Matt Levine on Elon Musk and Compliance

Very Serious with Josh Barro

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, doesn't just behave in ways that run afoul of regulators. He does things most CEOs don't because they think it would cost them business relationships, and therefore money. JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon wouldn't Tweet that he has "funding secured" to take JP Morgan private at $169 per share, especially if he didn't actually have the funding secured. I've never seen him tweet a poop emoji at a takeover target. And he would never tweet a rude question to a United States senator. Is Dimon leaving money on the table? Musk doesn't just make cars and rockets -- he's made a persona that turns investors into fans and helps his companies access cheap capital to expand and grow. His model has even thrown off enough money for him to buy Twitter on a lark -- a decision he already seems to regret. I talk with Bloomberg's Matt Levine on why Elon Musk gets away with what he does, and what his seeming imperviousness to rules means for our financial markets. Plus, we talk about the deal with ESG investing, and how Matt invests his own money.

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