Elon Musk Says For 3 Years Straight, Headlines Would 'Trash' Tesla And Sales Went Up But All Press Is Good Press — 'So I Guess Keep Trashing Us' - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

You've heard the saying: all press is good press. It's a favorite line in Hollywood, politics—and apparently, Silicon Valley boardrooms. Fortunately, Elon Musk seems to agree. The world's richest man has never been one to sweat the headlines, even when they've taken aim at Tesla TSLA.

And lately, they've been taking aim a lot.

But if Musk is rattled, he's not showing it. In fact, he's been through worse—and came out smiling.

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In a 2022 interview with "Tesla Owners Silicon Valley", Musk reflected on years of relentless bad press. He recalled that from around 2017 through 2019, the media ran a "non-stop hate stream." "It was like, hate. Like Tesla's a fraud. Tesla's a failure. Fraudulent failure." Then he added, "I remember… for like three years straight the headlines would just be trashing Tesla all over and over and over again. And our sales went up."

"So I guess keep trashing us," he added. "At the end of the day, people were like, ‘Oh yeah, I just kept reading about Tesla. I can't remember what the article was about, but I know I read about Tesla 17 times.' He acknowledged there's "some truth" to the old saying that "all press is good press."

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Tesla has faced a rough 2025. On March 10, its shares plunged 15%, marking its worst single-day performance since September 2020. This sharp fall wiped out over $800 billion in market capitalization from Tesla's December peak.

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Sales have slumped and Musk's political controversies—have sparked protests and even vandalism at Tesla dealerships. To top it off, rumors swirled that Tesla's board wanted Musk replaced, although Musk and the board quickly shut those down as "absolutely false."

Musk, regardless, is determined not to fail. Back in a 2012 "60 Minutes" interview, when asked about overcoming failures, he famously said: "I don't ever give up. I'd have to be dead or completely incapacitated."

Today, despite sagging numbers, Tesla's stock did climb from the recent lows. Investors are betting on a turnaround—and Musk has pledged to focus more on Tesla moving forward.

It's a familiar story in Musk's entrepreneurial playbook: critics pile on, markets wobble, and Musk doubles down. Whether it's building rockets, boring tunnels, or selling electric cars, he's thrived on defying expectations. Even if those expectations come wrapped in negative headlines.

As Musk himself put it, bad press might just keep the brand in the spotlight. Keep the stories coming. Musk's not giving up—and he's betting Tesla's customers won't either.

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