Monday, December 13, 2021
Clown, genius, visionary
Elon Musk named “Person of the Year”
He is the richest man in the world, even if he thinks very little of earthly possessions. He is the co-founder of PayPal, founder of SpaceX and Tesla. The “Time Magazine” is convinced: Musk is currently the most influential person on earth, possibly beyond.
Time Magazine has named Tesla founder Elon Musk as Person of the Year 2021. The person of the year is “an example of influence,” writes the magazine. Few people have “more influence on life on earth and possibly also on life outside the earth than Musk,” said editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal, justifying this year’s election.
The 50-year-old is currently not only the richest person on earth, but “perhaps also the best example of massive change in our society,” added Felsenthal. After all, the life of the present is shaped more than ever by the products of a few large entrepreneurs such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos or Musk.
Musk is “clown, genius, visionary, industrialist, showman, buddy”, and he is the man who strives to “save our planet and get us a new one to live in”. He also “spent his life standing up to haters,” the magazine continues. Many people would be described as “larger than life,” but few deserve it “.
“A few years ago, Musk was ridiculed as a crazy fraudster on the verge of bankruptcy. Now governments and industry must bow to the ambitions of the shy South African with Asperger’s Syndrome who escaped a brutal childhood and overcame a personal tragedy,” sums up the “Time” reaction in a cover story.
If he has tasted blood, he stays tuned
Musk’s automaker Tesla controls two-thirds of the multi-billion dollar electric vehicle market. The exceptional entrepreneur from South Africa helped the electric car to make its breakthrough. At the same time he is reaching for the stars, he also wants to be a pioneer in space. His vision: the colonization of Mars. Musk always pushes boundaries. He wants to expand the human brain with chips to stand up to artificial intelligence. And he wants to revolutionize mobility through underground tunnels, the traffic jams he hated to be a thing of the past.
If Musk has tasted blood, he’ll stay tuned. His trademarks: Starry flair paired with understatement, plus a touch of gossip. Musk loves opposites. He separates from his earthly possessions, allegedly lives in a tiny house on the edge of his SpaceX company premises. At the same time, his career is a series of successes, as the “Time” editorial team enumerates in minute detail.
His space company SpaceX has an exclusive contract with NASA for this year. For the first time since 1972, Musk will bring US astronauts to the moon. In addition, the car rental giant Hertz announced in November that it wanted to expand its fleet by 100,000 Tesla.
The award goes to a total work of art
Musk also stayed true to himself on the topic of surprise tweet in 2021 and thus kept stock marketers on their toes. “With a movement of his finger, the stock market rises or faints,” writes Time Magazine. Just recently, Musk had his 65 million followers on Twitter vote to sell ten percent of his Tesla shares. Most of the people who responded to the unusual poll voted yes. Since then, Musk has sold more than eleven million Tesla shares. To get ten percent of his shares, he would have to sell another six million shares.
In the end, he also had fun thinking openly about quitting, also via tweet. And at a time when things could hardly be better for him. “Consider quitting my jobs and becoming a full-time influencer. What do you think?” Wrote Musk last week. Apparently the tweet was meant as a joke. The award of the “Time” editorial team goes to the total work of art Musk.
In addition to the person of the year, “Time Magazine” also named the developer of Covid-19 vaccines as hero of the year, gymnast Simone Biles as athlete of the year and singer Olivia Rodrigo as entertainer of the year. The magazine has chosen a Person of the Year for almost a century. In 2020, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were honored. Chancellor Angela Merkel has also been awarded the title. That was in 2015 – the year of the refugee crisis.