

Elon, Inc.
Bloomberg
Elon Musk’s sprawling business empire has granted the billionaire a degree of power and global influence that transcends the industries he’s reshaped. He is the leader of no fewer than six hugely influential companies, spanning electric vehicles to wartime communications, and their innovations could shape the fates of nations.
Musk is polarizing, confounding and inescapable. And he is the biggest business story of our time.
Each week, listen in as host David Papadopoulos convenes a panel of Bloomberg Businessweek journalists who are tracking Musk’s companies and the surprising ways they intersect. They break down the business mogul's latest moves and analyze what they could mean for us all.
Musk is polarizing, confounding and inescapable. And he is the biggest business story of our time.
Each week, listen in as host David Papadopoulos convenes a panel of Bloomberg Businessweek journalists who are tracking Musk’s companies and the surprising ways they intersect. They break down the business mogul's latest moves and analyze what they could mean for us all.
Episodes
Mentioned books

5 snips
May 7, 2024 • 36min
Reinstating Nick Fuentes and Tone-Policing J.K. Rowling
White supremacist Nick Fuentes reappears on Musk's X with 2.1 million viewers. Musk advises J.K. Rowling on social media etiquette. Bloomberg tech reporter joins to discuss these topics and more in the Elon-world.

Apr 30, 2024 • 37min
Elon Goes to China, X Has an Anniversary
Reporters Dana Hull and Max Chafkin discuss Elon Musk's recent trip to China for FSD negotiation, Tesla's strategic moves in the region, Musk's leadership decisions, Twitter's latest initiatives, and Musk's content strategy on X platform. The hosts also speculate on theoretical tag team fight scenarios involving influential figures.

Apr 23, 2024 • 32min
The Most Important Earnings of Elon's Life?
This week David, Dana and Max are joined by Bloomberg Technology co-host Ed Ludlow to take a deep dive into all things Tesla, in advance of today’s fateful earnings report. Things are looking increasingly bleak for the company and we'll soon know if the numbers match the mood set by last week's layoffs. Also discussed: BINGO! And then, is Elon Musk feuding with Tucker Carlson? Max seems to think so, Dana is not so sure.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 22, 2024 • 16min
Bonus: Matt Levine Talks Elon
We here at Elon, Inc wanted to introduce you to Matt Levine's Money Stuff: The Podcast - especially since he spoke about Elon in the latest episode. Please enjoy this excerpt, and subscribe to their feed if you like what you hear!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 16, 2024 • 39min
Tesla Can't Stop Losing
For the past week, Tesla has been in the news—badly. Tesla announced the largest company-wide terminations in its history—laying off 10% of its global workforce, or thousands of people. At the same time, two top executives are leaving. And that’s just the latest. So what gives? We explain. Plus, David, Dana and Max are joined by national security reporter Dan Flatley to talk about Musk’s upcoming trip to India.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 9, 2024 • 36min
Elon Mulls a Robotaxi, X is Threatened in Brazil
On Friday, Elon promised an August 8 unveiling of a new robotaxi and replied to a post on X suggesting that Tesla was “shifting more resources” to the category. Meanwhile, Musk’s in a standoff with Brazil’s Supreme Court over what he sees as the country’s heavy-handed regulation of misinformation. The battle could force X out of one of its key markets. We discuss his legal challenges in Brazil with Sasha Issenberg, author of The Lie Detectives, and Bloomberg social media reporter Kurt Wagner (author of Battle for the Bird). And then chat through the implications of Musk’s turn to a technology that remains unproven with Elon, Inc. regulars Max Chafkin and Dana Hull. Finally, a brand new segment: Enchantment of the Week, where we analyze the a potential alliance between Elon and investor Nelson Peltz.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 2, 2024 • 34min
Elon's Porn Problem (and Tesla Headache)
If you think you’ve been seeing more X-rated content on X lately, you’re not alone. Elon's social media platform has long been permissive about suggestive material, but as Musk cut his content moderation teams, there seems to be more of the stuff floating around—and in more prominent places. This week, John Herrman of New York magazine, who recently published a story about a strange, particularly viral type of post, joins the Elon, Inc. panel to talk about X and porn. But first, Tesla sales numbers. They are not good. Not good at all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 26, 2024 • 29min
Tesla Takes the Wheel, Starlink Terminals Have a Black Market Problem
In a collaboration with the Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast, we present a story on SpaceX's Starlink satellite program. It touts itself as a source of reliable internet in hard-to-reach places. But there are some countries where Starlink’s services aren’t licensed, or where the company can’t do business because of US sanctions. And a Bloomberg investigation has found that Starlink kits are appearing in many of those markets anyway – with geopolitical consequences.Before we unpack that reporting, David, Max and Dana discuss new rules for selling Teslas, a tossed lawsuit and a report alleging that X has been profiting from selling data to governments and police departments, via a third-party data broker, even as it fights a lawsuit related to government surveillance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 26, 2024 • 1min
Listen Now: The Big Take
The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 19, 2024 • 34min
Lemon Out, Tesla Down, SpaceX Up
In January, former CNN anchor Don Lemon announced that he’d had found a new patron who promised not to rein him in: Elon Musk. The new Don Lemon Show would air on X, Musk’s social media network. Lemon described the app formerly known as Twitter as “the biggest space for free speech in the world.” He promised “a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors.”The partnership, which X chief executive Linda Yaccarino, had also enthusiastically touted, didn’t survive the first episode, which featured an extremely awkward interview with Lemon’s would-be patron. The relationship died before the interview even aired.To break down the breakdown of what had been one of Musk’s highest profile content deals, and to discuss what it means for his struggling social network, we speak with Bloomberg social media reporter Kurt Wagner and Bloomberg’s Musk correspondent Dana Hull.But first we sift through the laundry list of other Musk news this week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.