Elon Musk’s antics could eventually affect him

New York (CNN Business) It seems that Elon Musk’s impressive expertise – the combination of wealth, carefully polished charm, and distinguished lawyers who helped him escape countless scandals unscathed – is beginning to unravel.

Here’s the thing: Federal regulators just announced that Musk’s private space tourism company, SpaceX, will not receive the nearly $900 million in subsidies it received last year because the company “failed to demonstrate its ability to deliver” the internet service it had promised.

Let’s go by the parts:

• In December, the FCC provided $9 billion in subsidies to internet service providers as part of a plan to bring high-speed internet to rural areas that need it.
• The fact that SpaceX received one of the largest sums from this grant program was controversial because the Starlink network was essentially new and untested.
• The Starlink system is very different from traditional high-speed internet, which is based on underground fiber optic cables. Starlink relies on thousands of satellites working together to transmit Internet access on Earth.
• The FCC was basically betting that Starlink would be ready soon enough.

The gamble appears to backfire, as the Federal Communications Commission is withdrawing subsidies, saying the Starlink service is “still developing technology” and its speeds have fallen, Reports my colleague Jackie Wattles.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, as is often the case with companies run by Musk.

The Big Picture

Part of Elon Musk’s character (believe it or not) is a super-millionaire and giant visionary, he runs several companies with big ambitions, such as colonizing Mars in the case of SpaceX.

Even if his tricks — over-promises, reckless tweets, reckless corporate raids, calling one of his sons XÆA-12 — strike you as annoying, you should appreciate his boldness.

But now it looks like Musk’s misbehavior may finally be taking its toll on him.

In recent days, Musk sold nearly $7 billion of Tesla stock in the event he lost his legal battle with Twitter and had to buy the company, which he no longer wanted to buy. At the same time, California officials filed a complaint arguing that Tesla lied in advertisements regarding autopilot technology and fully autonomous driving (which, despite its names, is not entirely independent).

In June, when several SpaceX employees signed a letter criticizing Musk’s behavior, The company launched At least five persons concerned. A month later, a massive prototype of the SpaceX rocket exploded during launch. What is Musk’s response to that on Twitter?

“Yeah, that’s not really good.”

We can say the same about Musk now.