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Elon Musk: Why the Iron Man has admitted it's time to recharge his batteries

Money never sleeps, but the co-founder of PayPal and CEO of Solar City, SpaceX and Tesla has earned a little rest

Katie Grant
Monday 05 October 2015 22:26 BST
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Elon Musk is the CEO of Solar City, SpaceX and Tesla
Elon Musk is the CEO of Solar City, SpaceX and Tesla

Money never sleeps…

That may be but this business mogul could do with a little rest. Elon Musk might seem to have the get-up-and-go of the Energizer bunny but the co-founder of PayPal and CEO of Solar City, SpaceX and Tesla has admitted he needs to recharge his batteries.

But he’s the Iron Man!

Musk earned this nickname after Robert Downey Jr turned to him for inspiration when he was portraying the billionaire Tony Stark in Iron Man and has described lounging on the beach as “the worst”.

Sun, sea and sand? Sounds awful.

The tech billionaire, 44, insisted it would leave him “super-duper bored”. But it appears he was warming to the idea.

I should think so, given that he has his own private jet.

During a TV appearance on Denmark’s 21 Sondag programme Musk, who lives in the US, admitted he’s only attempted to take time off twice in 12 years.

Married to the job, is he?

“Creating a company is almost like having a child,” Musk explained. “It’s almost like, how do you say your child should not have food?” Musk appeared close to tears and admitted he has questioned how he has coped with the stress of running multiple businesses. “It’s actually been a very difficult journey,” he said.

Sounds like could benefit from a better work-life balance…

He might need a little convincing yet. “The first time I took a week off, the Orbital Sciences rocket exploded and Richard Branson’s rocket exploded,” Musk recalled. “The second time I took a week off, my rocket exploded. The lesson here is don’t take a week off.”

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