If you want to attract clients and investors by being a thought leader, be bold and provocative like Elon Musk. But unlike Elon Musk, do not make the tragic mistake of going too far.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled charges with Musk, alleging he committed securities fraud with false statements about plans to take the company private. He will remain as CEO but pay a stiff fine. This is a cautionary tale for all thought leaders.
As a journalist, let me tell you Musk is a great interview. A few years back he spoke for me at a conference that I organized and I wrote a magazine article on him. (For full disclosure my cousin works for Tesla, but I am avoiding the subject with him.)
In the trade we say he makes great copy. Musk is charismatic. He dreams big about electric cars, space exploration and colonizing Mars. He is quotable. Great lessons for thought leaders.
I was sad to read the AP wire story that the SEC filed a complaint that Musk falsely claimed on Twitter that funding had been secured for Tesla Inc. to go private at $420 per share. That provocative tweet meant it would be a substantial premium over the stock price at the time.
Promotional talk by a bold CEO or stock manipulation fraud? A caution to us all.
If you write or speak about publicly traded stock, you need to know the rules. I once had to fire someone because he wrote a press release with good news for a client and bought stock before the release went out the next day. Later he asked me for a job reference. Unreal. Now that is a cautionary story too.
Storytelling is a passion of mine. In literature a cautionary tale is typically a tale told to warn of a danger. Some say there are three parts to a cautionary tale: a taboo, a dangerous act, and then someone who disregards a warning. Plus, an unhappy ending, of course. Tragedies like Othello, Macbeth and The Godfather are cautionary tales. A more recent reference would be the TV series Breaking Bad.
Bragging about your company is a norm today, but there is a taboo about manipulating stock. Tweeting about the stock is a dangerous act. Musk has a huge celebrity status with more than 22 million Twitter followers. That is a huge bully pulpit and should be treated with respect.
When you write a book, an article, an annual report, heck even a website, you get many eyes on it. Was Musk warned about his tweet? Does he run tweets by anybody?
So there is an unhappy ending here for Musk and Tesla. As part of the settlement, Musk and the company will pay $20 million each, and the billionaire will step down as chairman of the board but will remain as CEO.
Now that is a strong cautionary warning that all thought leaders should not disregard.
