Attorney, journalist, and Elon Musk biographer Seth Abramson took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday and Friday to criticize both Musk and his supporters, challenging the widespread belief in the billionaire’s intellectual superiority.
“You are in a cult,” Abramson wrote in one of his messages, asserting that Musk “has zero personal intellectual achievements.”
Abramson’s Assessment of Musk’s IQ
Abramson estimated Musk’s IQ to be between 100 and 110, stating, “There’s zero evidence in his biography of anything higher.” He reiterated this claim, emphasizing that no documented achievements in Musk’s life support the idea of a higher IQ.
After stepping away from X, Abramson returned on Friday to find his post circulating in pro-MAGA circles and responded with an extensive critique of Musk’s business history.
Allegations Against Musk’s Business Success
In a detailed thread, Abramson challenged the narrative of Musk as a self-made genius, claiming:
- Musk was sued for allegedly stealing the idea for Zip2 and was later removed from the company once investors got involved.
- At PayPal, Musk was reportedly on the verge of running the company into the ground before being ousted as CEO.
- Musk invested in Tesla when the company was struggling and nearly mismanaged it.
- His early programming skills were inadequate, requiring extensive rewrites of his Zip2 code by professional developers.
- SpaceX, which he acknowledges as Musk’s only novel and successful company, benefited significantly from lobbying President Obama after Musk was rejected by Russian investors.
- Other ventures, such as The Boring Company and Neuralink, have faced significant criticism, with the former producing an illegal flamethrower and the latter embroiled in ethics investigations.
- Musk’s handling of Twitter/X was described as a failure, with Abramson predicting business schools will study its mismanagement for centuries.
Wealth vs. Intelligence
Abramson argued that equating Musk’s financial success with intelligence is misguided, stating: “It does not take intelligence to throw money around and buy a company or a politician.” He dismissed the notion that ownership equates to personal achievements, saying, “If you attach intelligence to simply owning a successful company whose work you have nothing to do with, you’re in a cult.”
He also criticized the American tendency to conflate wealth with intelligence, remarking that in most parts of the world, such discussions would seem “preposterous.”
While Abramson clarified that he does not find IQ to be a valuable metric, he introduced it into the debate because Musk’s supporters frequently cite it as evidence of his intellect—despite no confirmed records of Musk ever taking an IQ test.
