Elon Musk isn't an engineer or manager. He's an influencer and lobbyist

The argument is that Elon Musk is neither a competent engineer nor a traditional corporate manager but primarily an influencer and lobbyist. The summary catalogs specific product and service failings - unreliable Tesla cars, defective SpaceX rockets, Starlink’s lack of customer service replaced by a Grok chatbot, and X’s dismissive response to press - and contends that Musk’s sustained success stems from his talent for cultivating and mobilizing a massive online following. Owning X amplified his reach, enabling pre-acquisition hype for Tesla and Starlink and ongoing promotion of his views. The piece contrasts Musk’s platform power with other political celebrities and asserts that social-media celebrity, rather than technical merit, now propels business and political fortunes.

It details how Musk leverages platform control and algorithmic amplification as a form of lobbying: SpaceX wins major government contracts, Musk is credited with helping elect Donald Trump and Republicans in 2024, and algorithmic feeds can steer users toward right-wing content - illustrated by an anecdote of a new X account defaulting to conservative posts until liberal accounts were followed. The conclusion is that modern success in business and politics hinges on influencer power; those who master social media - Musk, Trump, AOC - dominate public life, and only a dramatic political shift (a Democratic sweep on November 3, 2026) could blunt that dynamic.