Musk defense “borders on the ridiculous,” SEC tells court

The SEC is one of the government agencies that’s best not to mess around with. They have broad powers, lots of discretion, and a very long arm. They can’t put you in jail, but they can make sure you never see the inside of a boardroom or run another publicly traded company until you die. They can also reach out and seize assets overseas, and they have a pretty close relationship with the Justice Department.

I think Musk is just somewhat damaged, as his recent history keeps demonstrating. Calling that diver “pedo guy” was beyond stupid, but going back for seconds on that was nuts. Smoking pot on video when you have a security clearance is also stupid, as was “funding secured.” His behavior on that shareholder call was childish, and so on. He just keeps on walking into panes or plate glass and bitching about how much it hurts, but no one is doing this to him, but him.

He has some huge companies to run, and this behavior as a pattern is concerning for those of us who care more about the fate of those companies than his increasingly obnoxious and conspiratorial cult of personality.