Looming fears of an economic recession have plagued Wall Street and the country as a whole, and billionaire Elon Musk’s latest comments will not help to ease any worry.
In an interview with Bloomberg at the Qatar Iconic Forum in Doha on Tuesday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO spoke about the possibility of an upcoming recession.
“A recession is inevitable at some point,” he told Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. As to whether there is a recession in the near term, that is more likely than not … It is not a certainty, but it appears more likely than not.”
Related: ‘Bankruptcies Need to Happen’: Elon Musk Sounds Off on Potential Economic Recession
In late May, Musk addressed the matter on Twitter after one of his followers asked him whether or not the billionaire thought the U.S. was approaching a recession.
“Yes, but this is actually a good thing. It has been raining money on fools for too long. Some bankruptcies need to happen,” he said somewhat optimistically.
Musk then followed up by saying he expected the economy to suffer for 12 to 18 months and noted that companies with a negative cash flow needed to fold in order for this to happen so that they can “stop consuming resources.”
The billionaire CEO echoes comments made by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon who warned that an economic “hurricane” was on the horizon earlier this month thanks to inflation and rising interest rates.
“We just don’t know if it’s a minor one or Superstorm Sandy,” he said at a financial conference. “You better brace yourself.”
Related: Tesla Is Cutting 10% of Workforce, Elon Musk Says He Has a ‘Super Bad Feeling’ About the Economy
Musk himself is feeling the pressure — in early June, he wrote an email to Tesla employees saying he had a “super bad feeling” about the state of the economy and planned to cut 10% of the company’s total workforce.
As per an end of year SEC filing Tesla was employing 99,290 people worldwide by the end of 2021.
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