In perhaps his most uncharacteristic display of emotion yet, Elon Musk, famed workaholic CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, nearly broke down in tears in a recent interview with Danish broadcaster DR over the issue of Musk trying to take a vacation.
Musk said in the interview:
“My priority right now is to try to add some more management bench strength to Tesla in particular so that I can take a vacation. In the last 12 years I’ve only tried to take a week off twice.
“Creating a company is almost like having a child. It’s almost like, how do you say your child should not have food?”
The interviewer then asked Musk:
“So once you have the company you have to feed it and nurse it and take care of it even if it ruins you?”
“Yeah,” said a teary-eyed Musk.
Musk reportedly took a long pause after his response before the interviewer asked him how he navigated the 2008 financial crises. Musk then shook his head and said:
“Yeah. Can we just break for a second?”
At one point, Musk wiped his eyes as he looked close to shedding tears. Later on in the interview, Musk laughed as he explained why he puts himself under so much pressure:
“I have to say at times I’ve wondered. It’s actually been a very difficult journey I have to say. But I think there are certain important things that we must do in order for the future to be good. We must have sustainable energy. If we don’t have that the future is going to be terrible.”
Unfortunately for Musk, our universe’s version of Iron Man, there is no rest in sight because bad things always happen when he takes vacations:
“The first time I took a week off the Orbital Sciences rocket exploded and Richard Branson’s rocket exploded. In that same week. The second time I took a week off my rocket exploded. The lesson here is don’t take a week off.”
Can humanity not ruin itself for a week so this guy can take a freaking vacation, please?
