'Hang in there’: Anand Mahindra reflects on his 2018 tweet as Elon Musk becomes first trillionaire

When Tesla was fighting for survival in 2018, Anand Mahindra was among the few business leaders who publicly backed Elon Musk.

Eight years later, asMusk became the world's first trillionaire, Mahindra said the real story was not the milestone but the resilience that carried the entrepreneur through some of his challenging years.

Reflecting on Musk's latest milestone, the industrialist recalled a period when Tesla production challenges and growing scrutiny from critics, with questions being raised about the company's future. At the time, the Mahindra Group chairman took to X to offer words of encouragement to Musk.

"Hang in there @elonmusk. Your factory is now humming at a brisk clip. The world needs inspirational innovators like you..." Mahindra had posted in August 2018.

Hang

in there @elonmusk Your factory is now humming at a brisk clip. The world needs inspirational innovators like you... https://t.co/VHGk3gLmYt

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) August 18, 2018

The post was shared alongside a New York Times report that detailed Musk's struggles during a difficult period for Tesla. In the interview, Musk described the year as ‘excruciating’. “This past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career,” he added.

Today, the landscape looks very different. Following the soaring valuation of SpaceX after its public market debut, Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, reaching a net worth exceeding $1 trillion.

Mahindra believes the significance of the moment goes beyond the numbers. "I posted that message of encouragement to Elon in 2018 because innovators are often judged in their toughest moments, not their finest hours," Mahindra said in a post on Wednesday.

This is what I said:

I posted that message of encouragement to Elon in 2018 because innovators are often judged in their toughest moments, not their finest hours.

The headlines today are about a trillion-dollar milestone.

The real story is that he never stopped believing… https://t.co/SiAdBqf6gz

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 17, 2026

While the focus today is on Musk's trillion-dollar milestone, Mahindra said the more important story is the entrepreneur's unwavering belief.

"The headlines today are about a trillion-dollar milestone. The real story is that he never stopped believing that today’s impossibility could become tomorrow’s reality. The real story is that if you are afraid of failure, you will remain on a treadmill," he added.

Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire after SpaceX's blockbuster stock market debut, pushing his estimated net worth to around $1.11 trillion, according to Bloomberg. The milestone places him far ahead of other members of the global rich list, including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.