Pursuits

For Elon Musk, Tesla Impresario, the Latest Act Falls Flat

  • Tesla’s ever-growing ambitions fuel concerns about cash burn
  • The billionaire’s ‘Master Plan, Part Deux’ doesn’t wow all

Future of Tesla: Breaking Down Musk's 'Master Plan'

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The hints, the tweets, the will-he-or-won’t-he suspense. It was classic showman Elon Musk.

Then his much-hyped 1,500-word manifesto dropped and -- whiff. The maestro may have struck out. His groupies still idolize the billionaire-genius behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors Inc. and SolarCity Corp., the dreamer who wants to build hyperloops and colonize Mars. But recently, puffs of doubt have begun to surround the inspiration for Tony Stark in the “Iron Man” movies. After Musk mesmerized Wall Street for years, investors are starting to look for him to do something new: deliver financial results, or at least a road map for them.