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Comment by flexie | Hacker News Reader

That Elon Musk can sell $10M worth of something as silly as flamethrowers, should be a sign of worry for car manufacturers. The cult surrounding Elon Musk is second to none in the auto world. Which car manufacturer could sell useless merchandise branded with the name of what is really just an experimental side project run by a sister company, not even the brand of the auto company itself?

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Tesla investors should worry about stunts like these. Each time Musk sells nonsense products like these he trades brand equity for money. To be explicit, these flamethrowers diminish the value of Tesla.

This isn't even Tesla. It's the Boring Company. Tesla investors shouldn't care about other companies. Maybe do some research before posting.

There is another way to look at it.

How much of the Tesla valuation is due to Musk? 20, 30, 50, 90%?

Each stunt like this makes which ever percentage that is a bit bigger.

What happens if or more like when Musk retires from Tesla to focus on SpaceX or another company? He’s running effectively 4 companies atm Tesla, SolarCity, SpaceX and the Boring Company eventually he could want or will have to focus on fewer ventures.

Tesla is effectively the only public traded company if he leaves the stock can tank and tank to the point where it would put them in serious trouble.

It would never have occurred to me to buy a flamethrower, but I would have thought they’d be much more expensive than $500.

I don’t think it reduces Musk’s brand. It’s tech, they’re fun (no one is buying these for a practical purpose) and they look like they’re from a video game. It’s a luxury hardware gadget.

As long as they work, that is. He needs to be careful he doesn’t develop a persona of overpromising and being unable to meet commitments.

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