‘God’, ‘dangerous’, 'genius', ‘petulant child’. What do you think of Elon Musk?

Global South World asked people across three continents whether they believe Elon Musk is a visionary or a threat.

Here's some of what they said.

You can share your opinions on our Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X posts.

Bangkok, Thailand

Ayush: "Elon Musk is both a visionary and a threat. He actually is really smart, really capable and could take us to really cool places, but instead, he wants to lobby. He's only serving his best interests at the end of the day. He knows that if he does what Trump says, he can have control and then make himself way more money. So right now, he's a threat to our democracy, and we should all get off X.”

Ethan: "I don’t know, but I like Tesla."

Grace: "Interesting question. Interesting person. Great ideas when it comes to technology. But you know what? There are some good things and bad things with everyone, or things you agree or disagree on."

Mahmoud: "He's both. We can't deny the guy is a freaking genius. But also, his character might be perceived as unsavoury. We have to keep the checks and balances. So while we can support certain things he invests in, we can also criticise. We have every right to. He can seem problematic, but you can't deny the good things he may have contributed to society."

Aiden: "I think Elon Musk likes to frame himself as a visionary. I don't think he is anywhere near as smart as most people think he is. People don’t realise that, for example, he was not the inventor of Tesla. He was not the founder. He just bought the company. So, with the amount of power and money he has that he's not using to better the world, I think he's very actively a threat."

Azman: "I think looking at Elon Musk as a threat would be very incorrect. If you look at how we got to this point, it was through brilliant minds who thought differently. His visions and the things he wants to achieve are a step forward. He’s just doing what he believes humans can achieve. I think he’s definitely more of a visionary than a threat."

Aiya: "I have no opinion on him."

Yuta: "He's a visionary. He's one of those elevated beings. Society kind of turns him into a laughingstock because he sees things differently than a normal person does. Society wants us to be normal. People hate him because they don’t see his vision."

Fam: "He's a visionary. He's a God, to be honest."

Kim: "He's obviously worried about the future of other people’s kids."

Larry: "He's a visionary."

Vince: "Elon Musk is a visionary."

Accra, Ghana

Nancy: "I see him as a visionary person."

Shadrach: "He’s a visionary. He’s not a threat. He’s an entrepreneur, and his innovations have helped human life."

Joyceline: "Elon Musk is a visionary. He's not a threat because his wealth has created a lot of jobs for people."

Ernest: "I don't think he's a threat. He's a visionary. Since Donald Trump won the election, they are going to be collaborating and working together, so I don’t think he is a threat."

Felix: "He's a visionary person. He's an entrepreneur, and with Donald Trump, he can easily bridge the gap between China and the US in terms of business."

Ansah: "He is a visionary. His initiatives are making life easier for people."

Evans: "He’s a visionary leader. The world is moving towards technology, and he is driving that."

Godwin: "Musk is really a visionary. If Musk had been the one to invent the computer, people might have said he was a threat, but now we see its benefits. We will see the impact of his work in the future."

Ruth: "I seriously don’t see him as a threat. He’s ahead in technology and doing his best to help us. But X, and other social media platforms, should pay more attention to African countries when it comes to elections and misinformation."

Samuel: "Elon is not a threat. Only people who don’t want to see what the future holds would think that. He’s a forward thinker. I see him as somebody that the future will need. Our children, grandchildren, will need Elon.”

Ebenezer: "Elon Musk is a futuristic person, and that makes him a visionary. He sees things others don’t and takes risks. You can look at what he's been able to do with Space X, with X, if I should say, promoting free speech and all that. I think Elon is maybe two years ahead of the whole world.”

John: "He’s a threat. Anything that comes and goes contrary to God's ordination should be a threat.”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Erleyvaldo: "He is a threat. Social media influences people, and I don’t think he is the best person to control it."

Tarcio: "Visionary, very visionary. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be who he is today."

Victoria: "He's a threat. He's just a billionaire with people at his service, and he’s not using his money to do what would be ideal for humanity.”

Brenno: "He’s super visionary. We’re scared because something bad could happen, but so far, he’s done positive things."

Filipe: "Maximum respect, Elon Musk." 

Maria Clara: "Threat. There are limits to everything, and when you cross them, it becomes dangerous."

Silvia: "Us, humans, have both positive and negative potential. It depends on where we place our focus."

Artur: "Very visionary. He’s a billionaire, a trillionaire… He deserves respect."

Mayara: "Who is he?"

Anderson: "Visionary. He creates a lot of jobs. I like people who take risks."

Maria: "Who is he?"

Tokyo, Japan

Interviewee 1: "I don't like him. Right now, he’s a f*cking idiot, but in the past, I thought he was cool."

Interviewee 2: "He’s a visionary."

Interviewee 3: "I’m not sure [laughs]."

Interviewee 4: "He seems like a bit of a tosser."

Interviewee 5 "He's just a bit of a fraud, really, in everything he does. One of the richest people in the world getting state power as well is not something that I'm especially looking forward to."

Interviewee 6: "Elon Musk is definitely a threat. I used to think he was just an idiot. Now I'm more worried. He kind of owns one of the biggest news platforms in the world these days. He has the ability to show what he wants and claim he's doing the ‘right’ thing. He's a dangerous man these days."

Interviewee 7: "Sadly, he can kind of be both… Maybe much less of a visionary, much more of a threat. He's clearly doing something right to be the richest man in the world, but that's almost the problem, the fact that he now has so many resources."

Interviewee 8: "I consider him a fraud. He's just a guy who, for some reason, has built this persona, and some people have fallen for it. But I think now these people are seeing that he's just a petulant child with a lot of money, who has made investments in a lot of good things rather than actually inventing anything in particular."

Interviewee 9: "I don't really know anything about Elon Musk, and I don't care."

Interviewee 10: "He's a threat. He's not a good guy."

A Global South World video series

This video is part of Global South World’s series exploring global opinions on pressing issues.

You can share your thoughts on our Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X posts.

In previous videos, we asked:

Is the US a friendly power?

Are you scared of AI?

Is capitalism working?

Should smoking be banned?

Stay tuned for more perspectives.