I don't think Musk or Tesla had a strategy in this regard, Musk was just being impulsive and didn't really think about his brand, I think he isn't really self aware even if he must be smart in some other regard (unless his success is an accident, which I doubt).

I imagine he has fallen in the very common trap of being surrounded by sycophants.

A lot of people have a very strong incentive to attach themselves to wealthy/powerful people, and then try to manipulate their understanding of the world and events to their favor.

It's a very old story

Of course it's an accident: it's primarily an accident of his birth.

If he hadn't been born heir to the wealth of African colonizers' emerald mines, there's zero chance he would have ever become rich or famous.

Sure, but many people have his start, they don’t nurture as many successful companies as he has.

There’s no need to go 4d chess on this, tbh. Sometimes a crazy person who rants about woke mind viruses at four in the morning is just a crazy person.

When Howard Hughes started insisting that all his peas be the same size, no-one thought he was courting a market; he was just crazy.