Hyperdrive

Elon Musk’s Tesla Hype Machine Breaks Down

The market is having trouble squaring the CEO’s narrative with the carmaker’s results.

Elon Musk.

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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For years, Elon Musk paid zero dollars for traditional advertising while almost singlehandedly keeping Tesla — and himself — front and center. With a never-ending stream of tweets, television and podcast appearances and livestreamed product events, the electric-vehicle maker and its billionaire CEO dominated news cycles and occasionally went viral.