He's always had sort've a goofy/semi-awkward style of talking. He has immense pressure to say the right things, and he also has a huge amount of things in his head (genius), so probably takes a bit to formulate an accurate thing to say.
There are actual geniuses and brilliant people working at space X and Tesla. For example the COO of space X who is the one that made the NASA deal yet I doubt anyone here knows her name.
There are many, many people with close relations to him who would call him a genius, but yes, I'm sure you know the 'truth'.
'I think Elon Musk is a genius and I don't use that word lightly. I think he's also one of the boldest men that ever came down the pike. Put me down as saying I've always been afraid of the guy whose IQ is 190 and he thinks it's 250. I like to think there’s a little of that risk with Elon. He is a certified genius.' - Charlie Munger.
But sure, Berkshire Hathaway owns 0 Tesla stock [0].
Not all opinions have secret motives haha.
Huh? Haven't there been like 7 people ever with an IQ of 190?
I think Elon's a smart guy. He has a big part in designing some of the rockets. However, I think his actual brilliance is in marketing. He (clearly) knows how to generate hype/buzz for all of his companies.
But yeah, I find it hilarious that people think he's the only reason why SpaceX and Tesla succeed. Tesla's taking a nosedive and SpaceX isn't largely because of Gwynne Shotwell.
The COO is the person behind the curtain and the CEO is the showman or visionary.