Elon Musk’s complete U-turn on the Twitter buyout made the headlines recently. He might have changed his mind for interest reasons or the fact that the court might have ordered him to buy the company anyway. However, Elon impulsively changing his mind on a Tuesday morning isn’t something uncommon. 

His love-hate relationship with Twitter is well documented. This whole saga of his Twitter buyout is good entertainment for some and Elon loves it that way. He loves being vocal on matters that do not require him to be vocal. Case in point, recently he posted a poll on Twitter on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. 

It was quite frankly, pointless. The merits of the tweets do not matter in this context. Elon has no business whatsoever in meddling in Ukraine, a sovereign country with the freedom to conduct matters as they wish. Sure he can have an opinion, but he should realize the weight that his tweets carry. Additionally, posting something in the middle of a war that has seen crimes against humanity, sham referendums and “annexations”, some sensitivity has to be maintained. 

Elon has often stolen the headlines for his outlandish behaviour. So I thought it would be a great idea to take a psychopathy test as Elon Musk. So the question for today is, “Is Elon Musk a psychopath?”

I gave this test on a site called PsychCentral. It has 12 statements to which there are 3 answers ranging from, This is somewhat me, This is definitely me, and Not me. So here we go!

Statement no. 1, “Most would describe me as charming and nonchalant — I can turn my charm on and off like a faucet”. 

Elon Musk fits the above bill. The countless number of boardroom dramas he has created in his professional life right down to his demands towards his exes in his romantic life demonstrate this idea. 

Statement no. 2, “I do what I want when I want, the moment the impulse strikes me, regardless of what others want”. 

Taking impulsive decisions has been the mainstay of Elon Musk for a long time. This also means that he quickly loses interest in what he does, leaving his impulsive decisions high and dry. Seeing projects through to completion in a timely fashion is not his strong suit. Crew Dragon would be a great example here. As Crew Dragon was slipping four years behind schedule, Musk wasn't focused on that task at all. Instead, he and Gwynne Shotwell were out promoting BFR's starship as a Mars Colony transport and airline replacement. Although Musk is often given credit for the things his companies pull off  if you add up the time he spends on Twitter or playing video games or doing interviews, it's pretty obvious he's not doing any of it himself.

Statement no. 3, “If something goes wrong or turns out badly, it’s not my fault”. 

Elon would never publicly accept his failures because he knows he can get away with it. He also has a tendency to manipulate situations, in case it is not a failure. The multiple billion dollar class action lawsuits Musk is involved with telling this story nicely. When SolarCity was bought by Tesla, Musk made Tesla pay him a massive premium on top of the share price. That strengthened his hold on Tesla all the way around. That was a complete conflict of interest. The next example is the self-enrichment action filed by shareholders where Musk was going to stuff his pockets with billions, while Tesla's shareholders have yet to receive a single penny in dividends. And Musk continuously ignore state law when blowing up his prototypes at Bokachika, which has finally caught the attention of some major environmental groups concerned about the nature preserves that surround SpaceX's launch complex at Bokachika. 

The infamous incident of Elon calling Vern Unsworth a “pedo” when the latter accused him of pulling off a PR stunt is also telling of Elon’s character. Vern Unsworth, a British diver was responsible for rescuing children trapped in a flooded cave.

Statement no 4, “ I’ve gotten into legal or criminal trouble as an adult (not just a speeding or parking ticket)”.

For this, we do not even have to look any further. The number of legal troubles that Elon faces are too many to keep a track of. Legal problems in Elon Musk are practically synonymous. Class actions against him personally are building up to head to the over 1000 active legal proceedings against Musk and Tesla. Musk is also very adversarial when it comes to the SEC, which has had to come down on him hard several times for misleading shareholders through his Twitter account. The Labor Relations Board has found Musk guilty of several violations over time, ranging from union busting to illegal firings. 

Statement no 5, “I am easily the best at what I do, bar none — nobody could ever take my place”. 

Throughout his life, Musk has lived and died by the boardroom dramas that he has initiated. He fights openly with competitors in the auto and space sectors. Half the founders at Neuralink, in fact, people with their names on the company's patents simply left rather than continue to deal with them. And Musk notoriously went after a fellow named Tim Hanson on Twitter after Hanson publicly announced that Neuralink was barely suitable for basic animal experiments. Musk considers himself untouchable, and often tells people what they want to hear. 

The fights that he has got into with the co-founders of various companies drive the message home that if it has happened frequently, maybe Musk is the problem.

Statement number 6, “ I do whatever I feel like doing, and I don’t care what others think — or even if it’s illegal”.

This is kind of a repetitive question, we have spoken at length about Musk’s legal troubles. But one point here stands out. He opened his California auto plant in the middle of a pandemic and then challenged the local authorities to arrest him. Over 400 employees caught Covid in the past year at that plant alone because of his actions. This puts the nail in the coffin that he genuinely could not care less what others think, even though it might put others in danger.

Statement no. 7, “Every person for themselves; I don’t see the point in feeling sorry for other people and have no desire to help others”.

This is kind of a bold statement to make. However, Is there any doubt at all this is true? Is there anybody on this planet that you think Elon Musk would take a bullet for? Or is he pretty much, drinking his flavour of Kool-Aid and starting to believe his hype? Whatever Musk is involved with, Musk is in it for Musk.

So the best examples here at the top of a long list would be how Musk stole Tesla from the founders, and then drag Martin Eberhardt through the social media mud. Another great example would be forcing his workers back into the factory during the COVID lockdown. Then we could cite the fact that he destroyed Boca Chicaa village and ran the owners out of there for his purposes. Check out the interviews former residents did at the time and you'll see what kind of an ass he is when he faces opposition. He has no issues hurting others whatsoever.

Statement no. 8, “I’ve gotten into legal or criminal trouble when I was a teenager (not just a speeding or parking ticket)”.

Musk has gotten into legal trouble as an adult, as we are aware. I am not aware of any teenage antics of Elon. So we are going to give the benefit of the doubt to the man. 

Statement no. 9, “I have no problem or concern in lying in order to get what I want”.

Where do we start? Here the FSD level five autonomy at Tesla is an ongoing lie. The 2050 city of a million people on Mars is a lie. Its claims about Neuralink are lies. Hyperloop was a lie presented as a science that failed miserably.

Statement no. 10, “Live in the moment” is what I say; the future will take care of itself and learning from your past is pointless”. 

Elon has been known to be impulsive, and not plan things accordingly. The man is unable to focus on any project for any amount of time but is always there when other people make things happen for him. To take credit for this example, let's use the fact that he was paid billions to produce Crew Dragon for NASA, but that project fell a year behind schedule as Musk was promoting his Starship project.

He makes all sorts of claims about the future, but planning is very rarely part of that thought process, as can be proven by his track record of delivering promised goods and services way past projections if they are ever delivered at all.

Statement no. 11, “I never feel remorse, shame or guilt about something I’ve said or done”.

Since Musk is pretty much the king of making people believe he has reinvented old technologies, he does not feel remorse that much either. Hyperloop was always a scam. The boring company claims are laughable. $30 tequila that he sells for $250? That's one of the latest. Oh, and don't forget the FSD scam that seems to have been engineered specifically to keep Tesla from dying in early death. Or the ventilators that he promised to build that never materialized. 

Statement no. 12, “I don’t see the point in taking on responsibilities of any kind — they just weigh you down”.

Probably the only other point that I would not slate Elon for. Taking responsibilities (even though he might not finish them), is kind of Elon’s forte. He even takes up responsibilities in scenarios where he is not even required. He does have major main character syndrome, but shirking responsibilities, that’s not Elon. I want him to stop poking his nose in anywhere he deems fit. 

Result: Score 18 out of 24. Psychopathy likely. 

Well, there you have it folks our boy Elon is a psychopath, allegedly. Have to add that for legal reasons. I do not want a billionaire’s lawyers after me.

I took a psycho-analysis test as Elon Musk so you don't have to

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