Michael Hiltzik: Is Elon Musk a genius or an idiot?
At the heart of Elon Musk's public persona is his image as an engineering and managerial genius.
How else could he build Tesla into the world's leading electric vehicle company, creating a profitable market for an entirely new technology? Or strip down the costs of space flight to turn SpaceX into the low-cost bid-winner for government rocket launching?
Musk's image has won him a legion of adoring fans, many of whom see him as a savior of a globally warming Earth or, alternatively, the savior of humanity through his plan to transport civilization to an unpolluted Mars.
That image has taken a hit in recent months, thanks to Musk's misadventure with Twitter.
The doubts originated with his whimsical offer last April to buy the social media platform for $44 billion, his transparent wriggling to get out of the vastly overpriced deal, and his ultimate capitulation in the face of the near-certain prospect that a Delaware court would order him to complete the transaction at the original agreed price.
Musk's actions since taking over Twitter on Oct. 27 have been so destructive to the platform's functioning and reputation that the question is raised of
