What did Elon Musk say about Charlie Munger?

Elon Musk’s Candid Moment with Charlie Munger

In a rare glimpse into the mindset behind Tesla’s early struggles, Elon Musk revealed a telling encounter with the late Charlie Munger—longtime partner of Warren Buffett and one of the most respected voices in finance. During a lunch in 2009, Munger laid out, in meticulous detail, all the reasons he believed Tesla was destined to fail.

Musk recounted the moment years later, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on February 6, 2022. “I was at a lunch with Munger in 2009 where he told the whole table all the ways Tesla would fail. Made me quite sad,” he wrote. “But I told him I agreed with all those reasons & that we would probably die, but it was worth trying anyway.”

What stands out isn’t just Munger’s skepticism—common at the time, given Tesla’s uphill battle against entrenched automakers and technical hurdles—but Musk’s quiet acknowledgment of the odds. Instead of arguing or defending, Musk admitted he saw the same dangers. Yet, his response revealed the core of his drive: even if failure was likely, the attempt mattered.

Munger, known for his sharp, no-nonsense wisdom, wasn’t alone in doubting Tesla’s chances. In 2009, the company was months away from its IPO, struggling to scale production, and widely dismissed as a risky experiment. Yet Musk’s willingness to march forward, eyes wide open, captures a defining trait of transformative entrepreneurs—not blind optimism, but a clear-eyed determination to push through inevitable obstacles.

Today, that lunch has taken on an almost mythic quality. Musk didn’t just survive the doubts; he outlasted them. And while Munger remained skeptical, history has shown that sometimes, betting on the improbable—even when all signs point to failure—is exactly what changes the world.