Elon Musk says ‘I have too much work on my plate’

NUSADUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday that when asked about the recent acquisition of Twitter and his leadership, he “starts from morning to night, every week. 7 days, working at absolute maximum…” or automaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).

“I have too much work to do, no doubt,” Musk said via video link at a business meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.

Musk is the CEO of both companies and also runs rocket company SpaceX, brain chip startup Neuralink and tunneling company Boring Company. Wearing a batik shirt from the organizers, he appeared on a candle-lit screen, explaining that he was speaking in a place that had just lost power.

Tesla investors are concerned that Musk, the self-proclaimed “nanomanager,” who has personally been involved in working-level decisions on everything from car styling to supply chain issues, was distracted at a critical time for the world’s largest electric-car maker.

Tesla’s stock has halved since he revealed in early April that he had a stake in Twitter. Adding to the pressure, his Tesla stock sales, including another $4 billion increase last week that brought his Twitter-related sales to $20 billion.

When asked about the complexities of industrial supply chains “decoupling” from China and the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Musk returned to his busyness.

Musk responded that many Asian business leaders wanted to be the “Elon Musk of the East”, Musk said: “I’ll be careful with your wishes. I’m not sure how many people really want to be me. They want to be what they imagine. It’s not the same me as the real me. Frankly, I’ve tortured myself even more.”

Musk also said he would like to see Twitter support more videos and longer-form videos so content creators can make a living on the platform, without providing details. His remarks were broadcast live on Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O)’s YouTube.

Indonesia has been trying to reach a deal with Tesla on battery investments and possibly a deal with SpaceX to develop a rocket launch site.

Musk didn’t commit to any of them, but said Indonesia could play an important role in the electric vehicle supply chain and that it was “long-term” for SpaceX to have multiple launch sites around the world.

It is unclear where Musk was during the event in Bali. According to the Twitter account @ElonJet, which tracks Musk’s Gulfstream G650, his private jet has been at Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, since the weekend.

“I was just watching this video and it was so weird,” Musk said. “I’m sitting in the dark surrounded by candles.”

Musk added that he believes the economy will transition to sustainable energy, adding that “it’s just a question of how long it will take.” He said space exploration should remain a priority “so that we can understand the nature of the universe and our place in it.”

“Maybe we’ll find alien civilizations or find civilizations that existed millions of years ago, but we’ll see the ruins of ancient civilizations. I think it will be very interesting,” he said.

Reporting by Leika Kihara; Writing by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs

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