---
title: "Elon Musk Says He’s Thinking of Quitting SpaceX and Tesla to Become an “Influencer”"
description: "Tesla CEO and meme thief Elon Musk tweeted last night that he was considering quitting his jobs to become a full-time influencer."
date: "2021-12-10"
modified: "2021-12-10"
authors:
  - name: "Tony Ho Tran"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/ttran"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-quitting-influencer"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Tesla"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "influencers"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk Says He’s Thinking of Quitting SpaceX and Tesla to Become an “Influencer”

![Tesla CEO and meme thief Elon Musk tweeted last night that he was considering quitting his jobs to become a full-time influencer.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/elon-musk-quit-spacex-tesla-influencer.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images\</em\>*

## Closing Time

Well, it’s finally happened: Elon Musk is quitting the companies he’s helped build to become a full-time influencer.

Or at least that’s what he claimed in a likely-facetious-but-maybe-also-slightly-self-aware tweet that had more than a few people wondering if he was being serious.

"Thinking of quitting my jobs and becoming an influencer full-time \[what do you think\]," the world’s wealthiest man [tweeted](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1469153995428085762>) to his audience of 65 million.

## Billionaire Pareidolia

The prolific [meme stealer](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-stealing-memes>) has been known to use Twitter as a sounding board for some of [his more audacious ideas](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-taking-tesla-private>). So we wouldn’t put it past us if Elon *was* thinking about becoming a full-time influencer.

Plus if you consider the fact that he recently crowdsourced his decision to [sell a big chunk of his Tesla stock](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-sells-stock>), is staring down the barrel of [bankruptcy with one of his biggest companies](<https://futurism.com/leaked-elon-musk-spacex-email-bankruptcy>), and is [being sued for $160 million](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/jpmorgan-sues-tesla-tweets>) by one of the world’s largest banks, it might start to make sense that he'd wants out.

There's also the intriguing possibility that the tweet represented a flash of self-awareness. After all, Musk *is* already a massive influencer in his own right, who can literally [change market conditions with just a tweet](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-weird-tweets-tesla-stocks-nosedive>). He arguably memed both the private spaceflight and electric vehicle industries into existence. Sure, he's not exactly a Kardashian, but it's hard to argue that he isn't already one of the world's most visible influencers.

## New Paul Dropped

Besides, maybe he really *does* want to get big doing TikTok dances — remember his [cringey EDM song](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-auto-tuned-song>)? Or maybe he’ll start a thirst trap Instagram page for people who are into [questionable haircut decisions](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-haircut>)? The possibilities for his influencer career are endless!

Of course, this is likely just a big joke from Musk, who enjoys stirring the pot 280 characters at a time. But at the same time, we wouldn't be *too* surprised if he [moved back to LA](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-home-prefab-box>) to join an [influencer house](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/style/hype-house-los-angeles-tik-tok.html>).

**More on Elon Musk:** [*Elon Musk Now Feuding with \*Checks Notes\* Pete Buttigieg*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-pete-buttigieg>)

## Author
Tony Tran is a former reporter for Futurism, and now an editor at the Daily Beast. His work has been seen in Playboy, HuffPost, Narratively, and wherever else fine writing is published. He lives in Chicago where he frequently plans tabletop gaming sessions for his friends.