this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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wild that we used to think this fucking clown was cool
And smart.
But it turns out he basically steals the ideas of better people and takes all the credit. Truly a modern day Thomas Edison. But even worse.
Worse, for many reasons, but also: stealing Tesla's actual name this time
No. Yet again, you are giving him too much credit. He did not start Tesla nor did he have ANY hand in any of the successful designs.
I'm pretty sure his PR teams were the ones behind the Tesla crush the Internet had though.
"we"?
Well, I'll give my own impression: I was never a fanboy, but I think his PR team did a good job making him seem vaguely non-threatening and focused on bringing the sci-fi ideas into reality. I remember rolling my eyes when he appeared in Iron Man 2, and the "Tony Stark" comparisons always seemed, to be charitable, aspirational. But then he started tweeting about that cave diver being a "pedo guy," fired his PR people, and it quickly became obvious who he really was.
Basically standard tech bro protocol. Appear neutral on politics and vaguely altruistic in motive, until they have so much money nobody can stop them from being their worst techno-fascist selves. (Altman seems next in line for this transition.)
spot on, i never liked him but for a good while there the only things i'd seen made me go "well he seems like the least bad rich asshole"
imagine firing the PR team that pulled of a herculean feat like that
I'll admit to it.
I used to think Tesla was based, since it paved the way for mass-market EVs to happen. I still think SpaceX is based because of the booster reuse and droneship recovery of Falcon 9, and the massive potential for Starship to make space massively cheaper, and Starlink for bringing Internet to rural areas/war zones like Ukraine (despite clouding the skies.)
On a personal level I found him disgusting, and as a billionaire I think he's the sickness at the core of our economy and society. The projects of his companies were genuinely useful, though.
So yeah, in 2015 he would have been closer to the bottom of my list of most evil billionaires, whereas now he's way at the top.
Yep same. For the longest time, honestly too long, he was cool and smart in my eyes. I have always loved space travel and craved a high tech, sustainable future. Not anymore. He killed much of that for me.
Exactly, did anyone here think non-fictional billionaires could ever be cool? After developing critical thinking skills that is.
I always hated him. Peak hate was when he sent a car in space, supported Trump and did the Nazi salutes.
My claim to fame is that I disliked the guy from the very first time I saw him.
the problem was that the things he said he was good at are highly specialized and there was not much media attention when actual experts said he had zero idea what he was doing. it took him pretending to know how to do stuff most people can instantly recognize when done poorly, like video games or speaking in public