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Elon Musk: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

By Shlomo Maital  

        In Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 Gothic novel, a London lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, investigates strange happenings with his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde.  Hyde and Jekyll – they are different apparitions of the same person.

         So is Elon Musk.  Musk/Dr. Jekyll is a brilliant systems engineer and entrepreneur, who has figured out process design and simplification.  Unlike most engineers, who take what exists and add to it, Musk has taken what exists and removed stuff – like the internal combustion engine from cars and trucks. (Tesla). Or – the idea of reusing rockets instead of discarding them and building new ones after each launch (SpaceX). 

          Musk/Mr. Hyde?  In his blog, former CBS anchor Dan Rather writes that Musk spent $277 million to help elect Trump, more than “any individual has ever spent on a single election”.   Musk’s net worth is estimated at $354 billion – so the huge sum he spent on Trump amounts to less than one tenth of one per cent of his wealth.  It bought him Trump’s “first buddy”, and ubiquitous presence at Mara Lago, and even, the inauguration of rebuilt Notre Dame.  He will now preside over making government more efficient – vowing that “it will cause average Americans hardship”.  Rather says Musk “isn’t just guarding the proverbial hen house [as a fox],  he bought it, chicken coop and all. “

         The parade of Mr. Hyde billionaires to Trump’s bandwagon is sickening.   It is clearly driven by self-interest — Trump suddenly loves crypto and flings ambassadorships at his wealthy supporters.  Like son in law Kushner’s dad Charles, who will be ambassador to France, without knowing a word of French.   Great choice.

         As Trump begins his vendetta to dismantle American democracy, all the billionaires who now line up to support him are culpable.  We will remember Musk and the others for Mr. Hyde, and their cynical opportunism, not for their Dr. Jekyll’s.