Elon Musk: I Want My Desk in the Factory, Not an Ivory Tower

Elon Musk: I want to be in the middle of the battle.

“Our biggest challenge is ramping up production. It's about being in the factory and understanding where the issues are. I want the very opposite of being up in an ivory tower. I want to be in the middle of the battle. That means putting my desk in the middle of the factory. That's where it is.

People can come talk to me, and I can easily walk around and see how things are going in the factory. It's not the most comfortable place to be, but in a lot of big companies, the CEOs are in, like, the ivory tower, at the top floor of some luxurious building far away from where the things are being built.”

Interview with Phil Le Beau, CNBC, August 22, 2013