&w=3840&q=100)
Hubris Maximus: Pride, prejudices, and the nine lives of Elon Musk
How Elon Musk continues to emerge unscathed despite his most outrageous tweets and pronouncements
Prosenjit Datta
Listen to This Article
Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk
by Faiz Siddiqui
Published by HarperCollins
268 pages ₹599
Elon Musk's life and business shenanigans make for highly readable books. Apart from becoming staggeringly rich — and at one point the world's richest man — he is eccentric, utterly arrogant, super confident in his own abilities, extremely inconsistent and, finally, given to impulsive decisions. He has built a legion of followers who swear by him and are willing to go to war against his perceived enemies after a single post by him on X (earlier Twitter). His personal life and beliefs are even more colourful.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hindustan Times
20 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Indian CEO slams Elon Musk's Tesla for returning $1,000 reservation fee paid in 2017
Harsh Jain, CEO of Dream11, took to Elon Musk's social media platform X to voice his disappointment with the billionaire's other company - Tesla. The Indian CEO said that in 2017, when Tesla was supposed to debut in India, he had paid $1,000 to reserve a Model 3. Nearly a decade later, Tesla's long-awaited debut in India has still not materialized, the least-expensive Model 3 has been discontinued, and Jain's reservation fee has been returned to him. The Dream11 CEO is not happy. In a scathing post shared on X, Harsh Jain called out Elon Musk and Tesla for refunding his $1,000 reservation fee after eight years and taking away his priority slot. He shared a screenshot of the message he received from the electric carmaker informing him that the 'original Model 3' of his reservation is one of the products that Tesla has replaced. 'Wow Elon Musk, do you know Tesla is turning ALL its fans and early believers in India into haters?' Jain asked in his X post. 'I had paid $1k for a priority slot in March 2017 for Tesla's India launch. Now that Tesla is FINALLY launching almost 10 YEARS later they're only going to refund me $1k and take away my priority slot?' he revealed. The Dream11 CEO noted that if he had invested this $1,000 in Tesla shares back in 2017, they would have been worth upwards of $20,000 today. 'Even if I had just invested this $1k in Tesla in March 2017, it would be worth ~$20k now. Way to show fans that Tesla doesn't care,' he wrote. Tesla told Jain in what appears to be an email that it is in the process of finalizing its product offerings in India. The company also informed Jain that it would return the $1,000 fee he paid to reserve a Model 3 back in 2017. Read the full text of the email below: 'Thank you for your support in Tesla and being an early reservation holder of the Model 3. As Tesla continues to grow, our product lineup continues to evolve. In the past few years, many of our products back at the time have been replaced, and many new products have been introduced. The original Model 3 in your reservation was one of the products that have been replaced. 'Model 3 in your reservation was one of the products that have been replaced. 'As such, we would like to return your reservation fee for the time being. When we finalize our product offerings in India, we will reach out in the market again. We hope to see you back with us once we are ready to launch and deliver in the country. Your patience and support are greatly appreciated, and Tesla won't be where we are today without early supporters like you.' Tesla, which has for years planned an India market entry, posted a number of mid-level jobs in India in February. (Also read: Tesla hiring in India: After Mumbai, Musk's company offering job in this city | What is it, who can apply, how to apply) One June 3, news agency PTI reported that Tesla India has taken on lease a warehousing space in Mumbai at a starting monthly rent of ₹37.53 lakh. Real estate data analytics firm CRE Matrix has reviewed the registration documents. "Tesla's India entry is taking shape through a deliberate, multi-city rollout -- from its office in Pune to flagship showrooms in BKC and Delhi-NCR, co-working presence in BKC and now a strategic warehousing facility in Kurla-West Mumbai. This 24,565 sq ft lease at ₹153 per square feet is more than a real estate transactions -- its a signal of intent," CRE Matrix CEO Abhishek Kiran Gupta said.


Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
Elon Musk says Tesla's driverless robotaxi service to 'tentatively' launch in Austin on June 22
Elon Musk says Tesla is "tentatively" set to begin providing robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on June 22. In a post on his X social media platform, Musk said the date could change because Tesla is "being super paranoid about safety." Investors, Wall Street analysts and Tesla enthusiasts have been anticipating the rollout of the driverless cabs since Musk said earlier this year that the service would launch in Austin sometime in June. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Secret Discounts Car Insurers Don't Want You to Know AutoTrends Last month, Musk told CNBC that the taxis will be remotely monitored at first and "geofenced" to certain areas of the city deemed the safest to navigate. He said he expected to initially run 10 or so taxis, increase that number rapidly and start offering the service in Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Francisco and other cities. Musk has been promising fully autonomous, self-driving vehicles "next year" for a decade, but the pressure is on now as Tesla actually begins to operate a self-driving taxi service. Sales of Tesla's electric vehicles have sagged due to increased competition, the retooling of its most popular car, the Model Y, and the fallout from Musk's turn to politics. Live Events The Austin rollout also comes after Musk had a public blowup with President Donald Trump over the administration's tax bill. Some analysts have expressed concern that Trump could retaliate by encouraging federal safety regulators to to step in at any sign of trouble for the robotaxis.


Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Tesla's robotaxi to offer rides from June 22 tentatively; First in Austin
Tesla is planning to begin offering rides to the public on its self-driving robotaxis on June 22, said CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday, as investors and fans of the electric vehicle maker eagerly await rollout of the long-promised service. Moving away from his plans to build a cheaper EV platform, Musk is now focusing on Tesla's future with self-driving vehicles, and much of the company's valuation depends on this vision itself. However, commercialising autonomous vehicles (AV) has faced many challenges, including safety concerns, tight regulations and soaring investments, with many being sceptical of Musk's plans. Meanwhile, Elon Musk in an X post hinted at 'being paranoid' about the safety and saying that the date could shift. Musk was responding to a question from a user about public robotaxi rides. Musk also said starting June 28, Tesla vehicles will drive themselves to a customer's house from the end of the factory line. Robotaxi's successful launch is crucial for Tesla as its sales have softened owing to the rising competition and backlash against Elon Musk for supporting far-right political views in Europe. Musk has promised that the paid service will begin in Austin starting with about 10-20 of its Model Y SUVs that will operate in a limited area and under remote human supervision. Gradually the company plans to expand operations to other U.S. states later in the year, including California which has stringent AV regulations. Tesla has been testing its self-driving vehicles on public streets in Austin, Musk said last month. Earlier on Tuesday, Musk re-posted a video on X that showed a Model Y making a turn at an Austin intersection with no human driver and the word "Robotaxi" written on it. According to Musk, the vehicles were using a new version of Tesla's advanced driver assistance software, called Full Self-Driving (FSD). Till now, little is known about Tesla's robotaxi service, including where it will operate, the extent of remote supervision and how the public can use the service. (With Reuters Inputs)