musk was acquitted. He did not pay a fine and probably had a lot of fun.

Elon Musk's submarine was called the Wild Boar. It is a sealed, narrow and very light tube without engines and control systems. It was to be propelled by divers and pulled along by themselves. It is made of a section of pipe used to carry liquid oxygen in the Falcon 9 rocket, so it is very light: only 40 kg. The nose has mounts for oxygen cylinder tubes.

The problem with this invention is that its diameter is only a few centimetres smaller than the narrowest areas in the cave - it is not a given that it would be possible to pass them without getting stuck. And given that the child couldn't even move inside the capsule (it's too narrow), it would be difficult for him to endure the 5 hours the divers spend on their way back.

He is going to buy back all Tesla shares

In August 2018, Elon Musk posted a tweet on Twitter: "I am going to buy back Tesla at $420. Financing is secured". In other words, he was going to buy all the company's shares and take it off the stock exchange. After this announcement, Nasdaq suspended the sale of Tesla shares, and they, in turn, rose by 11%.

It turned out that this was not a serious statement, but just a joke. A very careless joke. Because the US Securities and Exchange Commission recognised it as manipulation to make money on the stock price. As a result of his pranks, Elon resigned as chairman of Tesla's board of directors, paid a $20 million fine and is now forced to coordinate all his tweets with a committee of independent directors - just like in school. 🙂

He said he works 120 hours a week and does not leave the Tesla factory

В interview for the New York Times Elon Musk shared his personal problems. He said that over the past year, he has been working 120 hours a week (168 hours in a week), never leaving the office for days at a time, and even spent his birthday at the workplace. The entrepreneur admitted that such a schedule is not easy for him: he has trouble sleeping, has almost no time to eat and has to take sleeping pills to get some sleep and recuperate.

Elon Musk's frank confessions caused not only sympathy but also anxiety among shareholders - after the interview, Tesla shares fell by 6%.

Smoked marijuana on air

In September 2018, during the interview Elon Musk agreed to comedian Joe Rogan's offer to smoke marijuana (or rather, a mixture of marijuana and tobacco). Before smoking, Elon asked Rogan if it was legal. Then he said that he rarely smokes weed because it not only does not have the desired effect, but also negatively affects productivity.

Despite the fact that the show took place in California, where recreational marijuana is allowed, Tesla shares fell by more than 8.5% after the experiment, and two top managers left the company. But the podcast went viral and gained 2 million views.

Danced at the opening of the Tesla factory in China

But what we really love about Elon Musk is his sincerity! Just look how cheerfully and naturally he dances at a serious event in honour of the delivery of the first electric cars made in China.

Launched a red convertible into space

Not a plant seed, not a leaf, not an audio recording, not a dog, but a red electric Tesla Roadster convertible - it was the one Elon Musk decided to use in the winter of 2018 send into space using the world's most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy. The sports car was placed in the cargo compartment, a mannequin of an astronaut in a spacesuit was put behind the wheel and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" was played on repeat. The convertible will now fly between the Earth's orbit and the asteroid belt.

"It's stupid and fun. But stupid and fun things are important," commented Elon Musk.

Challenged Russian scientists to a rap battle

In June 2019, young scientists from Tomsk, as part of the ToSky start-up, launched a Zhiguli toy car into space with a cardboard figure of Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin at the wheel. It was a test of the first stratospheric vehicle, which resulted in Rogozin landing 150 km from the launch site.

After that, an article was published on the website of Futurism, a Brooklyn-based technology publication, with the headline "To make fun of Elon Musk, Russia launches toy car into space". Elon Musk commented on the article in your own style: "Don't make me challenge you to a rap battle". The tweet received more than 24,000 likes, 1,500 reposts and 410 comments, in which users tried to guess how Musk would prepare for the battle and even came up with lyrics for it.

Started speaking Russian

The Russian TV channel NTV tweeted video with the already well-known meme phrase "How about this, Elon Musk?". The video shows a guy from Stavropol driving an old Zhiguli backwards. The peculiarity of this old car is that its steering wheel and driver's seat face backwards.

Elon Musk surprised everyone when he commented on the video, and in Russian: "haha awesome" - wrote the founder of Tesla and SpaceX.

He promoted a cup with a farting unicorn

Elon Musk has a favourite mug - on one side of it is a cartoon unicorn that farts and thus charges an electric car, and on the other side is an inscription: "Electric cars are good for the environment because electricity is created by magic."

This drawing and its caption were created by Colorado artist Tom Edwards. He wanted to remind the world that electricity for electric vehicles does not come out of thin air, and the processes of generating it are no less harmful to the environment than the emissions from internal combustion engines. After Elon Musk published a photo of the pot, the artist began to receive many orders from people around the world.

However, after a while, Musk decided to use the same drawing, but for his own needs. He used it to demonstrate the capabilities of the touchscreen in Tesla cars, where you can draw with your finger. Then the same unicorn appeared on one of the icons of the car's operating system. At first, the artist did not react (after all, his sales had grown strongly), but then he decided to accuse Elon Musk of copyright theft. Now. conflict is not resolved and it is not yet known how it will end.

He released flamethrowers and offered to use them to fry marshmallows

Elon Musk's latest high-profile venture is the release of The Boring Company flamethrowers. In honour of this event, the inventor organised a party at SpaceX in Los Angeles and offered customers to test drive the toy: toast a piece of marshmallow with it. The tests passed with flying colours.

Do not think too much...

We really love Elon Musk, we really do. This article is a joke. To help you relax a little, to distract you from thoughts about the coronavirus, the collapse of the economy and onion prices. ????