Arguably the lineage of know-it-all tech entrepreneurs trying to disrupt politics starts with Ross Perot, the swaggering Texas IT entrepreneur who founded the Reform Party in 1996. He twice ran for president in the 1990s on a populist, tech-savvy platform that included measures to facilitate democratic participation via the then-nascent internet.

But Tesla's troubles, though levered to Musk, may be deeper than Musk's distractions, such as politics, gaming, and colonizing Mars. A record fourth quarter delivery report in January seemed to indicate all was well with Tesla, but it doesn't tell the full story.