Steve Bannon says Elon Musk and other tech CEOs are ‘man childs’

Steve Bannon and Elon Musk
at a White House strategy and policy forum in February
2017.
Kevin
Lamarque/Reuters

• Former White House Strategist Steve Bannon told CNN
  that Elon Musk and other tech CEOs are “all man
  childs.”
• Bannon said Musk had an “emotional breakdown” in an
  interview with The New York Times, and
  “flat
  out lied” about securing funding to take Tesla
  private.
• Bannon’s attack comes just hours after Musk denied
  crying during the Times interview.
• Musk and Bannon have met before, as Musk served on two
  advisory councils to Donald Trump, but pulled out over the US
  president’s decision to leave the Paris climate change
  agreement.

Steve Bannon roasted Tesla CEO Elon Musk in
an interview with CNN journalist Oliver Darcy on Wednesday.

Bannon was generally damning of big tech executives on the call,

saying that they are “sociopaths” and “narcissists,” but he
was particularly scathing about Musk and Tesla.

In a venomous attack, the former White House strategist said
Musk’s board of directors have no control over him and that he
“essentially lies.”

He also criticised what he saw as Musk’s “emotional breakdown” in
his interview with the New York Times earlier this month. “This
is the level of maturity you have with these people. They are not
mature adults. They are all man childs,” said Bannon.

Here’s his quote in full:

It comes just hours after Musk denied crying during the Times
interview.

Musk tweeted on Tuesday that
during the conversation, his voice “cracked once” and he did
not cry. A New York Times spokesperson refuted this, saying: “Mr.
Musk’s emotion was audible. It is not true that his voice only
cracked once.”

The back-and-forth over Musk’s now infamous “funding secured”
tweet has been a stormy time for Tesla, with the carmaker’s stock
falling 5% after Musk finally
revealed that he was not taking the company private.

Musk and Bannon’s paths have crossed previously.

Musk served on two presidential advisory councils to Donald
Trump, but
stepped down in June 2017 citing the US president’s decision
to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. At the time, Musk
tweeted: “Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for
America or the world.”

Bannon was reportedly
instrumental in convincing Trump to pull out of the Paris
Accord, although he was
fired as chief strategist just a few months later.

Business Insider has contacted Tesla and Elon Musk for comment.