Musk has been hailed as the richest man on the planet, largely because he built Tesla into the most valuable automaker ever.

Musk has been hailed as the richest man on the planet, largely because he built Tesla into the most valuable automaker ever. But as many have observed over the years, Musk is also a notoriously bad manager and an even worse boss.

What's been lost in the Musk/Tesla saga is this: Musk benefited from a lot of help and serendipitous timing on his way to success. Thanks to billions of dollars in tax breaks and energy credit subsidies, lax regulation, a docile board, favorable loan terms, and a relatively benign stock market, it's very gratifying that after 18 long years, Tesla is finally profitable. These domestic strengths, combined with landmark support for the development of the electric vehicle market in Europe and China, and the lack of real competition in the market, have kept Tesla afloat as it struggles to survive.

But that luck is running out. Years of lack of research and development funding, cutting corners, and cutting corners in manufacturing have led to Tesla teams being discounted and consistently ranking near the bottom in terms of quality and reliability. Meanwhile, Tesla's strongest competitors have launched dozens of new models, with dozens more on the way. And some of the new products in the future, including CyberTruck pickup trucks and Semi trucks, don't seem to revolutionize Tesla enough to boost its prospects. No wonder Tesla's share is slipping in every major market.