Elon Musk founded Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink and other companies and is constantly ranked among the first three the richest people in the world. But his latest conversation with another powerful CEO shows the price Musk had to pay to achieve wealth — and the management strategies and mindsets he now uses to build successful companies.
Musk explained how he defined the extremely difficult task Nikolai TangenCEO of Norges Bank $1.6 trillion, the world's largest wealth fundin one April episode of Tangen's podcast, In good company.
Extremely hard work happens when “you're basically working every waking hour,” Musk said.
When asked how long he could do this, Musk replied that he had been doing it “constantly” for several years at a time.
Elon Musk. Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
“I've done many, many stretches of 100-hour weeks where I sleep about six hours a day,” Musk said. “I wouldn't recommend that. That's for emergencies.”
Musk put in those 100-hour weeks during tough times at Tesla and in the early days of some of his startups, when he said he slept under his desk and worked seven days a week.
Musk also discussed overseeing hard workers in the podcast, stating that smart people tend to manage themselves and can work anywhere. His strategy is to outline a common goal and ask them if they agree with it. If they do, they can do it.
When Tangen asked how Musk balanced micromanaging with delegation, he claimed he wouldn't call his style “micromanaging.”
“It's just the insistence on attention to detail,” Musk said. “If you're trying to make a perfect product, attention to detail is essential.”
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When asked how he would like to be remembered, Musk said he doesn't mind if his legacy is inaccurate as long as he feels he “did the right thing for the future of consciousness.”
Musk is the CEO of Tesla, which he stated this week is on track to produce new, more affordable electric cars, even as revenues are down year-over-year.
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