Elon Musk grumbled Monday about his grueling daily workload after adding a new role as CEO of Twitter to his already lengthy list of C-suite positions.
A tired-sounding Musk revealed he has essentially worked 24/7 while leading a widely criticized overhaul at Twitter. The billionaire is also the top boss at electric car maker Tesla, the space exploration firm SpaceX and the tunnel-digging Boring Company, along with various other side projects.
“The amount that I torture myself is next level, frankly,” Musk said while interviewed at a business summit in Bali, Indonesia ahead of the G-20 meeting on the island.
Musk spoke at the event in a darkened room – with his face only made visible by candlelight. The Twitter CEO said he had lost power just before the interview began.
When asked about Tesla’s sprawling sales operation and supply chains, Musk said he manages the company’s global operations “with great difficulty.”
“I’m really working the absolute most amount that I can work, from morning till night, 7 days a week. It’s not something I would recommend, frankly,” Musk added.
Musk has taken a hands-on approach after buying Twitter for $44 billion, leading a major revamp of the social media site’s verification process while charging users $8 per month in exchange for their “blue checks.”
Meanwhile, advertisers are pausing their spending on Twitter en masse due to rising concerns about the Musk-led platform’s content moderation strategy and a surge in “verified” accounts fraudulently impersonating real companies and celebrities. The company also carried out a major round of layoffs that drew sharp criticism from ousted employees.
Last week, Musk warned employees that Twitter could potentially file for bankruptcy in the future if its financial outlook doesn’t improve.
At the same time, Musk is aiming to bolster Tesla despite global supply chain difficulties and the looming likelihood of a recession. SpaceX is attempting to reach Mars within a matter of years and operates Starlink – the sateliite internet service currently playing a key role in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Later in the event, Musk said aspiring entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world should think twice before aiming to emulate his career.
“Be careful what you wish for. I’m not sure how many people would actually like to be me,” Musk said. “They would like to be what they imagine being me, which is not the same as actually being me.”