Elon Musk has always hated the fossil-fuel industry. His stated mission for Tesla Inc. is to hasten its demise, and more than once he’s blamed the “unrelenting and enormous” power of oil interests for sabotaging his efforts. But now, in his bid to take Tesla private, Musk is courting billions of oil dollars.
After a week of playing coy about who he’s been trying to enlist to help buy out Tesla’s publicly traded shares, Musk revealed at least one partner: Saudi Arabia. It’s hard to think of a more perfect symbol of Big Oil and its money than a sovereign wealth fund created by world’s biggest oil producer. Musk said in a blog post on Monday that he’s been in talks with Saudi Arabia “going back almost two years.”
Constructing the appearance of a high-stakes struggle between Tesla and the fossil-fuel industry has always been key to Tesla’s brand strategy. In the age of global warming, Musk has argued over and over again, you’re either part of the solution with civilization hanging in the balance or you’re the problem. Every time he unveils a new Tesla product—be it a battery for your home or an expensive sports car—he’s careful to lay out the case for how it helps the worldwide transition to sustainable energy. The idea that oil money was arrayed against him made buying his products seem like choosing a side in an epochal struggle.
Problem is journos are under constant pressure to get max clicks & earn advertising dollars or get fired. Tricky situation, as Tesla doesn’t advertise, but fossil fuel companies & gas/diesel car companies are among world’s biggest advertisers.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
By now it’s clear, however, that the battle lines can’t be quite so neatly drawn.Some of the very parties Musk has been condemning as threats to the planet want to be seen as part of the solution, too.
An Oil Conspiracy Theory
To get a sense of Musk’s distrust of the fossil fuel industry, you don’t have to go back far.