I’ve actually read more than once from journalists who think that Apple should purchase Tesla and put Elon Musk into the CEO chair. What a terrible idea.
Amongst free market capitalists it is said that if you were to evenly distribute all the money and property in the world that within ten years there would be a whole new class of rich and poor people. Why? Because poverty and wealth track more closely with values than they do with environment.
If corporations were people, Tesla would be a beggar on the side of the road and Apple would be the richest man in town. If you were to take Tim Cook and Elon Musk and make them swap jobs so that Elon ran Apple and Tim was in charge of Tesla what would happen? Within ten years Elon would have Apple on the verge of bankruptcy and Tim would have Tesla flourishing with a high-margin business.
Despite my misgivings about Tesla’s future, I think that in the right hands, it could have a prosperous future. Perhaps not on the scale that Elon desires, but hey, it’s better than the road to oblivion that they’re on now. If you brought in someone with strong financial discipline and a background in operational excellence Tesla could stop the bleeding and start cultivating a profitable going-concern. CEOs don’t get paid to sleep on the plant floor. They get paid to make sure that internal departments work well together. They get paid to set high but achievable goals. They get paid to understand the company’s current environment and how they need to adapt to enhance profitability.
Despite all the money that Apple has in the bank it probably wouldn’t take more than ten years for a reckless egomaniac who shoots first and asks questions later to burn through it. And it certainly wouldn’t take long for Apple to start reporting huge quarterly losses after a series of bad product decisions.
Apple currently enjoys profit margins that are the envy of the world because of an internal financial discipline that has been cultivated through the years. This discipline is ingrained in them like the proverbial millionaire who continues to pinch pennies because that is what got him to where he is. Someone with a track record of making one foolish decision after another shouldn’t be considered for the top job at Apple or anywhere else.
Apple and Tesla Motors are both in their current situation because of the values of their leadership. These values impacted countless little decisions that were made and and brought them to where they are today. Bringing in Elon Musk to run Apple would be a disaster. Instead of articles about Apple buying Tesla there should be articles written about how Tesla needs to bring in someone like Tim Cook.
If corporations were people, Tesla would be a beggar on the side of the road and Apple would be the richest man in town. If you were to take Tim Cook and Elon Musk and make them swap jobs so that Elon ran Apple and Tim was in charge of Tesla what would happen? Within ten years Elon would have Apple on the verge of bankruptcy and Tim would have Tesla flourishing with a high-margin business.
Despite my misgivings about Tesla’s future, I think that in the right hands, it could have a prosperous future. Perhaps not on the scale that Elon desires, but hey, it’s better than the road to oblivion that they’re on now. If you brought in someone with strong financial discipline and a background in operational excellence Tesla could stop the bleeding and start cultivating a profitable going-concern. CEOs don’t get paid to sleep on the plant floor. They get paid to make sure that internal departments work well together. They get paid to set high but achievable goals. They get paid to understand the company’s current environment and how they need to adapt to enhance profitability.
Despite all the money that Apple has in the bank it probably wouldn’t take more than ten years for a reckless egomaniac who shoots first and asks questions later to burn through it. And it certainly wouldn’t take long for Apple to start reporting huge quarterly losses after a series of bad product decisions.
Apple currently enjoys profit margins that are the envy of the world because of an internal financial discipline that has been cultivated through the years. This discipline is ingrained in them like the proverbial millionaire who continues to pinch pennies because that is what got him to where he is. Someone with a track record of making one foolish decision after another shouldn’t be considered for the top job at Apple or anywhere else.
Apple and Tesla Motors are both in their current situation because of the values of their leadership. These values impacted countless little decisions that were made and and brought them to where they are today. Bringing in Elon Musk to run Apple would be a disaster. Instead of articles about Apple buying Tesla there should be articles written about how Tesla needs to bring in someone like Tim Cook.
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