Elon Musk is not crazy or some super genius calculating 20 steps ahead of everyone else - he is simply a man who does not like being pushed around and being told what to do. I'm no psychologist, but having read his biography and having dealt with many adults who were bullied as kids, it makes perfect sense from my experience as to why he is reacting the way he's reacting. I suspect that the perception (be it real or imagined) of being picked on, (by the SEC, by his board, by the short sellers, etc. etc.) might simply be too painful for him to allow any rational ( i.e. ego-free) thoughts to win out. This and his inflated ego (a lethal combination) may be the reason he's digging his heels in.