Since December 2021, Elon Musk and Mexican authorities announced the construction of a Tesla Gigafactory in Mexico. However, it is almost a year since that agreement and the project seems stopped, because it is.
The billionaire confirmed that, for now, he is doubting the installation of the new plant in Nuevo León, and the main reason would be that he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
He also owns SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) expressed his concerns during a call with analysts and investors, according to reports Reuters. After mentioning risks such as high interest rates and market uncertainty in a context of global economic slowdown, he said that “he does not want to go at full speed” with projects such as the gigafactory in Mexico, a fear that he attributes in part to the aforementioned disorder.
“I apologize if I’m more paranoid than I should be, because that could also be the case. Because I’ve had PTSD since 2009, pretty much. And from 2017 to 2019 it was not an easy day either,” she justified.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder and why does it affect Elon Musk?
According to the American Psychiatric Association in the United States, PTSD can be triggered in people who have experienced a traumatic event or set of circumstances,
“This disorder causes persistent symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, negative cognitions and moods, hyperarousal and/or altered reactivity,” highlights the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (DM-5).
According to a study published by the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), there is a significant relationship between periods of economic recession and increases in depressive symptoms, self-destructive behavior, and suicide.
In this sense, it could be said that Elon Musk’s history as a businessman has had financially ‘traumatic’ moments. It all started between 1997 and 2001, with the call ‘dotcom bubble’, when many internet companies collapsed. Despite this, he kept his life alive. small online bank called ‘X’, which became PayPal after a merger in 2001.
Then came the Great Crisis of 2008, when the bankruptcy of the American investment bank Lehman Brothers caused a tremendous recession and devastating effects on the world economy. While large companies such as General Motors and Chrysler declared bankruptcy, the 52-year-old tycoon managed to save Tesla, its flagship company to date.
“Tesla did not go bankrupt, even though it was a new electric vehicle company. “It was tremendously difficult to stay alive in 2009. And the reason we were able to stay alive is, in part, simply because we were paranoid,” Elon Musk said during a chat with Twitter staff leaked by The Verge.
Elon Musk confessed that he also suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome
In May 2021, the South African businessman announced that he has Asperger syndromean autism spectrum condition, during his participation in the program Saturday night Live.
The entrepreneur said: “I am making history tonight as the first person with Asperger’s to present Saturday night Liveor at least being the first to admit it,” he added amid a wave of applause.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people with Asperger syndrome have problems with social, emotional, and communication skills and also have unusual behaviors and interests. They explain that this condition affects people’s ability to plan for the future, but helps them generate alternative strategies and gives them the ability to remember large amounts of information.
It’s not just PTSD: the global context also delays the project
Despite the statements, the government of Nuevo León revealed that the richest man in the world ratified the construction of the plant to the government of Samuel García, according to Expansion. However, he will do so with reservations, as he prefers to see what direction the economy takes before going “full steam ahead” with the project.
It should be remembered that in the third quarter of 2023, Tesla fell to its lowest level in more than four years. In their results report, they reported that “necessary upgrades” were implemented, as “production costs in our new factories remained higher than those in our established factories.”
At the same time, Musk is aware that most consumers buy cars in monthly installments. If interest rates continue to rise, the amount of payments would increase and the debt would end up suffocating Tesla buyers.
Added to this are the war conflicts that have broken out in various regions of the world. In particular, the events between Russia and Ukraine, and now Palestine and Israel have had a strong impact on the international economy and the pockets of millions of people.
Elon Musk explained that, faced with such uncertainty, people will hesitate to buy a new car and this also ‘brakes’ some of his projects, such as the Gigafactory in Santa Catarina, Nuevo Léón.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.