Elon Musk lost everything

Once a technology icon, Elon Musk leaves government with his reputation in tatters and his plans to cut costs in disarray. Photo:

Reuters

Hardly anyone expected that

Elon Musk

– the billionaire once hailed as a creative icon of the 21st century – would withdraw from

American

politics with a bland and empty tweet: “I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for giving me the opportunity to cut wasteful government spending.”

Musk once vowed to cut

$2 trillion

from the federal budget. When he left, he was still

$1.86 trillion

short of that goal, even by his own estimates.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s new tax bill has added another

$2.3 trillion

to the budget deficit. Musk’s dream of “dramatic reform” is just an illusion. If he had expected a spectacular debut with 2,000 chainsaw dancers, the reality is just a quiet end to X, according to the

Guardian.The biggest problem is that the only thing Musk has really “cut” is his reputation. From a somewhat mysterious businessman, dubbed “the real-life Iron Man”, he left politics with the image of an eccentric, obsessed with reproduction, fond of pretending to be good at video games and… suspected of having had surgery to enhance his “male parts”.

Public opinion is beginning to seriously consider that Musk’s technical role in the success of Tesla or SpaceX may have been overblown.

The decline in popularity is also being felt in the investor world. After months of Tesla stock plummeting amid Musk’s erratic statements and personal scandals, shareholders are pressing the boss to work a serious 40-hour work week instead of “being CEO and politician.”

They were tired of Musk turning the White House lawn into an electric car showroom, then lamenting in

the Washington Post

that “people burn Teslas, and I don’t understand why.”

But from now on, the public probably won’t care what Elon Musk thinks is “cool” anymore. Power and money can turn “nerds” into charismatic people. On Wall Street, Hollywood, or even

Jeff Bezos

, we see the transformation from ordinary people to “power kings”.

But with Musk, the public has seen that process go in reverse. The mystery of the “genius” has crumbled as he has delved deeper into politics, where public polls show his approval ratings plummeting.

Now, Musk will probably blame the “voters” for not being smart enough to understand his omnipotent genius.

After all, Elon Musk seems to be building a “personal empire” in Texas, where he can focus on raising his large brood. But psychologically, perhaps only Mars is “big enough” to make up for the immense humiliation of Earth.

Even if Mars is just a desolate red rock – where finding a fossilized flower petal would be enough to make the scientific community celebrate – for Musk, it could still be the land of “ultimate privacy”, where he can transform into Teslamandias, king of kings.

And there, humanity will be able to look at what Elon Musk has created… and despair.

Read to better understand American history

The World section introduces the book “

Common Sense

” – a book by author Thomas Paine first published in 1776 and played an important role in the founding of the United States. Until today, the book still has historical value for those interested in American history.