Chapter 95: The Starship Launch: SpaceX, April 2023

In mid-2018, as Tesla achieves major production milestones and SpaceX reaches new heights, Elon Musk enters a psychological spiral marked by impulsive behavior. After criticizing cave rescue expert Vernon Unsworth as a "pedo guy" on Twitter, and then attempting to take Tesla private at $420 per share via a hastily posted tweet, Musk triggers SEC investigation and widespread backlash before ultimately settling with regulators.

The chapter opens with Kimbal Musk being called back from his honeymoon in July 2018 because Elon is having a meltdown despite Tesla hitting its five-thousand-cars-per-week production goal and SpaceX achieving major commercial spaceflight milestones. Musk becomes consumed by a Thai cave rescue effort, designing and personally delivering a mini-submarine after reading a Twitter request about trapped soccer players. When the rescue succeeds without his device, English cave explorer Vernon Unsworth dismisses Musk's efforts as a PR stunt on CNN. Musk responds with tweets calling Unsworth a "pedo guy," claiming to have evidence while having none, driving Tesla stock down 3.5 percent. After initially apologizing under pressure from advisors Teller and Gracias, Musk escalates by sending inflammatory emails to BuzzFeed making false allegations about Unsworth's character and associations with Thailand. Unsworth hires lawyer Lin Wood to pursue defamation charges. Meanwhile, meeting with Saudi Arabia's government investment fund in late July, Musk learns they have accumulated nearly 5 percent of Tesla. Enthused by the prospect of taking Tesla private to escape market speculation and short-sellers, Musk proposes $420 per share (chosen for marijuana slang) to his board. Two days later, without board coordination or SEC notification, he tweets "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured," causing stock volatility and triggering an SEC investigation. The Saudis, uncomfortable with his "funding secured" claim, issue a cautious statement, prompting Musk to threaten to cut off discussions entirely. Facing institutional investor pushback, Musk rescinds the proposal on August 23. The SEC then files a lawsuit on September 26 seeking to ban him from running any public company, claiming fraud. Under intense pressure from lawyers and family, Musk accepts a settlement requiring him to step down as chairman, pay $40 million, accept board monitors on tweets about material information, and remain as CEO. The defamation suit against Unsworth goes to trial in 2019, with Musk testifying he did not believe Unsworth was a pedophile; the jury finds him not liable. In 2023, Musk wins a separate shareholder case challenging the "funding secured" tweet.