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by eric-hu 466 days ago
As long as you're dreaming, perhaps you should also include giving up all his equity in the company. He'd still profit handsomely off someone else running the company well with over 12% of shares.
1 comments

I'm not going to go that far. He can invest in whatever he wants; if he owns a non-controlling amount of Amazon or Home Depot shares, I'm not going to stop shopping there.
I stopped shopping at Home Depot because their profits are donated to super pacs I don’t agree with.
Well, I'd say it depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

If you don't agree with his political stance and and want to loosen his outsized influence on US democracy (e.g. by pouring hundreds of millions in political campaigns, silencing intra-GOP opposition by threatening to primary them with his money, using Twitter to push the fringe talking points of the day), then I would argue your goal should be reducing his net worth by refusing to buy from companies he's invested in.

If on the other hand, you're mostly criticizing that the quality of Tesla's cars suffers because the company doesn't get his full attention, it's a different story and your stance makes sense.

Your idea, while well-founded, is practically impossible. If he put all his money into the S&P 500, and I refused to do business with any of its constituent companies, I’d barely be able to enjoy the fruits of modern society. I’m not that principled.

As for the second point, I’d contend that the quality of Tesla’s vehicles is suffering in large part because of his direct involvement. Choices like substituting a yoke for a steering wheel and the design of the Cybertruck were his ideas. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the latest idiotic move of eliminating steering column stalks for the turn signal, lights, and windshield wiper and washer were his, too.

Yes, agree that it would be very impractical if Elon was heavily diversified.

That said, as it stands, the vast majority of his net worth is tied up in just a few of his own companies, hence this approach should work for now.

Amazon isn't a great example though as Jeff “algorithmically controlling workers body” Bezos is only marginally less evil than Musk.
Tall poppy syndrome.

The entirely logistics industry tracks worker productivity closely.

Amazon are actually one of the better companies to work for. Their targets are more realistic, the pay is generally better, safety culture is much better and the facilities are air conditioned.

It's not just about tracking productivity, it's about the words he chose to say that.

Bezos also bought the WaPo and exert tight control over its editorial line so it can act as its own propaganda machine.

While not as ostensibly evil as Musk (likely because unlike the former, he's not high on drugs all the time), Bezos is still pretty close to a Bond villain.