Today, as on most days, billionaire CEO Elon Musk was perusing Twitter and decided to share a hot take on the media’s use of the term “billionaire.”
Ironically, the “billionaire” label, when used by media, is almost always meant to devalue & denigrate the subject. I wasn’t called that until my companies got to a certain size, but reality is that I still do the same science & engineering as before. Just the scale has changed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2018
To reiterate: Musk, whose net worth is upwards of $20 billion, believes the term “billionaire”—when used accurately, to describe a billionaire—is “almost always meant to devalue and denigrate the subject.” As is often the case, Musk then took it upon himself to respond to critics of his very bad tweet, subjecting a Twitter user to an onslaught of replies from Musk fanboys.
Some would say this was “meant to devalue and denigrate” the user in question, who happens to be a woman!
No, it means I created jobs for 50,000 people directly and, through parts suppliers & supporting professions, ~250,000 people indirectly, thus supporting half a million families. What have you done?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/eehouls/status/1016733979163144193
https://twitter.com/eehouls/status/1016742658096672768
Not for nothing, but today’s tantrum seems to have been prompted by the decision not to use a Musk-built mini submarine to help rescue members of a boys’ soccer team from a cave in Thailand. The submarine was deemed “not practical” by the person overseeing the rescue, but Musk claimed he had been in communication with divers on the team who encouraged his help. He insisted the submarine could have made the journey—so much so that he left it in the cave “in case it may be useful in the future.”
But it sounds like his billions of dollars may have been better spent elsewhere.
The fact that Elon Musk's first instinct was to build a submarine instead of paying the wages and damages of the volunteers already successfully rescuing those kids is an example of how good innovation requires listening to users.
— Annalee (@LeeFlower) July 10, 2018
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
