Why do I despise Elon Musk? Let me count the ways:
Musk’s attitude towards laws is that laws are for the little people to follow, not for lords of the universe like him. He is quick to support law and order when it’s little people committing crimes, but he is Nixonian — “It isn’t a crime if a rich person does it.” For example, when the public health department of Alameda County ordered all businesses in the county to shut down for two weeks at the start of COVID to stop the spread of COVID, Musk refused to obey the state law giving her that power. And he has repeatedly manipulated Tesla etc. stock for his profit and then denying that he broke the law despite multiple SEC fines.
Musk runs the most racist car company in America, sued more times for racism in the past ten years than every other car company in America *combined*. Despite being a niche player with approximately 2.3% of the U.S. car market. And fish rot from the head, so that says something about Musk that makes him look… well, racist.
Musk also has little concern for the safety of his workers. Tesla has been fined by OSHA more than every other car company in America *combined*. The injury rate for Tesla’s factory in Fremont is greater than at any other auto factory in America. Again, the fish rots from the head. It’s part of his elitist attitude — “laws are for the little people, they should be glad to even have a job.”
Musk also is no friend of free speech. California has laws prohibiting retaliation against workers who speak out about illegal activities. Musk has repeatedly violated those laws by firing workers who complain publicly about working conditions or racism in his factory because free speech is for elitist scum like him, not for the peons. And when a reporter wrote about a botched introduction of a new Tesla model, Musk personally retaliated against that reporter by cancelling that reporter’s Tesla order. Because free speech is for rich people like him, not for the little people.
Basically, as far as I’m concerned Elon Musk is a grifter scam artist who managed to maneuver himself into control of several companies, take credit for their success, and use his showmanship skills to talk them up so that he can make a fortune from stock manipulation. He is the king of the pump and dump. He makes P.T. Barnum look like an amateur. There are many smart people who are responsible for Tesla becoming a successful niche manufacturer of luxury autombiles. Elon Musk’s total contribution to that success is scamming people into investing in Tesla back in the early days when it wasn’t clear that Tesla was ever going to make a profit. That’s an important contribution… but he didn’t “create” Tesla. Many, many people created Tesla, and Musk only provided one piece of the puzzle by scamming people into investing in Tesla when no sane person would have done so.
So anyhow. Tesla now has approximately 2.3% of the U.S. car market, so they’re still a niche player in the car market. Elon Musk did not somehow “fundamentally change the car market in America.” Claiming to have done so — and many other hyperbolic anti-factual claims of that sort — are another reason I despise Elon Musk.
I don’t despise Elon Musk because he’s rich. I don’t despise Elon Musk because his companies threaten established industry players. I despise Elon Musk because he is racist elitist scum. As established above.
That is all.
– Badtux the Scum-despising Penguin
Badtux the Snarky Penguin 
Him calling the rescuers who didn’t want to use his submarine pedophiles put me off of him permanently. His recent cartoon about the political left and right demonstrated how dangerously stupid he is. Any normal scumbag is not necessarily dangerous, but give them the billions of dollars he has and all of the sudden they are. Still, as you said, it’s the scum part, not the rich part that is so problematic.
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Thanks — I knew some of these, especially the grifter scam artist bit, but you provided me a few new pieces to detest Musk for. Like Doug, I was particularly repulsed by the libelous “pedo” slur. Which he got away with, after some legal foofaraw. Because the richmaggots don’t have to follow the same rules as we plebes. I am constantly amazed by how many people seem to worship this self-aggrandising schmuck. Like Obama and Trump, he is a Rohrshach Test for projection of the viewer’s desires. Instead of the noble politician they’d like to imagine O/T being, he’s the generous, far-sighted billionaire they wish for Rich Fcuks to be. Which is less scary to think about than politicians being bent con men, or that squillionaires are powerful sociopaths with no more regard for humans than we have for the ants we stamp under our shoes. Naked Capitalism, which is my go-to site for interpretations of reality these days, regularly takes the piss out of Musk with much detail and financial acumen.
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