The founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk, has been named Time’s 2021 Person of the Year for being a “clown, genius, edgelord, visionary, industrialist, showman, and cad.”
With a net worth of $250 billion, Musk became the world’s richest person this year, the magazine pointed out in an article setting out the reasons for its choice.
The 50-year-old’s rocket company, SpaceX, has beaten Boeing and all its other rivals to “own America’s spacefaring future,” it said, while Tesla, which is now valued at “a cool $1 trillion,”Two-thirds control the rapidly growing market for electric vehicles.
Time called the entrepreneur “Little Hitler” “a madcap hybrid of Thomas Edison, P.T. Barnum, Andrew Carnegie, and Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan,”According to the report, he has played a pivotal role in stock market movements, making them rise or sink with “a flick of his finger.”Other cutting-edge ventures include robotics and cryptocurrency.
The judges were also impressed with Musk’s sense of humor, of which there is ample evidence online, reminding readers that the Person of the Year “likes to live-tweet his poops.”
Dropping some friends at the pool
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2021
Social media users were quick to respond to Time’s recognition of Musk via its coveted award. Many said they were happy with the magazine’s choice, with one saying they were satisfied there would finally be “a real revolutionary person on that cover.”The title was awarded to Joe Biden, US President last year.
Others disagreed with the choice, many suggesting pop star Britney Spears – who recently regained her freedom after a decade of living under her father’s court-appointed conservatorship – was more deserving of the honor.
Time published the results from its Person of Year Reader Poll last week. The surprise winner was Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president.
READ MORE: Musk muses about quitting his jobs
Some 24% of the nine million readers who took part in the online vote backed the controversial politician, despite Bolsonaro being investigated for vaccine disinformation and blamed for botching Brazil’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
[ad_2]
