[phatskat]

> you don't accidentally become the richest man on the planet by being dumb

The accident of the whom and where he was born did play into it, but I will echo another commenter that he is an amazing capitalist - and I do mean that as an insult to Elon. He has done an amazing job of playing the game in a system that rewards shrewdness, cutthroat action, and manipulation. He managed to get enough clout to be able to lie about just about anything and pay for the echo chamber that makes it real enough.

Overrated? In most aspects yes. In being everything that is wrong with capitalism he’s right on point.

[pixel_popping]

hmm, you call him "overrated" in the same breath as acknowledging he's one of the most effective capitalists alive, isn't this a direct contradiction? It's like saying Escobar was overrated in his field of work, that makes no sense, if you are at the top like few on earth, the man built the largest drug empire on Earth. You can find that repugnant but you can't call it overrated.