Musking it up?

"To anyone I've offended, I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars, and I'm sending people to Mars on a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?"

Conspiratorial laughter ripples across the room. Jokes about his own genius aside, Elon Musk, commanding the stage of America's favourite late-night live comedy show Saturday Night Live, could be mistaken for a run-of-the-mill celebrity.

But whatever you might think of Musk, run-of-the-mill he is not. The founder of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, and richest man in the world according to Forbes, has an unrivalled global infamyBeing well known for something bad. and a divisive reputation. To some, he is a genius inventor who has driven the tech landscape into a glowing new era; to others, he is a blundering fool dancing on a heap of generational wealth.¹

Now he stands to take on one of the biggest social media platforms. The business magnate initially offered to purchase Twitter in April of this year at the staggering price of $43bn (£38bn). He backed out of the deal just a few weeks later, sparking a feud with Twitter executives and a court case that was due to start on the 17th of this month.

He has now recommitted to the purchase, claiming that "buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app", an all-in-one service resembling China's WeChat.²

Many will laud the move as the next dexterousTo do something quickly and effectively. play of a formidable businessman intent on holding fast to his towering wealth and reputation. Others see it as a display of egocentric showboatingThe action of showing off..

The debate around "Musk's genius", or lack thereof, is lively. One of Shakespeare's most famous quotes is that the "fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool". Those of his characters with a claim to genius are rarely impulsive and extroverted like Musk, but humble and unassuming.

Musk has an impressive inventory of gaffes that Shakespeare himself could not have concocted. In 2018, Tesla's stock plunged 9% after Musk smoked marijuana on a podcast and embarked on an unwise two-hour monologueA long speech by one person. . In the same year, he falsely accused a British diver helping to rescue twelve teens from a cave collapse of being a paedophile for refusing to use his submarine technology and landed himself in a sticky legal case.³

In 2022, hours before announcing his takeover of Twitter, he provoked the anger of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the same app for his "Ukraine-Russia peace plan", which has been described as "moral idiocy" and "repetition of Kremlin propaganda".⁴

Some cite his more honourable moments, such as providing over 12,000 Starlink dishes to Ukraine to facilitate access to high-speed broadband internet.

The case of Musk sparks broader questions about how we regard 'genius' and 'idiot' minds. In 19th century author Fyodor DostoevskyA 19th Century Russian novelist who explored human psychology in his works. 's novel The Idiot, in aiming to depict a "positively good and beautiful man," he is compelled to write about a blundering fool.

One might question how undisputed genius minds such as Dostoevsky and Shakespeare would have characterised Musk: well-meaning idiot, forward-thinking genius or a rich man testing his luck?

Yes: His blunders go beyond mere moments of human foolishness. There are clear patterns of ego-driven idiocy which make it terrifying that he is as powerful as he is. We need to dispel the myth of Musk's genius.

No: Musk is clearly a genius. He has co-founded six major companies and has contributed to developing some of the most futuristic technology we have. Few of those who call him an idiot are so accomplished.

Or... The debate surrounding his genius is a waste of time. We should look into his moral qualities, especially regarding allegations of poor working conditions at his companies, and the fact that he spread misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic.