The electric car company had its first profitable quarter in 2013. That wouldn’t happen again until 2016. Meanwhile, he continued to add new projects to his plate.
Toward the end of 2015, he co-founded a research group called OpenAI, which was meant to research and promote artificial intelligence projects to benefit all of mankind. He pledged $1 billion to the project. (He eventually stepped down this year.)
In 2016, Musk founded Neuralink, which is trying to find a way for computers to interact directly with the human brain, and the Boring Company, which is building tunnels to transport people and cargo using another proposed new technology — electric sleds.
That was also the year Tesla made a bid for SolarCity. The deal was done by early 2017.
So by then, Musk had a say in seven major projects.
That was also the year when his responsibilities with Tesla really began piling up. The Gigafactory in Nevada started battery cell production. Tesla also started producing the Model 3, which is meant to prove it can become a mass-market automaker.
Meanwhile, Tesla began rebuilding Puerto Rico’s power grid and built the world’s largest lithium-ion battery, while Musk began digging with the Boring Company and sold out of custom-made hats and flamethrowers.
But when it came to Tesla’s earnings, they were dubbed mostly “disappointing.” Analysts ramped up their criticism, and some even questioned if the company is “a Ponzi scheme.”
And after the company fired hundreds of workers, it faced a complaint from the United Auto Workers. Musk said “production hell” is coming, and some of his factory workers seem to agree. Tesla has faced multiple reports of abusive factory conditions. Not to mention the repeated missed Model 3 production targets.
Source : CNBC
