NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he was working “to the max…from morning to night, seven days a week” when asked about his recent acquisition of Twitter and his leadership in the automotive industry Tesla Inc. “I have a lot of work on my plate, that’s for sure,” Musk said via video link at a business conference on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali. Musk is CEO of both companies and also runs rocket company SpaceX, brain chip startup Neuralink and tunneling company Boring Company. Wearing a batik shirt sent by the organizers, he appeared on screen lit by candles, explaining that he was speaking from a place that had just lost power. Tesla investors worry that Musk, a self-confessed “nanomanager” who has been personally involved in work-level decisions from car styling to supply chain issues, is being distracted at a critical time for the world’s largest electric vehicle maker . Tesla’s stock has halved in value since early April, when it revealed it had a stake in Twitter. Sales of his Tesla stock, including another $4 billion last week to bring his Twitter-related sales to $20 billion, have added to the pressure. When asked about the complexities of “uncoupling” industrial supply chains from China and the dangers of Russia invading Ukraine, Musk returned to how busy he was. Responding to a remark that many business leaders in Asia wanted to be the “Elon Musk of the East,” Musk said: “I would be careful what you wish for. I’m not sure how many people would really like to be me. They would like to be what they imagine I am, which is not the same as being me. The amount I torture myself is next, honestly.” Musk also said he wanted to see Twitter support more video and larger format videos so content creators can live on the platform, but he didn’t elaborate. His remarks were broadcast live on Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube. The story continues Indonesia is trying to secure a deal with Tesla to invest in batteries and possibly a deal for SpaceX to develop a rocket launch site. Musk wouldn’t commit to any of those, but said Indonesia had a big role to play in the electric vehicle supply chain and that it would make “long-term” sense for SpaceX to have multiple launch sites around the world. It was unclear where Musk was during the event in Bali. The jet’s staff has remained in Austin, Texas, at Tesla’s headquarters since the weekend, according to @ElonJet, a Twitter account that follows Musk’s Gulfstream G650. “I’m just looking at this video and it’s so weird,” Musk said. “I sit here in the dark surrounded by candles.” Musk added that he believes the economy will make the transition to sustainable energy, adding that “it’s just a question of how long it takes.” He said space exploration must remain a priority “so we can understand the nature of the universe and our place in it.” “Maybe we’ll find alien civilizations or discover civilizations that existed millions of years ago, but we’re seeing the ruins of ancient civilizations. I think that would be incredibly interesting,” he said. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Writing by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
