Make Elon Great Again

"Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough." 

"I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens."

- Elon Musk, famous or infamous, deserves two quotes.

Make Elon Great Again? Or Make Elon Go Away?

Elon Musk is special, famous for the energy, commitment and brilliance of the diverse companies that have made him the richest person on the planet. Fifteen years ago, my techy son spoke with admiration of an Elon Musk, a name of which I had never heard. I knew of Pay Pal, when he explained the connection between Musk and Pay Pal, I understood his admiration. Some years later a well-known talkback host with a love of expensive cars, made fun of Musk and his want-to-be electric car company, building in a tent. This was the time when Tesla was getting close to bankruptcy. Within a year or two I bought shares in Tesla, influenced by YouTube fanboys with the same admiration of Musk my son had expressed years earlier.

Musk A Brilliant Engineer

Sandy Munro, an engineer of Munro & Associates is well known for breaking down Tesla vehicles to analyse their design and how they are put together. Build quality of the model 3 drew criticism from Munro and the public. What Munro admired was the innovation under the bonnet, how the efficiency of systems required less parts compared to the opposition. Mega casting technology 4680 battery cells, auto pilot and the ability to implement improvements quickly are other reasons for Munro’s admiration of Musk’s Tesla vehicles.

From Tesla to Space X

Innovations introduced by Musk has been a big reason for the success of Space X. Rocket stages that would be discarded in traditional launches, are recovered to be reused again. Keeping component production inhouse keeps costs down and maintains quality control.

Starships made for interplanetary travel, use durable stainless steel and are fully reusable. A tower to catch boosters mid-air help for quick turnaround. Musk is not only a brilliant engineer, but his business nous also keeps costs down in this incredibly expensive industry.

Other Ventures

Musk started with Zip2 in 1995, a company formed with his brother to provide online city guides to newspapers. It was sold to Compaq four years later for millions of dollars, it allowed him to invest in Pay Pal and other ventures listed, courtesy of Perplexity.

• Neuralink (2016): A neurotechnology company developing implantable brain-machine interfaces.

• The Boring Company (2016): A tunneling and infrastructure company aimed at reducing traffic congestion.

• X (formerly Twitter) (2022): Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and renamed it X. The acquisition and subsequent changes have been highly controversial.

• xAI (2023): An artificial intelligence company aiming to "understand the true nature of the universe."

• Starlink. Musk put 6000 plus satellites, with a target of 42000, into orbit to provide internet coverage worldwide. Starlink is incredibly impactful for countries who had no internet access because of the geography of the land or for economic reasons. Ukraine has benefited from Starlink in the war against Russia’s invasion of the country.

Politics

The election of Donald Trump to President of the United States was enabled with the support of Musk to the tune of over $200 million. Trump’s appointing Musk as the head of DOGE, with the task of downsizing government departments is controversial. Musk’s commercial experience is the alleged reason for the appointment. Musk’s popularity, depending upon your politics, is still high if his 219 million followers on X is any indication. If you judge it by the 30% fall of Tesla shares since December 2024 and negative comments about being associated with the brand because of Musk’s political affiliation, his popularity has dived.

My View MEGA

Recently my view of Elon Musk, and his association with Trump, has diminished my respect for him. Yet he is no different from many men of power and influence, of the stature Musk has achieved. Like other powerful people with enormous success, Musk’s arrogance leads him to believe he can solve the world’s problems, by destroying the checks and balances of a democratic society. The loss of humility blinds him, to the danger he exposes himself and the rest of us to, in his association with Trump.

His vision of colonising Mars as the first step for humanity to be space faring, inspires me. The depth and breadth of his successful ventures demonstrate an uncanny ability to make the impossible, possible. Balancing both views of Musk, I am grateful for what he has brought to the world. His vision and energy are to be admired. If Musk can overcome his arrogance, a big ask, maybe it’s possible to, “Make Elon Great Again.”