I don't think it was a conscious or deliberate choice.

Hubris made him think he was the real Tony Stark, genius playboy philanthropist bullshit, but as talented as he is in some areas, his flaws are clearly visible.

But at the end of the day, I think that if Tesla was making valuable cars, it would not matter that much. The thing is that those cars also have many flaws, and a lot of undelivered promises around self-driving...