America, You’re using your billionaires wrong.
Elon is… a wackadoo. He’s a polarizing figure—a power-mongerer to some, an edgy rich guy to others.
We liked him, loved him, even– until we didn’t.
Now, society is mad at Elon and I’m writing today to tell you: this is a huge mistake.
We’re using our crazy people– cough – billionaires wrong.
In his 50* years of life, Elon has:
Co-founded PayPal – Revolutionized online payments, leading to its acquisition by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
Founded SpaceX – Pushed private space exploration forward; successfully launched and landed reusable rockets, and partnered with NASA.
Led Tesla to mass electric vehicle adoption – Transformed the auto industry with popular electric cars like the Model S, 3, X, and Y.
Initiated the Hyperloop and Boring Company – Proposed high-speed underground transportation and launched tunneling projects to reduce urban traffic.
Started Neuralink and OpenAI – Advanced efforts in brain–computer interfaces and contributed to the development of safe artificial intelligence.
[Note: I got this research from OpenAI, which I use daily, and I didn’t even realize he was involved.]
*I don’t feel like Googling his age
PayPal supports thousands of small businesses. I use it to pay for my small business websites and to collect sign ups for tiny pop up hair classes. In these classes, people learn a new skill that gives them confidence. It makes a difference on a micro level, touches the individual. Now, if I didn’t have paypal powering my business, could I still hold these classes? Sure. But sign ups would have a lot less meaning. No-shows would increase and it would make it very hard to hold a workshop and breakeven. My stress and bottom line would be impacted.
Elon did something genius with his involvement in SpaceX. He created a space for SpaceX and NASA to work together: a government-funded program run by tradition and bureaucracy paired with a space start-up that can move at the speed of light (figuratively) and make things happen faster. These entities are better when they work together. In marketing terms, NASA is like SEO and Space X is PPC. One works methodically, building on a month over month strategy, takes time and usually grows predictably, linearly without massive spikes and falls. The other is like a sprinter, going as intensely or steadily as you tell it to. If you have a digital lead quota you NEED to hit, PPC can get you there on short notice. SEO cannot.
Both require intelligence, strategy, and structure. Both have the same end goal: digital leads.
And guess what, when you use them both together? Click through rate increases drastically.
In other words, when you use both together astronauts come home from outer space.
The answer for the United States isn’t to stone wall Elon. It’s not to keep him as far away from the government as possible. Our salvation counts on Elon’s vested interests going back to things that benefit the greater good. Elon is the archetype of a bad guy. But he’s a “bad guy” that uses his brand of crazy to create products, systems, and cars that (for the most part) make the world better.
Are all of his entrepreneurial contributions perfect? No. AI as we currently use it is horrible for the environment. However, if one person is going to do anything about that, it’s Elon. And I believe that when he gets settled back into (wherever he lives), he will.
We have the fundamental right to hate our billionaires. If you need to do that, go ahead. But for those of you that have the ability to pause, think instead about where our billionaires are best placed. We need Elon doing Elon things. We need Bezos to feel attached enough to society that he continues to improve worker conditions in amazon factories. We need Zuckerberg to feel like he has a chance at winning public opinion because that will keep him from doing some unhinged sh*.
We need to stop thinking of our billionaires as oligarchs and instead think of them as our batting line up. Where do we want to put them so we have the best shot at winning?
Billionaires are made of money—and that money comes from us. Every dollar we spend is a vote for what we want more of. That makes us the deciding party in this relationship. So spend and surf like you mean it. Support green energy. Use tools that help your small business thrive. Send memes to your cousins on Instagram. Heart-react to your aunt’s vacation pics. Speak up when behavior is atrocious. Make it clear where you do and don’t want your billionaires to be.
Your clear NOs are powerful. But they’re even more powerful when they’re standing next to your clear YES.
