You Can Suddenly Sense Elon Musk's Desperation

After eviscerating Tesla's brand through his political mayhem, billionaire Elon Musk is suddenly singing a dramatically different tune.

This month, he abruptly proclaimed that he had "done enough," announcing that he would substantially cut down the time he spent reshaping the federal government, efforts that have left permanent scars on Tesla's credibility and image.

Instead, he promised that he would refocus the majority of his time on his ailing businesses, news that was met with his EV maker's shares rallying after a precipitous decline in sales and stock value during his period of intense political activity.

Meanwhile, Musk spent much of this week publicly addressing the development of SpaceX's Starship.

He chatted with automotive engineer Sandy Munro, ran Tim "Everyday Astronaut" Dodd through the company's progress, and was seemingly on his best behavior during an interview with Ars Technica's Eric Berger.

It's a dramatic change of tune, considering Musk had spent much of this year raging against the mainstream media, spreading racist conspiracy theories, wearing ridiculous hats during cabinet meetings, and lashing out against his many critics.

What inspired Musk to — at least temporarily — return to the character of the detail-oriented businessman? It's especially striking after he hit a new low last week, making a bafflingly childish appearance at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum, accusing the interviewer of being an "NPC" and getting rattled by some tough questions.

His reputation and popularity have taken a major hit following his descent into far-right extremism and largely fruitless ripping up of government contracts. Even Republican lawmakers in the White House have reportedly had enough of his overzealousness and cringy humor, resulting in shouting matches with Trump officials.

Now that he's dragged his EV maker's brand through the mud and spawned a global anti-Tesla movement, Musk is seemingly trying to play Mr. Nice Guy once again.

There's good reason. Musk has made himself a historically unpopular figure over the last couple of months, greatly undermining his credibility as an entrepreneur and exposing an alarming degree of callousness and lack of empathy.

And as SpaceX continues to struggle getting its enormous Starship both off the ground and safely back to the launch pad, Musk's latest actions give off a sense of desperation.

"Give me the rundown," Dodd asked Musk during a Tuesday afternoon interview. "Right now, we're T-minus four and a half hours. What's going through your head right now?"

A visibly stressed Musk pulled both of his hands through his hair, giving off the impression of a man in dire straits.

"I have a lot going through my head, actually," he finally answered. "Just thinking about the various ways the rocket can fail, which I'm sure are many."

Tuesday's test flight, the company's ninth, turned out to be yet another setback. The rocket spun out of control minutes into the launch, with SpaceX giving up on the deployment of a test batch of mock Starlink satellites since the cargo pay wouldn't fully open.

Perhaps it was a symbolic development for Musk's reinvigorated enthusiasm for his ailing businesses. After all, the billionaire has gouged some deep scars that aren't going to heal overnight.

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