Being the richest man on earth does not absolve you of being called out for being a hypocritical douche?
I never understand this defense.
There are lessons one can take from successful people, but they not demigods. They're just people and people are often good and bad at the same time. Why do people defend them? If I make a controversial statement in a public forum, I should expect some uncomfortable criticism and they aren't entitled to any better treatment just because they can throw a wad of cash around.
- Publicly attacking a man as a pedophile because he dismissed his submarine as an unworkable solution during the Thai cave rescue efforts.
- Cutting off analysts during a Tesla call, calling them boring and then soliciting fluff questions from the Internet.
Musk, like most free speech absolutists, is a hack. It's an argument used to allow _them_ to say words without repercussions.