Talk:Elon Musk
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![]() | There is consensus to describe Musk as a supporter of far-right political parties per RfC and to include that he received widespread criticism for what some perceived as a Nazi salute, per RfC. |
Q1: Can I write a message to Elon Musk here? (No.)
A1: No. The "Talk:Elon Musk" page is not for writing messages to Musk. It is only for discussing changes to the Wikipedia article about him. Writing a message to Musk here is pointless and disruptive, and such messages will be removed as an improper use of the page. Q2: Can you update the article to call Musk a "business magnet"? (No.)
A2: No. Musk once suggested in an interview that his Wikipedia article be changed to describe him as a "business magnet" rather than a magnate. The tone of that interview was not very serious; he also claimed to be an alien.[1] Wikipedia doesn't have to do what Musk says, and this request has been made and declined dozens of times already. New requests may be removed without a response so that other discussions are not disrupted. Q3: Should Musk be identified as South African in the opening sentence?
A3: Musk is a US citizen (since 2002) born and raised in South Africa, and also acquired Canadian citizenship via his mother. Including these nationalities in the opening sentence in a balanced way would be complex, and the consensus is that they should instead be explained later in the lead. Q4: Can you change "Tesla CEO" to "Tesla Technoking"?
A4: No, because he is still CEO according to company records and that is a common corporate title that readers will understand, unlike "Technoking". The goal of the article is to inform people, which would be hindered by raising a confusing technicality. Q5: Should the mention of Errol Musk having an interest in an emerald mine be removed in view of Elon's denials?
A5: While Elon today vehemently disputes any history with an emerald mine, he formerly accepted and even confirmed it. Specifically, a 2014 report originally printed in the San Jose Mercury News (and cited in the article) stated that Errol Musk had "a stake in" a mine. Elon affirmed his father's mine involvement in an interview with Jim Clash, a career interviewer of public figures, that was published by Forbes and withdrawn without explanation a few months later. Elon biographer Ashlee Vance likewise confirmed Errol's mining interest, with Elon's objections but not denials, in a 2020 interview report with Elon. Errol has stated that he received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of emeralds from his dealings. Q6: Should "Bachelor of Arts in Physics" be "Bachelor of Science" instead?
A6: No. Although it may seem counterintuitive, "Bachelor of Arts" is awarded for all undergraduate degrees at the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. His economics degree however is from the Wharton School which does award a "Bachelor of Science" degree. Q7: Should the article acknowledge doubts about Musk's academic record?
A7: Wikipedia policy on biographies of living persons requires that negative information about a person must be attributed to reliable published sources, and excludes both self-published sources (e.g. Twitter threads) and court trial records. The article states that sources disagree about when Musk obtained bachelor degrees, and that he did not attend Stanford for any significant amount of time. Any doubts beyond this require appropriate sources. Q8: Why doesn't this article describe Musk as an engineer?
A8: Musk is chief engineer of SpaceX, a title that applies within the company and that the press regularly mentions. He is not a professional engineer, a distinction within engineering that carries certain legal privileges in the United States, nor has he completed an engineering training program, nor has he ever been hired as an engineer. The article therefore does not include any of these claims. It does note that, from time to time, Musk has made initial product proposals at his companies that his trained engineers then research and develop. He does hold IEEE Honorary Membership. Q9: Why doesn't the article identify Musk as co-founder of PayPal?
A9: Because that could mislead readers that Musk was involved in the creation of the PayPal service and brand, when he was not. Instead, as the article states, he co-founded a company (X.com Corporation) that acquired the company that had developed PayPal (Confinity Inc.) and then renamed itself as PayPal, Inc. Q10: Why does this page include criticism of Musk's actions and stances?
A10: Musk is criticized/praised a lot in many reliable sources, and as such we need to talk about these criticisms and praise. To quote from Wikipedia's policy on a neutral point of view, articles must represent "fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic." Q11: Why is this a "good article" when some people consider Musk a bad person?
A11: "Good article" on Wikipedia refers to the way the article is written, not what kind of person Musk is. Good articles have been found to satisfy Wikipedia editorial standards for accuracy, verifiability and balanced presentation. Q12: Why doesn't this page call Musk African American?
A12: African Americans are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. Reliable sources do not use this term to describe Musk. References
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Leader of DOGE
I know the RfC just finished but most comments were before the court ruling, which I believe is critical and is precisely what was being discussed in the RfC. To quote the infobox on the DOGE page: On March 18, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland determined that Elon Musk was "the leader of DOGE" and was exercising the authority of its lawful administrator on a de facto basis.[1][2][3]
Yeshivish613 (talk) 19:38, 26 March 2025 (UTC)
References
- ^ Lee, Ella (March 18, 2025). "Judge finds Elon Musk likely acted unconstitutionally in shuttering USAID". The Hill. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
It marks the first time a judge has ruled that Musk is likely exercising enough independent authority to require him to be confirmed by the Senate under the Appointments Clause. "The record of his activities to date establishes that his role has been and will continue to be as the leader of DOGE, with the same duties and degree of continuity as if he was formally in that position,'" wrote Chuang, an appointee of former President Obama. Chuang rejected the Trump administration's argument that Musk is not the DOGE administrator and is instead merely a senior adviser to the president who has no independent authority.
- ^ Shalal, Andrea; Bose, Nandita (2025-02-20). "Trump appears to contradict White House, says Elon Musk in charge of DOGE". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2025-02-20. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
'I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,' Trump told an audience of investors and company executives in Miami.
- ^ Picchi, Aimee (February 18, 2025). "Musk is not an employee of DOGE and "has no actual or formal authority," White House says". CBS News. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
Like other senior White House advisers, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.
Public image --> Second paragraph --> Incorporate into Lead
Every day more and more people realize who actually has all the power in Washington right now. The article's reference to this is buried deep within. I'm glad it is there, but I think it would be better to rewire that 2nd paragraph into the lead section, specifically in the last paragraph about his political activity. We need to at least allude to how he's basically the POTUS right now. For example:
He has engaged in political activities in several countries, including as a vocal and financial supporter of Trump. Musk has been described as an American oligarch due to his extensive influence over public discourse, social media, industry, politics, and government policy in the United States. Musk was the largest donor in the 2024 U.S. presidential election and is a supporter of global far-right figures, causes, and political parties. After Trump's re-election, Musk's influence and actions during the transition period and the second presidency of Donald Trump led some to call him "President Musk", the "actual president-elect", "shadow president" or "co-president". Ee100duna (talk) 03:40, 30 March 2025 (UTC)
- We need a lot more than these to make such a claim. Slatersteven (talk) 11:08, 30 March 2025 (UTC)
- Evidence of his influence:
- [1] Trump holds Cabinet meeting with Elon Musk in attendance
- [2] Trump and Musk appear together in the Oval Office to defend the work of DOGE
- Sources specifically saying "President Musk"
- [3] Elon Musk is President (opinion piece)
- [4] Trump himself has jokingly referred to this
- [5] Press release from Democrats' house page
- [6] Ad by the Lincoln Project Ee100duna (talk) 15:03, 30 March 2025 (UTC)
- I might not have clarified in my initial post. The example I provided is the wording that is already in the article and it is appropriately sourced and formatted already. All I'm saying is to move that into the lead section because it is relevant to what he is currently doing. Ee100duna (talk) 15:05, 30 March 2025 (UTC)
- I am unsure (given we are only 3 months in) that this is anything moremthan recentism. Let's wait and see if this is a lasting influence or if he will be rthreown under a bus like everyone else by Trumpy. Slatersteven (talk) 10:36, 31 March 2025 (UTC)
Edit request: Vivian's rejection of Elon's inclining to far-right views

Hello, does anyone append a short sentense using this Vivian's recently published interview? https://www.teenvogue.com/story/vivian-jenna-wilson-elon-musk-trans-youth
In "Views" seciton, there is the sentense of Isaacson's assumption:
> Isaacson's biography of Musk argued that some of his far-right views were "partially triggered" by the transition of his daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson.
I'd like to see a sentense like this after that: "But Vivian rejected such narrative". shuuji3 (talk) 15:10, 2 April 2025 (UTC)
- Inclining to? Rejected such narrative? I might want some clarification as to exactly what you're asking. Anyway:
Done — I added the content you asked for; let me know if you believe it needs any corrections.
- The content may be removed. There's a enough information about Musk to fit into the intro that other editors might find that information inappropriately placed or irrelevant, in which case it can be moved deeper into the article — or to Wilson's page instead.
- 1101 (talk) 09:54, 3 April 2025 (UTC)
- Thank you for the edit. The new edit looks good to me. shuuji3 (talk) 10:35, 3 April 2025 (UTC)
- I've moved the content to Wilson's article instead per #2. Isaacson makes a claim, Wilson disputes the claim; that back-and-forth doesn't belong on Musk's BLP. Some1 (talk) 11:57, 3 April 2025 (UTC)
Role as inventor missing
Search-engine results on the subject's name deliver this page with a readout that the subject is an "inventor", among other descriptors.

AI results ("may contain inaccuracies") say he has 28 patents. None are solely held by him. My question - should the subject's 'inventions'/'discoveries' be included/mentioned in this article? The words "patent" or "invent/invented/inventor/invention" appear nowhere in the main article or in the "business" child article.
here is one source to back up the "inventor" claims -- https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2025/01/fact-check-elon-musk-philip-low-patents.html Dano67 (talk) 16:53, 2 April 2025 (UTC)
- I'd just like to point out that the "inventor" comes from the Wikidata short description for his Wikidata entry. ―Panamitsu (talk) 10:01, 3 April 2025 (UTC)
Political party
Is there any source behind him being a registered independent? If the most recent source is from before 2022, would it be possible to find more up to date sources that either still support him being a registered independent or support him changing political affiliations? CY223 (talk) 00:05, 4 April 2025 (UTC)
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