Former President Donald Trump expressed concerns about Elon Musk’s health during a recent conversation with the Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO on the social media platform, X.
What Happened: During the conversation with the former president, Musk discussed his visit to Fukushima, Japan, the site of the 2011 nuclear disaster. Musk emphasized the area’s safety, even eating local vegetables on TV to prove his point. He also mentioned donating a solar water treatment plant to the region.
Trump’s unexpected comment, “Yeah, but you haven’t been feeling so well lately, and I’m worried about it,” has sparked discussions about Musk’s health.
Musk responded, saying, “No, I am fine…” He then shifted the conversation to his pro-nuclear power stance. Musk argued that it’s safer than commonly perceived, citing the current habitation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as examples.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
The duo also discussed other topics including climate change and nuclear energy.
Trump, on the other hand, expressed concerns about what he termed “nuclear warming,” emphasizing geopolitical tensions related to nuclear capabilities, particularly China’s rapid development as a potential rival to U.S. power.
Despite the comment being seemingly made in jest, it has led to concerns about Musk’s well-being. There have been no public reports or statements from Musk in this regard yet.
Why It Matters: The health of Musk is a topic of significant interest, especially given his pivotal role in Tesla. Earlier, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, “Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla,” underscoring the integral connection between Musk and the EV giant. Ives has emphasized that Musk’s departure could lead to a significant talent drain at Tesla, which would be detrimental to the company.
In April, Ives also suggested that Musk should pledge a 3-5 year tenure as CEO, stating that “70% of the value of Tesla is Musk.” This highlights the market’s reliance on Musk’s leadership for Tesla’s valuation and prospects.
Even Venture capitalist Naval Ravikant earlier threatened to sell his Tesla holdings if Musk’s pay plan got rejected, highlighting the CEO’s influence on investor confidence. This underscores the broader implications of Musk’s health on Tesla’s market performance and investor sentiment.
The interview between Trump and Musk was highly anticipated and reached unprecedented levels, with over 1.3 million listeners tuning in, despite a 44-minute delay due to a massive Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack on X. The interview covered a wide range of topics, including a failed assassination attempt on Musk and Kamala Harris’s no-tax-on-tips policy.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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