One of the video clips that sky-rocketed his popularity features Ma stepping out of a sleek Tesla vehicle, clad in a black suit while cheerfully proclaiming, “Hi everyone, I’m Elon Musk ...

Last week, however, the Tesla CEO attempted to laugh off the controversy by joking that he had “Yilong Ma” playing for him, a reference to a well-known Elon Musk impersonator from China.