Date of Award

2024

First Advisor

Dr. Drian Saxton

Abstract

By investigating erratic activities performed by CEO Elon Musk, we want to examine the relationship between unorthodox CEO activities and the effects that these activities have on the company internally. We want to know how these actions affect employees, which would then impact the financial performance of said companies. While there are numerous examples of Musk saying and doing crazy things, we primarily focused on his involvement in the rise of Dogecoin. This case study serves as an excellent example of Musk’s odd behavior as CEO by continuously influencing the price of a cryptocurrency that is not backed by any assets. The price is strictly based on what people are willing to pay for it, and Musk took advantage of this by using his platform to bring popularity to it. These actions occurred independently of his duties as CEO, but his title immediately connects his actions with his companies. Weird actions like this are very uncommon for most CEO’s, but it is one of the many ways that Musk acts differently than a typical CEO. While his actions are independent of the companies he manages, they ultimately are linked back to the companies, which then impacts them financially. A significant amount of attention was drawn to Musk and his companies, making them volatile in the short run.

Poster.pdf (310 kB)

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Business Commons

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