Elon Musk’s tweet this week about taking Tesla TSLA, +2.59% private at $420 was pure Musk. Weird, risky, playful, cryptic, perhaps ill-advised, maybe even brilliant. His entire approach to life, work and social media in two sentences:

Morgan Housel, partner at the Collaborative Fund, tried to explain Musk’s behavior by comparing him to John Boyd, a legend of a fighter pilot who revolutionized his field, but didn’t make a lot of friends in the process. “Rude. Erratic. Disobedient. Impatient” — all words he used to describe Boyd.

“He talked back to superiors to the astonishment of his peers, and was once nearly court-martialed for setting ablaze hangars that didn’t have proper heating,” Housel wrote in his piece. “In meetings, he would chew calluses off his hands and spit the dead skin across the table.” Sounds kind of like the bizarre Tesla earnings call with analysts back in May.

Still, Boyd was too talented to keep down, as he rose through the ranks and eventually penned the definitive book on fighter maneuvers. “Throughout his career, no one knew what to do with him,” Housel said. “He pissed off a lot of people. He was unique in every way — good, bad, awful, and occasionally illegal.”

As for Musk...

“What kind of 32-year-old thinks they can take on GM GM, -1.61% , Ford F, -0.67% and NASA at the same time? A freakin’ maniac,” Housel explained. “The kind of person who thinks normal constraints don’t apply to them — not in an egotistical way, but in a genuine, believe-it-in-your-bones way.”

That brings us to a chart plucked from Brian Portnoy’s book, “The Geometry of Wealth,” which applies nicely to Musk and investors betting on his next move. Basically, the bigger the risk, the bigger the potential reward/downside. But, as you can see, Portnoy contends the relationship is not linear:

“Some people are natural maniacs,” Housel said. “You can’t ask for the maniac parts you like without realizing there are maniac parts that might backfire.”

We’ll see if Musk’s tweet ultimately backfires. As it stands now, even the Wall Street pros are scratching their heads. “Frankly, we’re as confused as anyone else,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a note.

The stock got a huge initial lift, but is drifting lower on Thursday after it came to light that regulators are taking a look at the tweet.