Unfortunately this is an absurd statement on quite a few levels, as we’ll get into.
It’s also Elon at his most Elon, asserting his expertise in crypto just as eagerly as he claimed he would bring world changing innovation to rescue submarines and respirators and public transit – all of which ended in some degree of disappointment.
Musk isn’t alone in this unfortunate habit. Successful tech entrepreneurs, or even just lucky investors, seem particularly vulnerable to what’s known as “The peter principle”. The principle was first laid out in 1969 as a corporate management problem, based on the observation that successful workers were often promoted beyond the level of their own abilities. The concept has over time taken on the broader meaning that successful people will expand into new arenas until they hit the limits of their ability and fail, sometimes spectacularly. Silicon Valley leaders, in particular, seem frequently eager to reach beyond what they know and prove that their unique insights apply more broadly. Like Musk, they’re frequently wrong.
