Elon Musk says he's 'dumb way more often than I'd like to be' in Twitter debate

Tesla CEO
Elon Musk at the Hawthorne, California factory in March 2019.
Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images

Elon Musk reacted to Twitter users discussing his management style. 
The Twitter owner admitted being “dumb way more often” than he’d like to be. 
Musk’s managerial style has been under closer scrutiny since he took control of Twitter.

Elon Musk has reacted to a Twitter discussion about his management style, which has been under more scrutiny since he took control of the social media platform.

A user, whose Twitter handle is @TSLAFanMtl, wrote Friday that he disagreed with Musk about the affordability of Teslas and demand for its cars. That prompted one of the billionaire’s fans to respond: “To think you’re smarter than Elon Musk.”

The user @TSLAFanMtl then said: “Do I think I am smarter than Elon? No. Does that mean he or management gets everything 100% right? No. Let’s not be a cult and try to be objective. This is a cultist response.”

Whole Mars Catalog, an account that often interacts with the Tesla CEO, seemed to agree and praised the openness of Musk’s companies management methods: “What I love about Tesla Twitter is that we can debate & discuss what the company should do, have employees and management join in that discussion, & try and ultimately push the company and mission forward.”

“‘Elon knows best’ is a terrible argument,” Whole Mars Catalog added. “He’s great but can also be dumb.”

Musk admittedly responded: “I am dumb way more often than I’d like to be!”

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
April 8, 2023

Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk’s methods of turning the company around have been questioned.

He cut more than half the workforce, which is now down to about 1,300 staff, per CNBC. Musk also fired some top executives as well as workers who criticized his leadership.

He gave employees an ultimatum in November, asking them to commit to his vision for “Twitter 2.0,” which he said would involve working “long hours at high intensity,” or be laid off.

At the end of March, the billionaire emailed the remaining Twitter employees to tell them that coming to the office was not optional after he ended the work-from-home policy in November.

But his managerial style at his other companies such as Tesla, where he’s also previously issued office ultimatums, have come under scrutiny.

In June last year, Musk told Tesla executives to come into the office and stop “phoning it in,” or quit.

At the time, Whole Mars Catalog asked Musk how he would respond to those who consider in-person work “antiquated.” Musk responded on Twitter: “They should pretend to work somewhere else.” 

Twitter and Musk didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.