I don't think he jumped the shark, more like the curtain fell down and there was not much there but marketing and crowd-work savvy.
Does Boeing and Lockheed Martin not have “actual engineers” and “actual factories”? Of course they do. Probably had more and better for most of SpaceX’s life.
They just can’t utilise what w have, because they have no vision beyond “cost-plus contracts”. That’s on management. That’s why Elon literally caused SpaceX and all/most their successes.