Elon Musk Admits His 'Biggest Mistake' While Building Empires Like Tesla & SpaceX
He is the face of the world's most advanced electric cars, rockets, and potentially the person behind the first-ever flying car. Since the early 2000s, Elon Musk has been at the center of some of the biggest business storylines in recent years. This includes social media with his purchase of Twitter (now X), the growth of Tesla and electric vehicles and being the brains behind SpaceX's success. With that type of resume, it'd be understandable if the person running the show (or multiple shows, technically) was focused on deadset logic, aggressive timelines and prompt, successful results.
While that may have been the case for Musk over the years, it appears the wealthiest man in the world had a change of heart somewhere along the line. In a surprising moment of vulnerability, Tesla's CEO admitted that his empire-building tactics have been fundamentally flawed for years.
Talent vs. Personality: The Lesson That Changed Musk’s Business Approach
The topic of whether building teams focused on talent or personality has become a conversation more frequently of late. Apparently, that debate is one Musk believes he's had the wrong way around while discussing his "biggest mistake." The businessman and entrepreneur didn't discuss failures at SpaceX or battles while running Tesla; instead, he pointed the finger at himself, admitting a surprising change in approach.
Musk discussed the topic years ago at an SXSW conference, as Vanity Fair highlighted. Still, with the job market tough and businesses taking new approaches to hiring, it's quickly making the rounds again. After all, if Musk can admit to focusing too much on "talent" and not enough on personality and a "good heart," it'd be wise for company leaders to consider following suit.
"The biggest mistake I made, and I'm trying to correct for that, is to put too much of a weighting on somebody's talent and not much on their personality," Musk said. "And I've made that mistake several times. In fact, I say I'm not going to make that mistake again, then I make it again."
"I think it actually matters whether somebody has a good heart; it really does. I've made the mistake of thinking that sometimes it's just about the brains."
Elon Musk: "The biggest mistake I made is to put too much of a weighting on somebody's talent and not much on their personality, it actually matters whether somebody has a good heart."pic.twitter.com/CqB0q3nRox
— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) December 16, 2025
Regardless of your feelings about Musk in general, it's hard to argue that many businesses wouldn't benefit from at least integrating a portion of this mindset into their hiring process.
Here's a look at a few of Musk's business accomplishments over the years:
- CEO of Tesla
- Owner of X (formerly Twitter)
- Co-founder of OpenAI
- Co-founder of X.com (later became part of PayPal)
- Founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX
- Co-founder of Neuralink
- Founder and CEO of xAI
Elon Musk Makes History With Updated Net Worth, Driving Home His Comments
As the old saying goes, "the numbers never lie." Although that doesn't always hold true, there's no denying the latest record and historical feat Musk accomplished. As Forbes detailed, Musk's company SpaceX launched a tender offer valuing it at $800 billion, double the $400 billion valuation in August 2025.
In turn, this resulted in Musk's net worth increasing by an impressive $168 billion, now sitting at roughly $677 billion. The 54-year-old, who owns an estimated 42 percent of SpaceX, becomes the first person ever to be worth $600 billion or more. It also puts him more than $177 billion ahead of the next-closest person, since no one has topped $500 billion.
If the first person in history to reach a net worth that's this staggering is buying into focusing on "personality" and "heart" over "brains" at times, he's surely doing something right with that hiring practice.
Related: Amazon Glitch Swaps 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' for Very R-Rated Jake Gyllenhaal Movie