Writing off any business idea championed by Elon Musk is a bold strategy – and given that Tesla sits right at the nucleus of his varied portfolio of eclectic, multi-billion dollar business interests, those who think the South African is either on the slide, or is beginning to take his eye off the ball with his golden goose, appear to have been proven wrong once again.

Musk is no stranger to creating volatility within his own company share prices. Legislatively speaking, he’s flown close to the sun on several occasions. His eccentricity and idiosyncratic nature have meant that he rarely finds himself out of the spotlight or the news, and this has acted as a positive and a negative over the years that Tesla shareholders will know all too well.

The Enigma Of Musk

It might be ironic to say that one of the most recognizable people on the planet also has an enigmatic aura about him, but it’s true. While Elon might have been wide off the mark with some of his predictions in the past, nobody attains the level of business success he has without being intelligent and strategic.

There’s a time and place to adopt a poker face in the business world, and with a net worth north of $250 billion, Musk knows when to gamble, or cash in his chips and walk away from the table, to use a bit of hyperbole. 

While poker terms and phrases might not embody the level of strategy he will implement into his crucial business decisions, Elon’s adopting a poker-like strategy of saying one thing while doing another or bluffing when dealing with his competition means that he still has an air of enigma about him. 

Elon is not a celebrity you’d likely find at a poker table, although he has enlisted the help of professional poker players’ help to steer his business. His recent business moves and ideas, podcast experiences, and tweets have all helped to paint a picture of a man who is unpredictable, zany, and hard to read, especially from a business perspective. So, there are similarities to draw between his business acumen and the art of poker strategy.

Tesla On The Rise Again

Since Tesla is the main reason Musk is the world’s wealthiest man, saying that the company “is on the rise again” might seem like a bit of a stretch. Tesla has never dwindled to a point of crisis, but there have been recent times when its share price has sharply declined. 

Even as recently as July 2024, the company’s earnings had halved. Economic turbulence and underperforming sales meant tens of billions of dollars had been wiped off the company share price within a few months. 

There were murmurs about the lack of interest or innovation in the Robotaxi idea, which Elon has been trying to get off the ground for years. Although the Robotaxi failed to ignite any positive price action, quite the opposite, in fact, there was a significant shift in the company’s fortunes just a couple of weeks later.

Tesla’s Second Wind Of 2024

Twitter, or X, has taken up much of Elon Musk’s time recently, but he has been keen not to take his eye off the action at Tesla. It’s unsurprising that Twitter, or X, has struggled over the last 12 months. 

Advertisers are moving sideways away from the brand, and economic and business analysts have stated that the company has dropped in value significantly since Musk took over. Elon took on a sizeable debt to purchase Twitter, so it’s understandably taken his focus away from Tesla. During this period, business analysts were starting to believe that the South African business maverick may have bitten off more than he could chew.

However, Tesla’s recent earnings predictions have blown any doubts about Musk or Tesla out of the water, at least in the short term. The company posted its best individual day of stock performance in over a decade. Although if these predictions are shown to be wide of the mark, and it wouldn’t be the first time that Elon has overpromised sales prices, the stock market and investors believe that the news is good to bet big on Tesla between now and Q1 of 2025.

Final Thoughts

It’s been a whirlwind decade and a half for Tesla investors, and those who have been strapped in since the beginning know better than most just how much Musk can drive the share price with his behavior and comments. Looking beneath the surface is the best indicator – and the fact Tesla’s stock shot up by over 20% in a single day shows that those who analyze the figures and the strength of his business are convinced that Tesla is as good of an investment as any. 

Tesla is an extension of Musk; the company doesn’t advertise and uses the high-profile visibility of its CEO to keep its brand in the public eye. This unique situation means that Musk’s words and actions control the direction of the multi-billion dollar car company. 

It’s equally about Musk defying the odds just as much as it is about Tesla – and a bet against the company is also a bet against Elon. Once you look at it from this angle, it becomes clearer why the company continues to pick itself up off the canvas and continue attracting lucrative levels of institutional investment.