Economy

Tesla's Elon Musk: 'I don't really want to adhere to some CEO template'

Updated : December 28, 2018 12:41 PM IST

Elon Musk is not the typical CEO — and that likely won't change anytime soon.

In a clip promoting a new "60 Minutes" interview, Musk responded to questions about his behavior from this summer, behavior which journalist Lesley Stahl said had been described by some as "erratic" and even "operatic."

While the charismatic Tesla founder admitted in the clip he'd recently faced "insane stress" and could be "somewhat impulsive," he explained that he doesn't want to "adhere to some CEO template."

Furthermore, he told Stahl, "The system would have failed if I was truly erratic."

As the head of SpaceX, Tesla, Boring Company and Neuralink, Musk had sometimes pulled 120-hour work weeks this year, a schedule he's since changed, acknowledging it was not sustainable. "You're gonna go a little bonkers if you work 120 hours a week," said Musk last month.

This past summer, Musk was criticized by some for smoking weed on camera while taping a podcast. Tweets discussing taking Tesla private even led to a multi-million dollar settlement with the SEC and Musk stepping down as Tesla's chairman.

In the clip, Musk stressed to Stahl that he does not smoke marijuana. "As anyone who watched that podcast can tell, I have no idea how to smoke pot or anything."

Despite the year's tough moments, he said he'll continue to tweet, seeing Twitter as a creative outlet.

"I use my tweets to express myself," Musk told Stahl. "Some people use their hair. I use Twitter."

Said Musk, "I'm just being me."

Source: Make It, CNBC.com

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