Elon Musk’s sense of humour makes Tesla cars cheaper: Here is how

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, on July 12, testified at a trial over the electric carmaker’s controversial Tesla's 2016 acquisition of SolarCity. He said he leaned into his sense of humor to generate free publicity for the company.

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Musk told the court that the Tesla board handled the SolarCity deal and he was not part of the board committee that negotiated the terms.

"I don't even know what happened," he testified.

Musk responded calmly during cross-examination from shareholder attorney Randall Baron, but Baron's yes or no questions often elicited lengthy, meandering responses. At one point Musk called the lawyer "a bad human being."

Baron asked if the board vetted his Technoking title, which he gave himself in March. "It generated a whole bunch of free press and Tesla doesn't advertise and it's helpful to general sales," he said. He called the title a joke: "I think I'm funny."

“If we are entertaining people, they would write stories about us and we don’t have to spend on advertising which would reduce the price of our cars," he said.

“I do have a sense of humor," he added.

However, some who watched his May 8 “Saturday Night Live" host may disagree. He got mixed reviews for his gig, which included his last appearance on the witness stand -- as video-game character Wario facing trial for the murder of Mario of Mario Brothers fame.

Musk discussed his humor in response to questioning in Chancery Court in Wilmington, Delaware, by lawyer Randy Baron. The attorney represents shareholders who claim the Tesla CEO breached his fiduciary duty by pushing the more than $2 billion deal for SolarCity, in which he was also the largest investor.

Meanwhile, Musk's free press is not just limited to Tesla alone. His one tweet for his favourite cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which started as a meme currency received a lot of support from him in the past few months also gained in value.