“I believe Tesla’s future will be very prosperous.”
— Elon Reeve Musk, Founder, Tesla
The Scene That Cannot Be Omitted When Talking About Elon Musk
In 2004, Musk entered Tesla as an investor. He was not the founder. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning had already founded the company in 2003, and Musk led the first funding round and took the position of chairman. He became CEO in 2008. It took four years. In the meantime, SpaceX went to the brink of bankruptcy, and Tesla had barely begun Roadster production. It was a year when both companies nearly collapsed simultaneously.
In early 2025, he entered the Trump administration as the de facto head of DOGE. The world’s richest person was running the government efficiency department. And he publicly had a falling out with Trump and left the administration. He returned to Tesla. In November 2025, Tesla’s board approved a $1 trillion compensation package for him, payable over 10 years upon achieving specific targets. The number is so large that it’s the kind of story that feels unreal.
Three Core Brand Philosophy Principles
He Used Technology as a Means, Not an End
Tesla is known as an electric car company, but Musk didn’t enter Tesla because he liked cars. He spoke of humanity’s sustainable energy transition, and Tesla was the means to that end. The lineup from Roadster to Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, Tesla Semi, and Cybertruck was not simply a product extension. There was first a direction to democratize electric vehicles, and products were positioned along that path. SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI, Boring Company. Looking at the list of companies he founded, it’s clear he’s not an automotive person. Tesla was just one of them.
He Continued While Openly Showing Failure
SpaceX’s early rockets failed consecutively. Tesla ran out of funding due to overlapping Roadster production delays. Musk invested his personal wealth. Both companies survived, but the process was not quiet. The failures were made public in the media, stock prices wavered, and criticism poured in. He did not hide that state. He co-founded OpenAI and then left, and later founded xAI separately. When direction changed, he left. Direction came before saving face.
Vision Came Before Brand
The name Tesla came from the inventor Nikola Tesla. It’s not even a name he created. Yet now when you think of Tesla, Musk comes to mind first. It’s not the result of a designed branding strategy. It’s a connection created by accumulating what he said and did. He acquired Twitter and changed its name to X. Many people asked why. The explanation was not long. He had already used the name X.com when co-founding an online payment company. It was something closer to an obsession than a brand strategy.
SOULPAPAMARKETING’s Perspective
Musk entered Tesla not as a founder but as an investor. And four years later, he became CEO. This sequence is interesting. Most people are most strongly attached to what they create from the beginning. He was different. He entered something made by others and made it his own. Not through ownership, but through immersion.
Looking at the number of companies he operated simultaneously, it seems like dispersal. But there’s a point where they come together in one line. Energy, space, brain-machine interface, artificial intelligence. All of them are about humanity’s next phase. It’s not the portfolio of someone growing an automotive company. It’s closer to tools chosen by someone trying to write humanity’s next chapter. Within that context, Tesla is not an electric car company.
He led DOGE, had a falling out with Trump, and came back. The world’s richest person entering and leaving the government is itself a strange affair. But his actions afterward are more impressive. He came back quietly. To Tesla. A person who returns to his company after a major event. In the end, he knew where his place was.
A person doing something for a long time isn’t just because they like it. When there’s a feeling that there are no other choices but that, the state lasts longer. I don’t know if Musk is that kind of person. But looking at the list of things he’s doing now, he doesn’t seem like a person who doesn’t know how to stop. He seems like a person who chose not to stop. That difference is bigger than you’d think.
References
Frequently Asked Questions
How many years did it take for Musk to become CEO after entering Tesla as an investor in 2004, and what happened during that time?
Musk, who entered as an investor in 2004, became CEO four years later in 2008. During that time, SpaceX nearly went bankrupt, Tesla had barely begun Roadster production, and both companies were on the verge of collapsing simultaneously.
Why did Musk leave after leading DOGE in the Trump administration in early 2025?
Musk entered the Trump administration in early 2025 as the de facto head of DOGE, but publicly fell out with Trump. He eventually left the administration and returned to Tesla, and in November 2025, Tesla’s board approved a $1 trillion compensation package payable over 10 years upon achieving specific targets.
What do companies like SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI, and Boring Company that Musk founded have in common?
Musk’s companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI all deal with energy, space, brain-machine interface, and artificial intelligence—all related to humanity’s sustainable transition and next phase. These are not ends in themselves like cars or rockets, but means to realize a greater vision.
Original Korean: https://soulpapa.co.kr/2026/03/18/ceo-interview-tesla-2026-03-18/
Insights from Soulpapa Marketing — Korea’s digital marketing agency.