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Time magazine’s hotly-awaited Person of the Year has been announced, with Elon Musk scooping the accolade for 2021. The entrepreneur and business magnate’s portrait is displayed on Time’s cover in a tweet posted earlier today, aligning Musk – in their estimations – with previous title holders including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and activist Greta Thunberg.
“He dreams of Mars as he bestrides Earth, square-jawed and indomitable,” reads an article on the Times’ site announcing the news. “Lately, Elon Musk also likes to live-tweet his poops.”
To say that Musk’s influence over 2021 has been eclectic would be an understatement, having steered headlines across the globe for everything from tweeting from his “porcelain throne” to inserting brain chips into humans and aspiring to put astronauts on the Moon and maybe even one day Mars. All of that without touching on his role as CEO for Tesla, a $1 trillion company that’s made Musk the richest private citizen in history.
While his selection has already sparked controversy online, Time recognizes that Musk “has spent a lifetime defying the haters,” and hat-tips the longevity of his influence as the inspiration for their 2021 title holder.
“How many will leave a mark on the world – much less the universe – for their contributions rather than their crimes? A few short years ago, Musk was roundly mocked as a crazy con artist on the verge of going broke. Now this shy South African with Asperger’s syndrome, who escaped a brutal childhood and overcame personal tragedy, bends governments and industry to the force of his ambition.”
